Two Beaufort, SC Deputies Killed 01/08/02
Deputies Lance Cpl. Dana Lyle Tate and Cpl. Dyke A. (A.J.) Coursen were shot to death while working a domestic call in Burton,SC. Details are very few but it appears both deputies were wearing their vests. They were apparently shot with an SKS conversion(didn't get to see the weapon but the magazine recovered in the area was one of those AK looking mags with the big loop on the front).
The scum that shot them Tyree Alfonzo Roberts aka Abdiyyah Ben Alkebulanyahh was charged with two counts of murder. Roberts is recovering in the Charleston County jail from wounds he sustained during the gun fight. He has an extensive criminal record according to local authorities. His wife was charged with disorderly conduct of the night of the murders but has since been charged as an accessory after the fact.

Deputy Tate leaves behind a wife and three children. Deputy Coursen leaves behind a wife and two small children. The community will really miss two dedicated servants of the public.
May they rest in peace.

(taken from another web-site)

Charleston, SC Officer and Paramedic Gunned Down
Meducare Flight Nurses Anthony Pirraglia, 47, and Mandy Larson, 28, were on their dinner break Saturday night at Hardee's across from the Medical University. As they were eating they heard a terrific three car accident in front of the restaurant. They immediately left their meals and went to check for injuries. Medic Pirraglia first came in contact with Marko Dupree Drayton, 19, as he was removing a pet from the rear seat of a borrowed Cadillac. He asked him if he was hurt and the subject advised no. As Pirraglia turned to check on others Drayton pulled a.40 caliber semi-automatic pistol and opened fire on the flight nurses. Pirraglia was hit once in the chest and killed, while Larson was wounded in the arm and survived. Drayton ran from the scene on foot. He traveled about 10 to 12 blocks before he happened upon Charleston Police Officer Dennis LaPage, 36, who was working off duty security at a College of Charleston dormitory. He was in full uniform and was wearing his vest. He had just stepped outside when he was shot three times(once in the forehead according to the cheif). There were no witnesses to his shooting. Drayton continued to flee and fired again at responding officers then ditched his weapon and was apprehended a shortime later. He is now also suspected of shooting at two Charleston County Sheriffs Deputies several weeks ago within a block of his place of residence.
Officer LaPage is survived by his wife and two children. No pesonnal information was available on Flight Nurse Pirraglia. The condition of Nurse Larson was not available but her wounds were said to not be life threatening. Please pray for them and their families.

(also lifted from another site)

West Palm man killed by Miami-Dade cops during MLK celebration
By Diana Marrero & David Cázares
Miami Bureau

January 22, 2002, 3:17 PM EST

MIAMI -- A white Miami-Dade County police officer on Monday night fatally shot a 20-year-old black man who detectives said stole a late-model car and then tried to run over the cop who was pursuing him.

The shooting occurred at 6:23 p.m. at Northwest 22nd Avenue and 64th Street in Liberty City as the community's annual Martin Luther King parade was winding down.

Immediately after the shooting, a small crowd threw rocks and bottles at detectives, but the violence ended quickly after about 75 uniformed officers arrived. It was unclear if any detectives were hit; police made no arrests.

Still, residents and civic activists continued to complain of police brutality and many planned to attend a 5 p.m. rally today.

Juan DelCastillo, a spokesman for Miami-Dade police, said a group of officers was working a robbery intervention detail in the area. They were checking tags of cars that went by when they spotted a 1999 Lincoln Continental that a records check indicated had been stolen in West Palm Beach on Jan. 14th.

After the officers tried to stop the car, then on Northwest 22nd Avenue, the driver tried to turn west on Northwest 64th Streey, DelCastillo said. The car then struck a 29-year-old officer, who ordered the driver to stop before firing, DelCastillo said.

The officer, who suffered injuries to his legs, knees and back, was in fair condition Monday at North Shore Medical Center.

The dead man was identified as Eddie Lee Macklin, of Haverhill Road in West Palm Beach. He died at the scene.

Three passengers in Macklin's car were questioned after the shooting. Two were freed later; the third was arrested on a probation violation count.

Police said Macklin had an arrest record dating back to 1996 when he was arrested in West Palm for aggravated battery of a police officer. He was arrested 11 more times since then in Palm Beach County.


The shooting officer, James Johns, 30, has been with the department since June 1996. He was placed on paid administrative leave until the investigation concludes.

Some witnesses at the shooting scene were upset about the way the police handled the arrest, saying officers were running with their guns drawn on a crowded city street.

For the next few hours, residents remained in the streets, angered by the latest police-involved death in Miami-Dade.

Community activists quickly decried the shooting, and held it up as another example of why civilian review panels are needed to investigate such incidents.

"Obviously it's another incident of police gunning down a black man," said Max Rameau of the Liberty City-based Brothers of the Same Mind. "They were chasing these guys in the car with their guns drawn."

Added Clifton Massey, who said he witnessed the shooting: ``If the guy was in a stolen car, they should have followed him to an area that was not so congested and apprehended him there. They had enough police presence to make sure he couldn't get away. The Rambo stuff, that was not necessary.''

OK Folks as ol' Paul would say "Heres the rest of the story". And trust me this is going to pi$$ you off! I heard this scuttlebutt from a buddy yesterday and today I see support for it in the news so here goes folks: A couple of weeks back my buddy tells me about this moron who tried to rob the bread delivery guy behind one of the local supermarkets in Charleston. Mr. Robber is doing the gun in the pocket thing and tells the bread man "Give me your money". So the bread guy says "My wallet is in the glove box, I'll get it for you". Mr. Robber says "OK". Turns out the mild mannered breadman is a retired(or ex) Hannahan, SC police officer. He draws a .38 from the glove box of the truck and double taps Mr. Robber who dies at the scene. Oh and Mr. Robber forgot rule number one in a gunfight - Always bring your gun. Seems he had a screwdriver in his pocket and was pretending it was a gun. The local officials refused to charge the breadman with any crime and of course the black community cries "Foul" claiming the breadman was wrong for shooting Mr. Robber. Well it turns out now that Drayton was Mr. Robber's cousin and he has been going around looking to kill a cop to avenge his cousin's death every since this happened. I have not read this in any press but Drayton was said to have commented that "I got some of yours tnight" to investigators at the station. He also said that he thought that the flightmedics were police officers and that is why he shot them.
On the day after the shooting (Sunday) they hauled his soory a$$ in front a judge and he acted all crazy claiming to be "Jesus" and saying he was above the law etc. etc.

CincyKid hope this works http://www.charleston.net/pub/index/news1.shtml
I'm not sure how long the stories stay up.

You guys appear to be right. It looks like the guy was shooting at the uniforms and thouht the medics were police officers. Way back when I first got on as an EMT I was very disappointed that we weren't issued badges and that they were frowned upon. I was advised they were nothing more than great targets for BGs. Sound wisdom in retrospect.

(again taken from another site)

Shouldn't a guy that wants to do armed robberies consider return fire an occcupational hazard.