Were Morrison County officers justified in shooting Gordon Wheeler, Sr.?
I often wonder about the justification of law enforcement shooting someone with a gun or thought to have a gun.
We read about officers who fired shots into the body of a man who had no gun. And we read about someone killed only to find he had a play gun.
So when Gordon Wheeler, Sr. a disturbed businessman, was shot in the Morrison
County commissioners meeting room, because he had a gun and was threatening to use it, I dug into that story.
After reading stories and talking to individuals who covered the story, I concluded Wheeler was expecting to die and law enforcement was justified in pumping seven bullets into his body.
I was surprised there is a state law that even covers how to handle a would-be shooter. Law enforcement has to repeatedly demand that the gunman drop the weapon, believe he intends to shoot it and he has the gun.
In Wheeler’s case three law enforcers asked him to drop the gun at least three times. They saw the pistol and they saw him hold that gun to the head of three county officials.
Some who know Wheeler doubted if he ever would have shot anyone, but he did have the gun cocked and there was a bullet in the chamber.
I wrote and believe the three law enforcement officers were justified in shooting Wheeler.
What do you think?
