CORRECTION (3/16/2021 - 15:00): The Officer was not killed, but injured. Thankfully he will make a full recovery!
Police Officers assess the situation every time they go to a call. Sometimes, they have many different ways to handle the crisis.
However, with some calls, there is only one answer. Many officers try not to fire their weapon if they can help it. But when it is a choice of their safety and the safety of others, they have no choice.
Just a Shoplifter
Around 3:30 p.m. on March 12th, JC Penney Loss Prevention apprehended a man they caught stealing t-shirts in the Omaha, Nebraska store.
The shoplifter was not cooperating with store security. He gave them a false name and would not reveal any legitimate information. Since security was not getting anywhere with the suspect, security called the police.
Officer Jeffrey Wittstruck responded to the call. According to Police Chief Todd Schmaderer of the Omaha Police Department, things went south quickly after Wittstruc ordered Jenkins to take off his backpack.
“Jenkins stood up and placed his right hand in his sweatshirt pocket. Officer Wittstruck asked Jenkins to show his hands multiple times, but Jenkins refused," Schmaderer said.
"Officer Wittstruck informed Jenkins he was under arrest, and Jenkins remained uncooperative, pushing Officer Wittstruck away while he attempted to place handcuffs on Jenkins.”
Chief Schmaderer
Arrest Attempt
As Wittstruck tried to put handcuffs on Jenkins, a struggle ensued. Wittstruck pulled out his taser, and Jenkins once again put his hand in the pocket of his sweatshirt.
According to ABC News, the taser did not work on Jenkins. After the failed taser, Wittstruck tried once more to put him in handcuffs.
Jenkins reached into his pocket and retrieved a firearm. With the gun, he shot four times, hitting Officer Wittstruck in the face and the top of the head.
Car Chase
Jenkins fled the scene. According to Schmaderer, store cameras saw him fleeing in a white BMW.
Wittstruck was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Nebraska State Troopers assisted with the search for Jenkins, which ended in a high-speed chase.
Jenkins has a history of "resisting arrests and escape." Currently, Officer Wittstruck is in stable condition and recovering from his injuries.
Hindsight
These days, officers are hesitant to use their service weapons. Wittstruck did everything in his power to use non-lethal force while apprehending Jenkins, to his detriment.
However, in hindsight drawing his weapon may have stopped the situation from progressing and prevented Wittstruck from being shot.
The time is long overdue to stop coddling criminals. One warning then USE your damn weapon.
Agree!! Nn
Cliff: How about the phrase, "I was afraid for my life, had to eliminate the threat to me." Would that work for the Police? OR are we going to ?have the Monday Morning Quarterbacks second guess and not actually be there to witness just what the officer was going through and make a second hand decision that is completely out in left field?
Hope they hang 'em high in Madison Square Garden......
The time is long overdue to stop coddling criminals. One warning then USE your damn weapon.
If criminal's are resisting, then deadly force should come into play
People who are soft on criminal's make everyone less safe. Criminal's resist law and order because they are willing to break laws. If they die in the attempt, it is their fault. They put themselves in a dangerous position by breaking the law and resisting arrest. Consequences. Now this guy is up for attempted murder besides just shoplifting. Police have a right to protect themselves from people resisting arrest. Bleeding. Hearts get over protecting and demonstrating when criminal's resist police and are killed. They put themselves in that position.
Only one thing wrong with the article. The title says office killed. The last of the article states that he is in stable condition and recovering. Therefore the title misleads and is toxic.
Pretty obvious these days that print "news/opinion" media no longer employ true editors, isn't it? Unfortunately.
Thank you for pointing this out! The article has been updated to reflect that the Officer was shot, not killed.
The fake news has no problem with that . They lie with impunity . This was a typo and should have been caught before printing. At least the story was accurate. I think concern for officer Wittstruck is more important than a typographical error. i pray the officer recovers quicklyu for his and the sake of his family.
The fake news has no problem with that . They lie with impunity . This was a typo and should have been caught before printing. At least the story was accurate. I think concern for officer Wittstruck is more important than a typographical error. i pray the officer recovers quickly for his and the sake of his family.
I agree with you, unfortunately we live in a world where people want to claim “police brutality” and racism. They want to defund the police. I’m hearing stories now where people are pushing for NOT arresting black people because “they have been through enough”.
Until we stand behind our police and stop the defunding talks, blaming police for brutality, racism, and stop letting the liberals from running our country we will be in for more criminals getting away and more police shot.
Police should use force when the criminal doesn’t obey! I’m sick of the police being the bad guy and the Criminal being the good guy! This country has gone to hell! Thanks to the Democrats!
Animals, not worth the breath they take
I have absolutely no problem at all with law enforcement using deadly force -- better the resistant, hostile crime perp than the officer or other innocent bystander!! God bless all who serve and protect our country and people. 🙏
Neither do i in the least. removing the lower 3sd from society one way or another improves the safety for the rest of us. Don't take chances.
Many years ago , around the end of the 19th , begin Ing of the 20th Century , there was out cry from undertakers about the damage caused by law enforcement in shootings of their criminal victims . This led to the adoption of the .38 calibre as police standard for many years . It took some 60-70 years before law officers were up graded to more powerful firearms to try to level the playing field with criminals who used whatever they could and the more powerful , the better .
Now once again we have the bleeding hearts crying about police using excessive force in attempting to perform their job . the criminal elementm knows this and use it to their own advantage . In the old west the bad guys were called outlaws as they chose to live outside the law . In the roaring 20's the term was gangster or mobster . It would seem the boldness of those who would break laws has been given new life .
Law officers as a rule are generally nice guys . They don't ask anything unreasonable in trying to do their job . They only ask for cooperation . If you did nothing wrong you have nothing to fear . To condemn the officers trying to keep us safe has lead to them being handicapped in doing their job . It is going to lead to Shoot first and ask questions after . If the option still applies . Or perhaps that of no police as no one wants to risk their life for those who cry about the police no matter what they do .
While the commiecrats rail about defunding the police for the protection of criminals the cowards in Congress build a fence around the capitol to keep out the decent people on false pretenses while they claiming the defunding is necessary. That certainly demonstrates their real intentions.
I respectively decline to call these savages "animals", as most animals will fight to defend themselves or their families!
These thugs are true low lives! Nothing human about them. With that in mind, allow the police to do their job and shoot to kill when confronted with one of these unhumans!!
This is an example of improper Police training. an evaluation of the seriousness of the crime - stealing a couple of T-shirts - vs the potential for real harm in this one-on-one confrontation. The officer should have called for backup, or let Jenkins go when he refused to obey. Then the police could have come after Jenkins with many officers at a later time. When Force is used, it needs to be overwhelming.
Benjamin: Isn't it great to be a "Monday Morning Quarterback!!!" Could a, Would A, all decisions made without being in the actual situation. Until you are in that same situation, DON'T try to second guess a person who actually was there. nuf said.
Another member of the 7% of the 13% acting like they do. They should start a riot for Malik Halfacre another one of the 7%. He shot members of his own family because he wanted his girlfriends Stimulus check. They should have marches to honor these 2 POS like they have the other career criminals that they seem to Worship. Seems like 99.9 % of the time this 7% of the 13% are involved in crimes, drugs and resisting arrest but the 7% of the 13% do not want to see that. Just like 90% of the demoncRATs in office. We the people better wake up before it is to late. g. floyd died due to him taking drugs and here the city gives his family 27 Million dollars. Of the 7% of the 13% I be all 7% would take the money rather than have their career criminal Relative alive. We better wake up before it is to late and it is damn close to being to late.
GOD BLESS OUR POLICE...........
amen
Here is another inbred thug that decided to FIGHT with police . Now , if the officer would have shot back and killed this tree swinger ,,,, the LIBERAL media would have been all over it blaming the police !!! Think about it ,, almost every police shooting starts with these bannana eaters fighting with the police .
Here is another inbred thug that decided to FIGHT with police . Now , if the officer would have shot back and killed this tree swinger ,,,, the LIBERAL media would have been all over it blaming the police !!! Think about it ,, almost every police shooting starts with these bannana eaters fighting with the police .
They should have called in a Psychologist in too talk to this poor man of color , and explain that he must do this shopping in a more transparent way : Just cry out "Racism", break the windows out, Loot, and burn the place down. Then the Media, would insist that the Officer would be charged with "Attempted Murder", and the "Victim" would be awarded $27,000,000 and all would be well !
They should have called in a Psychologist in too talk to this poor man of color , and explain that he must do this shopping in a more transparent way : Just cry out "Racism", break the windows out, Loot, and burn the place down. Then the Media, would insist that the Officer would be charged with "Attempted Murder", and the "Victim" would be awarded $27,000,000 and all would be well !
Where are all the protests & riots & burnings? Oh.....that's right it was a white cop doing his job that got shot by a black piece of trash so there will be nothing said or done!!!
Criminals have been emboldened by the permissive actions of the democrats. A person commit a crime that is on the books he gets prosecuted. That is not racial.
Mommy probably sent him down to shoplift.......Hoping a shot in his leg might get her a Million $$$$.
Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the images aren't loading properly. I'm not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I've tried it in two different web browsers and both show the same outcome.