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Posted: 10/9/2005 6:30:50 PM EDT
Child molester, I hope the non-lethal shots, espesially the groin ones, landed first.


sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/07/MNGB1F46BO6.DTL

Suspected child molester was shot 27 times
Suzanne Herel, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, October 7, 2005

(10-06) 15:21 PDT PETALUMA -- A 72-year-old suspected child molester killed by Petaluma police officers after allegedly brandishing a gun last Saturday had 27 bullets in his body, an autopsy showed.

James Anthony Decosta was shot in the head, neck, chest, abdomen and groin, according to the autopsy, with most of the wounds entering the left side. He also was struck in an arm, leg and foot, said Lt. Dave Edmonds of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department.

Decosta was wanted on a $100,000 arrest warrant out of Sacramento dating to 1998 charging him with molesting a child under 14.

Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:31:50 PM EDT
[#1]
It doesn't say how many shots were fired though...
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:34:16 PM EDT
[#2]
Dang! How many K's of rounds were fired?
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:35:13 PM EDT
[#3]

Quoted:
It doesn't say how many shots were fired though...



1,562 rnds fired.
j/k
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:35:16 PM EDT
[#4]

Quoted:
It doesn't say how many shots were fired though...



Yup.......
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:36:22 PM EDT
[#5]
Hold on, the KC crowd will be here any second to defend the feeble elderly child molestor.

100K bond?  Cool.  He must have had a VERY extensive history.
Two officers BTW.  Call it 15 rounds each.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:38:46 PM EDT
[#6]

Quoted:

Quoted:
It doesn't say how many shots were fired though...



Yup.......


+1
you did catch the struck in foot part right?
also no mention of how many officers
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:40:54 PM EDT
[#7]

Quoted:

Quoted:
It doesn't say how many shots were fired though...



1,562 rnds fired.
j/k



I'd buy that. Ever see the video of the cops in California standing in a circle around a truck and lighting up at each other in a cross fire?
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:41:41 PM EDT
[#8]

Quoted:
It doesn't say how many shots were fired though...





+1 and a 72 year old can't really bob and weave, and really 27rds for a 72 year old, guess that one a day aspirin really does do something for you
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:41:56 PM EDT
[#9]

Quoted:
Child molester, I hope the non-lethal shots, espesially the groin ones, landed first.



Alleged child molester. Until he's convicted, he's the same as you or me. Do you hope everyone gets shot in the groin?
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:44:54 PM EDT
[#10]
sorry didn't cut and paste the whole thing, says five officers so assume about 75-80 shots.

Police spotted him leaving a health club shortly after 5 p.m. He led them on a short chase through an industrial area, then allegedly got out of his car holding a gun.

Five officers were placed on paid administrative leave after the shooting.


that looks like about 30% hit rate to me, not too bad compared to others.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:46:15 PM EDT
[#11]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Child molester, I hope the non-lethal shots, espesially the groin ones, landed first.



Alleged child molester. Until he's convicted, he's the same as you or me. Do you hope everyone gets shot in the groin?



Yep, the first defender.

Your "Alleged child molestor" has been on the run since 1998, and tried to kill the officers that came to arrest him.  Yeah, that proves his innocence.

Further, he had a 100K bond.  He must have been a REALLY bad one, most bonds for this sort of thing fall around 20K.  Hell, most of them get released on PR.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:49:06 PM EDT
[#12]
A thread on Free Republic worked the math:  64% hit rate.

Before everybody starts bashing, your paper targets don't fire back.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:49:28 PM EDT
[#13]
Dude was dead before he hit the ground.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:56:12 PM EDT
[#14]

Quoted:
Do you hope everyone gets shot in the groin?



why yes, yes I do


Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:56:15 PM EDT
[#15]
If he was a child molester then I'm glad he's dead.  I don't care how many shots it took or what the hit rate was.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:56:40 PM EDT
[#16]
Gettin' better!
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:58:57 PM EDT
[#17]
More info, he was wanted on 20 counts against 3 different victims under 14, Social Security Administration turned him in

story.sacramentosun.com/p.x/ct/9/id/ddbc2e6f87fbda7e/cid/d10bacfff3f93dae

Federal Tip Leads To Fatal Petaluma Shooting
Save It  Email It  Print It
(BCN) The Social Security Administration tipped off Sacramento police to the whereabouts of a fugitive who was traced to Petaluma before being fatally shot by Petaluma police on Saturday.

Sacramento police Sgt. Justin Risley said today that 72-year-old James Anthony Decosta was on the run for seven years and was wanted in Sacramento for 20 counts of allegedly molesting three different victims under age 14.

"We got a letter from the Social Security Administration asking if there was still a warrant for him," Risley said this afternoon. The $100,000 warrant for Decosta's arrest was issued in 1998, Risley said.

The Social Security Administration told Sacramento police Decosta was cashing his social security checks in Petaluma. Risley said Decosta was receiving the checks at a Petaluma post office box under a different name and tthat he was living in Petaluma with his brother.

Link Posted: 10/9/2005 6:59:00 PM EDT
[#18]
You figure 5 squad cars and 2 LEOs in each.  10 LEOs with 10, 15 round mags.  So you figure each gets to empty one mag.  27hits for 150 rounds fired.  18percent.

Or one officer with 1 MP5.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 7:00:57 PM EDT
[#19]
What were they shooting him with, .25acp? Or was it two standing 25 lying on the ground?
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 7:01:14 PM EDT
[#20]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Quoted:
Child molester, I hope the non-lethal shots, espesially the groin ones, landed first.



Alleged child molester. Until he's convicted, he's the same as you or me. Do you hope everyone gets shot in the groin?



Yep, the first defender.

Your "Alleged child molestor" has been on the run since 1998, and tried to kill the officers that came to arrest him.  Yeah, that proves his innocence.

Further, he had a 100K bond.  He must have been a REALLY bad one, most bonds for this sort of thing fall around 20K.  Hell, most of them get released on PR.



"Defender" of pedophiles? Not no but HELL NO. Defender of civil liberties and all that jazz? Guilty in the first. Guilty until proven innocent still means something to some people in this country.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 7:03:04 PM EDT
[#21]

Quoted:
You figure 5 squad cars and 2 LEOs in each.  10 LEOs with 10, 15 round mags.  So you figure each gets to empty one mag.  27hits for 150 rounds fired.  18percent.

Or one officer with 1 MP5.



More than likely, 1 officer dumping a mag, his partner getting three rounds off, and the rest of the guys just popping one or two for good measure.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 7:08:20 PM EDT
[#22]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Quoted:

Quoted:
Child molester, I hope the non-lethal shots, espesially the groin ones, landed first.



Alleged child molester. Until he's convicted, he's the same as you or me. Do you hope everyone gets shot in the groin?



Yep, the first defender.

Your "Alleged child molestor" has been on the run since 1998, and tried to kill the officers that came to arrest him.  Yeah, that proves his innocence.

Further, he had a 100K bond.  He must have been a REALLY bad one, most bonds for this sort of thing fall around 20K.  Hell, most of them get released on PR.



"Defender" of pedophiles? Not no but HELL NO. Defender of civil liberties and all that jazz? Guilty in the first. Guilty until proven innocent still means something to some people in this country.



 He was not perforated for molesting children.  He was shot for engaging the officers..  The whole Guilt/Innocence thing does not even apply.

Not that shooting pedophiles is a BAD thing, but that's not why he collected lead.

Sometimes thing work out perfectly.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 7:08:33 PM EDT
[#23]
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 7:09:38 PM EDT
[#24]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Quoted:

Quoted:
Child molester, I hope the non-lethal shots, espesially the groin ones, landed first.



Alleged child molester. Until he's convicted, he's the same as you or me. Do you hope everyone gets shot in the groin?



Yep, the first defender.

Your "Alleged child molestor" has been on the run since 1998, and tried to kill the officers that came to arrest him.  Yeah, that proves his innocence.

Further, he had a 100K bond.  He must have been a REALLY bad one, most bonds for this sort of thing fall around 20K.  Hell, most of them get released on PR.



"Defender" of pedophiles? Not no but HELL NO. Defender of civil liberties and all that jazz? Guilty in the first. Guilty until proven innocent still means something to some people in this country.



"Innocent until proven guilty" means the court system ca't be predjudiced against him. We the people can and will think he is a guilty motherfucker and got what he had coming.

In the words of Carl Lee Haley "He deserved to die and I hope he burns in hell!".
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 7:18:11 PM EDT
[#25]
A local deputy knows how to shoot, six shots fired, six shots hit, one dead BG wanted for attempted murder.  He used an AR with an EOTech by the way.  The state trooper with him shot four time out of his HK SBR with four misses and a jam.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 7:19:33 PM EDT
[#26]
Wow 27 hits.  I didn't know they were allowed to keep shooting him after he had been dead for an hour.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 7:26:08 PM EDT
[#27]

Quoted:
Wow 27 hits.  I didn't know they were allowed to keep shooting him after he had been dead for an hour.



Link Posted: 10/9/2005 7:28:10 PM EDT
[#28]
We had a rare LE shooting here the other day. Deputy showed up to a trailer and found a tweaked 29 yo holding a woman at knife point. Guy stated "I gonna kill this bitch". The guy drew the knife back to stab and the deputy shot him in the shoulder (he was holding the woman in front of him). Woman fell to the ground, meth guy recovers and heads towards the woman again, two taps later the guy was dead. 3 shots, three hits. 100% there.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 7:38:17 PM EDT
[#29]

Quoted:
We had a rare LE shooting here the other day. Deputy showed up to a trailer and found a tweaked 29 yo holding a woman at knife point. Guy stated "I gonna kill this bitch". The guy drew the knife back to stab and the deputy shot him in the shoulder (he was holding the woman in front of him). Woman fell to the ground, meth guy recovers and heads towards the woman again, two taps later the guy was dead. 3 shots, three hits. 100% there.

Good job!
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 8:09:16 PM EDT
[#30]

Quoted:
We had a rare LE shooting here the other day. Deputy showed up to a trailer and found a tweaked 29 yo holding a woman at knife point. Guy stated "I gonna kill this bitch". The guy drew the knife back to stab and the deputy shot him in the shoulder (he was holding the woman in front of him). Woman fell to the ground, meth guy recovers and heads towards the woman again, two taps later the guy was dead. 3 shots, three hits. 100% there.



Yeah, everytime I read these stories it makes me even prouder of my uncle for ending a barracaded suspect incident with one shot from his Glock at a distance of 50yds.  There were a total of 80 shots fired by the other officers with no hits.  He got involved, moved into position, and put the guy down with one shot from a distance that most officers would consider impossible.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 8:11:45 PM EDT
[#31]

Quoted:

Quoted:
We had a rare LE shooting here the other day. Deputy showed up to a trailer and found a tweaked 29 yo holding a woman at knife point. Guy stated "I gonna kill this bitch". The guy drew the knife back to stab and the deputy shot him in the shoulder (he was holding the woman in front of him). Woman fell to the ground, meth guy recovers and heads towards the woman again, two taps later the guy was dead. 3 shots, three hits. 100% there.

Good job!



Very nice.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 8:12:34 PM EDT
[#32]

Quoted:

Quoted:
We had a rare LE shooting here the other day. Deputy showed up to a trailer and found a tweaked 29 yo holding a woman at knife point. Guy stated "I gonna kill this bitch". The guy drew the knife back to stab and the deputy shot him in the shoulder (he was holding the woman in front of him). Woman fell to the ground, meth guy recovers and heads towards the woman again, two taps later the guy was dead. 3 shots, three hits. 100% there.



Yeah, everytime I read these stories it makes me even prouder of my uncle for ending a barracaded suspect incidident with one shot from his Glock at a distance of 50yds.  There were a total of 80 shots fired by the other officers with no hits.  He got involved, moved into position, and put the guy down with one shot from a distance that most officers would consider impossible.



Very nice shooting. Take the time, make the hits.
Link Posted: 10/9/2005 10:34:06 PM EDT
[#33]
Several years ago in Phoenix, somebody very close to me was involved in the shooting of a neighborhood crackhead scumbag named Rudy Buchanan. He was running around with a shotgun threatening people, and firing off shots.  He was told SEVERAL times to drop the gun when he was surrounded, but he refused to do so.  After the first volley from 13 officers, the dude went down but would still not let go of the shotgun, and they let him have it again.  Over 80 rounds fired, and Ithink 30-something hit this gang-banging piece of human refuse. His dad came out of the house screaming "It's only birdshot, it's only birdshot!"  What an idiot.  

Went skiing in Flagstaff during the suspension!!

Of course, the local folks were outraged because he was shot PURELY because he was black.  And the officers were blamed for not checking first if the shotgun was loaded with mere birdshot.  But I think a 50% hit ratio is about what to expect.
Link Posted: 10/10/2005 1:44:49 AM EDT
[#34]
I live ~20 miles from Petaluma and am a LEO in the area.  Local paper stated there were 42 shots fired by officers.  Suspect's weapon had 3 rounds but was jammed.  Paper also stated it was two volleys of fire from the officers.

Brian
Link Posted: 10/10/2005 2:31:41 AM EDT
[#35]
One of my fathers emplyees was shot three times by a cop who fired three times at a distance of six feet or so.

Cops responded to a welfare check--man with a rifle had locked himself in his bathroom while threatening to commit suicide. The fuzz forced the door--one yells "gun" and the other shot him.

They claim he was awake, lying on the floor and tried to point the weapon at them. The family claims he was passed out.
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