By now, most people have heard about Sheriff's Deputy Louie Puroll being shot by an AK-47 type weapon around 4pm last Friday afternoon just South of Phoenix. Puroll suffered a flesh wound on his left side that tore off a small chunk of skin. He was treated and released on Friday night.
The Arizona National Guard said reports that one of its helicopters came under fire during Friday's search-and-rescue operation were not correct. A helicopter assigned to the state's Joint Counter Narco-Terrorism Task Force diverted from its mission on Friday after hearing radio calls to help Puroll and was first to locate the deputy. At that point, a clipboard or other metal object within the aircraft apparently fell to the floor, causing a clattering noise. Crew members were at first unclear about the source of the noise and put out an alert that there might be gunfire in the area. During a debriefing, Castillo said, the crew realized the falling clipboard caused the confusion. Villar said the clarification never reached Sheriff Paul Babeu, who told the media of a helicopter coming under fire during news briefings.
According to the sheriff, the incident began when Puroll was on patrol in an off-road area about 5 miles south of Interstate 8 around 4 p.m. Friday when he came upon five men, at least one of whom opened fire with an assault rifle. Puroll suffered two minor wounds as he ducked for cover and returned fire. Puroll believed he may have wounded one of the suspects. About 200 law-enforcement personnel scoured 10 square miles of the desert for more than 12 hours, using multiple helicopters and night-vision equipment. They arrested 17 people, none of whom were any of the five suspects. Today, four days after Puroll reported being ambushed and wounded by marijuana smugglers in the southern Arizona desert, investigators appear to be stymied in their search for suspects.
Today, maricopa.com said: Despite capturing 17 illegal immigrants during a two-day sweep of a 10-square-mile stretch of desert near Stanfield, 20 miles south of
Maricopa, five suspects in the Friday shooting of a Pinal County deputy remain at large, according to Pinal County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Lt. Tamatha Villar.
Villar claimed three of the suspects the sheriff’s department picked up were key witnesses in the investigation. Villar claimed one of the shooters is a light-skinned Mexican male, with a Sinaloan accent (central Mexico..how could he recognize the accent so specifically while under fire????) who was wearing a green-brown, army fatigue-type long-sleeve shirt, tan-colored pants, ball-cap style hat and black hiking boots. The other suspect is a darker-skinned Mexican male last wearing a grey long-sleeve "hoodie" sweatshirt, green-colored pants and black-and-white tennis shoes. The only information available on the other three is that they were longer-haired Hispanics. (All these clothes, outside, in 100+ temperatures, in the middle of the desert, no vehicle, carrying 5 bales of MJ, assault weapons and rounds of ammo. And they got away after a 2 day search. Wow!)
The shooting occurred late Friday afternoon around 5 p.m. when Deputy Louie Puroll, 53, was patrolling the area near Interstate 8 and came across a stash of marijuana bales and five suspected smugglers. A firefight between the deputy and suspects ensued with at least 30 shots being exchanged, Villar said. At one point, the deputy discarded his pistol because it either ran out of bullets or jammed and began to fire with his tactical rifle. (Phoenix New Times article indicates no bullets found; no AK-47) During the fight, the deputy was hit in the back, the bullet ripping out a sizable piece of flesh (AZ Republic said flesh wound on left side; out of hospital same night). Puroll used his phone to call for help, setting off a frantic hour-long multi-agency search for the deputy in the remote desert, Villar said. Hundreds of both federal and state law enforcement officers, including those from Maricopa Police Department, took part in a two-day search for the suspects. Villar said Puroll was treated and released from the hospital, and he is home doing well.
Today, maricopa.com said: Despite capturing 17 illegal immigrants during a two-day sweep of a 10-square-mile stretch of desert near Stanfield, 20 miles south of
Maricopa, five suspects in the Friday shooting of a Pinal County deputy remain at large, according to Pinal County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Lt. Tamatha Villar.
Villar claimed three of the suspects the sheriff’s department picked up were key witnesses in the investigation. Villar claimed one of the shooters is a light-skinned Mexican male, with a Sinaloan accent (central Mexico..how could he recognize the accent so specifically while under fire????) who was wearing a green-brown, army fatigue-type long-sleeve shirt, tan-colored pants, ball-cap style hat and black hiking boots. The other suspect is a darker-skinned Mexican male last wearing a grey long-sleeve "hoodie" sweatshirt, green-colored pants and black-and-white tennis shoes. The only information available on the other three is that they were longer-haired Hispanics. (All these clothes, outside, in 100+ temperatures, in the middle of the desert, no vehicle, carrying 5 bales of MJ, assault weapons and rounds of ammo. And they got away after a 2 day search. Wow!)
The shooting occurred late Friday afternoon around 5 p.m. when Deputy Louie Puroll, 53, was patrolling the area near Interstate 8 and came across a stash of marijuana bales and five suspected smugglers. A firefight between the deputy and suspects ensued with at least 30 shots being exchanged, Villar said. At one point, the deputy discarded his pistol because it either ran out of bullets or jammed and began to fire with his tactical rifle. (Phoenix New Times article indicates no bullets found; no AK-47) During the fight, the deputy was hit in the back, the bullet ripping out a sizable piece of flesh (AZ Republic said flesh wound on left side; out of hospital same night). Puroll used his phone to call for help, setting off a frantic hour-long multi-agency search for the deputy in the remote desert, Villar said. Hundreds of both federal and state law enforcement officers, including those from Maricopa Police Department, took part in a two-day search for the suspects. Villar said Puroll was treated and released from the hospital, and he is home doing well.
Phoenix New Times is reporting about a dozen current and former local cops in the last few days (most of them initiated the contact), when mentioning Purcoll's highly publicized (and highly charged) incident near the intersection of Interstate 8 and Arizona Route 84 last Friday afternoon, every last one of them brought up the name Franklin Brown. (a previous Phoenix cop that staged a crime for his own purposes)
The Sheriff's Office is conducting an internal investigation into the shooting. They say this is standard procedure.
Readers: I make no judgement on this incident. I will wait until the internal investigation is complete. But you can see that the coincidences are mounting up, all surrounding the passage of racial profiling bill SB1070. Incidents like this are meant to instill FEAR in Arizonians in hopes they will support the racial profiling SB1070.
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4 comments:
Commenter from linked news article:
David says...
I've already made a short comment , cocerning this incident , but I'd like to be more detailed - with this entry.
First of all , Transporting any amount of drugs , on foot and in a hot and hostile enviroment is nothing short of work.
If you add automatic weapons , into this senario , You now have a desert journey that involves logictical plus tactical planning.
Maps of the terrain would have to be obtained , a GPS device carried , along with enough food and water to make the trip.
Common sense would be the order of the day , and virtually any close encounter with law enforcement would instantly change the venue of this illegal mission.
Detection would mean detention and deportation , but drugs coupled with automatic weapons would evolve serious jail time.
This story constantly changed , and on Monday , May 3rd , 2010 , Helicopter pilots ,who were on the scene discounted any ground fire , which was earlier reported.
The Monday report also advised the general public , that clips or magazines had been recovered in the area.
Where is the official Pinal County photographer during this entire ordeal?
When automatic weapons are fired , They leave shell casings and lots of them.
The deputy , in question , admitted that he was in a tracking mode , when the drug carriers first confronted him.
Why was there no notification , for assistance and back-up , knowing that he was out-gunned and out-numbered ?
Nobody ever mentioned the caliber or make of the officer's hangun , but I will tell you that 357 bolt action guns are notorious for accidental discharges.
Here's my take. A political firestorm is ragging over the immigratin Bill 1070.
Earlier , A border ranch owner had been killed by an assailant - who still remains at-large.
A dedicated family man and experienced county deputy is alone , in the desert , performing a thankless job and his gun accidentally discharges.
Who knows what any of us would do , under similar circumstances. Being exposed to death and violence , for an extended amount of time , takes a toll on the human mind.
Noone is blaming anybody , here , and to ignore this entire incident is a disservice to the community , as well as a professional lawman who might need an extended hand.
Heard the Audio.
I been hit. he said.
No gunshot sounds.
Sounds very calm.
Sheriff said 6 illeegal aliens. (6 vs 5??)
Several people questioned.
audio:
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/immigration/pinal_deputy_911_call_050510
flesh wound smaller than bandaid.
He shot 46 rounds.
Hey Dee,
Give us one example of a "bolt action .357." Just one. Name one manufacturer and model name.
No such thing exists. There are no .357 magnum bolt actions. Nor are bolt actions of *any* given caliber across various manufacturers "notorious for accidental discharges." And not are revolvers chambered for .357 "notorious" for any such thing.
Even under the most generous interpretation of a possible typo, what you wrote makes no sense. You pulled that right out of your ass and have no idea what you are talking about.
This has no bearing one way or another on the politics of immigration or what the story is behind this incident. I just have to call out BS about firearms when I see it.
I love my Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters. What's happening now with all of this immigration stuff is due to white fear of inferiority. They're paranoid and fearful, their numbers have dwindled. This should be obvious to everyone.
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