This certainly evidences the kind of mindset that I don't think is appropriate for LE or someone who carries a loaded gun.
I agree and listening to that 911 call changed my mind.
I will also say that watching the footage of the attempts made to save Botham’s life made me cry, and I’m a tough nut. This is a case I won’t soon forget, or his sweet face.
Amateur opinion and speculation
Here's the thing though: If I text and drive and plow into a couple of kids on a sidewalk and kill them, am I less culpable based on the level of horror and remorse I show?
I do understand that juries seem to think so. But I don't think the law does when it comes to whether the elements of a crime have been met. That has something to do with sentencing. Remorse can have something to do with what sentence there should be and whether there are any mitigators.
It concerns me though that whether or not she seemed remorseful makes people decide whether or not she committed a crime.
What's also super concerning is the seeming lack of understanding by many that carrying a loaded weapon does and should elevate ones duty of care in the same manner that driving a two ton car does.
It's almost like people think the second amendment- our right to bear arms- absolves us of the duty to use EXTREME caution while doing so.
She's wasn't carrying a bagel for God's sake. If we are going to abide by the second amendment and allow people to carry deadly weapons like guns then we also need to fully understand that with that right comes a huge responsibility.
Another analogy: So if someone is exhausted from working a 48 hour shift and gets in their car and drives home and in their sheer exhaustion gets confused and drives the wrong way up a freeway off ramp and kills a couple of people in a head on collision, the law is going to find that they were reckless in driving in that condition. The law is going to find them culpable no matter how much they cry or how sorry they are. As it should! Cars are deadly!
Why on earth should a gun be different?
She was carrying a loaded deadly weapon with hollow point bullets which are meant to make sure a human cannot survive a gun shot. That's the design. But she was distracted. She was exhausted.
It was thus her responsibility to unload her weapon, store it in a safe bag and take it home or leave it at work.
She failed to do so. And in that condition she made a mistake regarding her apartment and killed a man.
She has to pay for that criminally. If she doesn't in some manner, then every good guy with a gun is absolved of their grave responsibility when it comes to their weaponry, IMO.
We wouldn't allow that irresponsibility while handling a car. We damn well shouldn't while handling a weapon. Cop or not.
