New Jersey Park Ranger Shoots Man After Argument


Updated: April 3rd, 2006 11:48 AM EDT


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JEFF PEGUES
Courtesy of WABC-TV


(Hackensack-WABC, April 2, 2006) - Witnesses say an argument led to a park ranger shooting a 43 year-old man in Mahwah. The wounded man was airlifted to Hackensack Medical Center.

Eyewitness News reporter Jeff Peques is at the hospital with the latest. On Saturday night, Emil Mann was being transferred out of surgery and into the intensive care unit. He's a father of three, shot two times.

Bullets hit him in the chest and leg. Even though his condition is improving, according to his family, he is still not out of danger yet.

The shooting happened after a confrontation with a park ranger. It's still not clear exactly why the shooting happened.

"He was born and raised up there. He wasn't doing nothing wrong," said one area resident.

The incident happened in the woods in the northwest part of Mahwah, off Stag Hill Road, near the state line. Before the shooting, witnesses say, Emil Mann was in the woods on a quad, an all terrain vehicle. Witnesses say the shots were fired after he got off the vehicle.

"Basically there's a bunch of people riding up there on the top of the mountains and park rangers chase them all around," said a witness. "Apparently one of the rangers got into an argument with one of the people that were riding and pull the gun out and shot him."

"It's ridiculous this had to happen like this. It's something stupid, you know?" said the victim's cousin. "For what they were doing, there's no reason for this."

With the father of three fighting for his life in the hospital, his family and friends want to know why he was shot.

"That's the answer we're looking for. We don't know," a friend of the victim, Derrick Van Dunk, said. "We're looking for that same answer."

Eyewitness News tried numerous times to contact law enforcement in the Mahwah area Saturday night. They did not return our phone calls. There has been a great deal of tension between law enforcement and people that ride ATV's in the neighborhood. We do not know if that played a role in the shooting.

Good thing we don't live in a police state
not

that's too bad




they WERE in jersey... although gunplay doesn't usually occur until the second introduction

At least the officer went home safely......

Quoted: At least the officer went home safely......

With a new ATV ........

Break the rules, prepare to lose.

Maybe he's one of those people that resemble their own dog.

Quoted: Break the rules, prepare to lose.

Your life?

No surprise...it's one of the reasons we moved out of the police state of NJ 3 years ago...last night my brother-in-law e-mailed me from NJ asking if I thought the Ranger who shot the guy might be "Snaggletooth", an older park ranger who works that area, known far and wide for being a supreme ball busting asshole who makes up his own laws and rules. Even most of the other rangers who work with him can't stand him...so you KNOW he's bad!  Oh well...so the state might pay out on another huge lawsuit funded by our tax dollars and insurance premiums...ever feel like you can't win?

oh my! Its another one of those damn quad riders tearing up our countryside. Blast um, boyz!

Quoted: Quoted: Break the rules, prepare to lose. What rule did he break?

the one that all the enviromentalist (greens) live and die by. {Thou shalt not alter/harm thy enviroment lest ye upset the gods}

Quoted: Quoted: Break the rules, prepare to lose. What rule did he break?

]


He stood up to the MAN.

but you all don't know the story, maybe he littered.

Quoted: Quoted: Break the rules, prepare to lose. What rule did he break?

Driving an ATV in the park. Didn't you read the article?  It was against the rules.

But that's not the rule that got him shot, of course.

He got shot for being a drunken idiot who felt like fighting with "Da Man":

www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1143956792260550.xml&coll=1 ATV rider shot in clash with park officers Sunday, April 02, 2006 BY RALPH R. ORTEGA AND JOE RYAN Star-Ledger Staff A man was shot twice in the leg by a state park officer in Bergen County yesterday during a clash between authorities and all-terrain vehicle riders, officials said. The afternoon altercation broke out in the woods of Ringwood State Park in Mahwah, after three conservation officers confronted a group of people riding ATVs, which are prohibited in the park, according to state Department of Environmental Protection officials. The confrontation led to a scuffle and "one of our officers did eventually shoot one of the riders in the leg twice," DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson said last night. Fellow ATV riders identified the victim as Emil Mann, a 43-year-old Monroe, N.Y., resident. He was in stable condition last night at Hackensack University Medical Center, according to a hospital spokeswoman. Two officers were also hurt in the melee, said Jose Fernandez, director of the state Division of Parks and Forestry. Lt. Kelly Gottheiner was treated for a head injury at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, N.Y., after being bumped by an ATV's handlebar, officials said. An unidentified male officer was also at Good Samaritan last night after being bitten by an ATV rider, Fernandez said. Officials did not identify the officer who fired the shots. Ringwood State Park is a 4,000-acre preserve amid the rocky, wooded hills of northern Bergen and Passaic counties, about 20 miles northwest of the George Washington Bridge. Mann is among a group of friends and relatives who for years have ridden four-wheel all-terrain vehicles through the park on weekends, according to Tom Mann, who identified himself as the victim's second cousin. "We go back there and have a few beers and relax," Tom Mann said. "The park rangers have always been giving us a hard time."   Alcohol and ATVs are illegal in state parks, said Elaine Makatura, a DEP spokeswoman. The Manns are a large, tight-knit family residing in Mahwah and the surrounding towns, according to friends and neighbors who gathered last night outside the local police station. Emil Mann is a father of three and works for the Ramapo Roads Department, they said. He rode into forest yesterday along with about 11 others, said William Mann, 43, of Monroe. "We were just doing our normal thing, riding and cooking out," William Mann said. "The cowards got out of hand. They shot an unarmed man." William Mann disputed whether the riders were on state park land, saying there were no signs marking the park border. ATV riders have clashed before with conservation officers. In 2003, an officer's leg was shattered when an ATV rider he was pursuing in Gloucester County ran him over, according to the DEP./ In the past three years, conservation officers have issued more than 1,500 summonses for illegal ATV riding on state-owned land, according to the DEP. Jackson, the DEP commissioner, said there have been calls for legislation to crack down on ATV riders. "This will definitely renew those calls," she said. Residents gathered last night outside an apartment complex near the clash and spoke angrily of the shooting. "This is ridiculous," said Laurie Ringwood, 45, who lives nearby. "These guys never bother anybody. They go in there. They cook out, and that's it. They have been doing it for years." Julie Van Dunk, 44, of Hillburn, N.Y. is a friend of Mann and said she was "just heartbroken." "We grew up in those woods riding and fishing," she said. "It's sad that it comes to this." Staff writers Alexander Lane and Kathleen G. Sutcliffe contributed to this report.

It may just be me, but common sense dictates that if you scuffle with armed, commissioned law enforcement officers, you run the risk of getting shot.
So, to recap my original posting,
                                              If:  1) you're feeling froggy
                                                    2) you think you're in the right
                                                    3) you think it's worth it
                                                    4) then by all means "scuffle", but be prepared to die.

I don't know about New Jersey, but here in SW Missouri, conservation agents are always outnumbered, usually outgunned and often in the middle of nowhere when they contact citizens.  So, they rely on their outstanding personality, people skills, charisma and professionalism to live to see retirement, but they also _do_not_ put up with any bullshit whatsoever.  

So, to recap the gist of the article:
1) Drunken Idiots (D.I) illegally tearing up the woods
2) Officers execute their duty to enforce the law, leading to
3) The use of an ATV as a weapon against at least one officer, and
4) D.I. Decide to engage in fisticuffs with officers
5) One D.I. gets shot.

I have a feeling that there will be fewer drunken idiots tearing up the woods in the near future, and [martha stewart voice]that's a good thing[/martha stewart voice]
                                                 

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Break the rules, prepare to lose. What rule did he break? ] He stood up to the MAN. i10.photobucket.com/albums/a150/fight4yourrights/Online%20Pics/authority.jpg

And it's usually arrogant, drunken, good ole boys who think "Ain't no one telling me what do do" who end up trying to start fist-fights with law enforcement. "Whatcha gonna do, occifer, shoot me?".  Well, yes.

First your attempt at humor in the thread title falls flat.

New Jersey Park Ranger Shoots Man After Argument


Updated: April 3rd, 2006 11:48 AM EDT


E-mail Story Print Story Most Read Most Emailed


JEFF PEGUES
Courtesy of WABC-TV


(Hackensack-WABC, April 2, 2006) - Witnesses say an argument led to a park ranger shooting a 43 year-old man in Mahwah. The wounded man was airlifted to Hackensack Medical Center.

Eyewitness News reporter Jeff Peques is at the hospital with the latest. On Saturday night, Emil Mann was being transferred out of surgery and into the intensive care unit. He's a father of three, shot two times.

Bullets hit him in the chest and leg. Even though his condition is improving, according to his family, he is still not out of danger yet.

The shooting happened after a confrontation with a park ranger. It's still not clear exactly why the shooting happened.

"He was born and raised up there. He wasn't doing nothing wrong," said one area resident. How the hell does an area resident know whether he was doing anything wrong or not?  Because Emil Mann lives in the area he could not have done anything wrong?  Bullshit.

The incident happened in the woods in the northwest part of Mahwah, off Stag Hill Road, near the state line. Before the shooting, witnesses say, Emil Mann was in the woods on a quad, an all terrain vehicle. Witnesses say the shots were fired after he got off the vehicle.

"Basically there's a bunch of people riding up there on the top of the mountains and park rangers chase them all around," said a witness. "Apparently one of the rangers got into an argument with one of the people that were riding and pull the gun out and shot him." Apparently you are just guessing also.

"It's ridiculous this had to happen like this. It's something stupid, you know?" said the suspect's cousin. (fixed it)  "For what they were doing, there's no reason for this." How do you know what he was doing?  Did you see the entire incident?

With the father of three fighting for his life in the hospital, his family and friends want to know why he was shot.

"That's the answer we're looking for. We don't know," a friend of the suspect, Derrick Van Dunk, said. "We're looking for that same answer."

Eyewitness News tried numerous times to contact law enforcement in the Mahwah area Saturday night. They did not return our phone calls. There has been a great deal of tension between law enforcement and people that ride ATV's in the neighborhood. We do not know if that played a role in the shooting.