Man to be executed for Texas game warden's death in shootout

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Man to be executed for Texas game warden's death in shootout

Michael Graczyk, Associated Press

Updated 3:19 pm, Tuesday, January 26, 2016



HOUSTON (AP) — A man who led authorities on a chase followed by a shootout that left a Texas game warden dead is scheduled to be executed this week in the busy death penalty state.

James Freeman was suspected of illegally hunting at night from his truck in Southeast Texas' Wharton County when a game warden spotted him. Freeman drove off, leading authorities to pursue him for 90 minutes. The chase reached 130 mph at one point and ended near a cemetery with Freeman stepping out of his disabled pickup truck and shooting at officers.

With three of his tires flattened, Freeman kept firing until he emptied his 11-shot .357-caliber handgun. He switched to an AK-47 assault rifle with a 30-round clip.

When it was over, Freeman had been shot four times and Justin Hurst, a Texas Parks and Wildlife game warden who had joined the March 17, 2007, chase, was fatally wounded. It was Hurst's 34th birthday.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Man-to-be-executed-for-Texas-game-warden-s-death-6785417.php

[TipTok]

1. Good...

[scscholar]

5. Why?

Why do you think escalating the level of violence is good?

[TipTok]

6. It's not an escalation...

He gets to die in a clinical and virtually pain free environment. That is deescalation.

Not so much for his victims who probably bled out...

[geek tragedy]

2. meh nt

[TBF]

3. I think we need another photo here -

His memorial page: http://www.odmp.org/officer/18758-game-warden-justin-hurst#ixzz3yOpb7w1Y

I am not crazy about the death penalty, but this was a game warden who died on his 34th birthday, leaving his wife and baby (their son was 4 mos. old at the time, he's about 5 in the photo).

[24601]

4. Why does anyone need a truck that goes 130 MPH? n/t

[Reter]

7. Most vehicles can reach around that speed

Not that we "need" it, it's just there.

[Nihil]

8. For the same reason that he "needs" an AK-47 assault rifle with a 30-round clip ...

... and "needs" to hunt illegally at night.

I'll leave the diagnosis to others but there is a common theme ...

[24601]

9. He certainly doesn't need to hunt at night and that behavior can and is regulated. A real AK-47 is

fully automatic machine gun which requires a federal license. Most likely this was a semi-automatic look-alike that isn't one. But a lot of reporters wouldn't know the difference. Along the lines of people who saw an Army Chaparral (Tactical air defense system based on the AIM-9 Air to Air Sidewinder missile) and thought they were cruise missiles.

But there isn't anything in the constitution about driving a truck or hunting - so they can be need-based if a state so chooses. I remember when we had speedometers that wouldn't go above 85 MPH even though the vehicle would. It wasn't illegal to limit them by threatening to cut of highway funds, just ineffective.

At a fundamental level, that's the difference between a right and a privilege. Your need to a right is irrelevant. No one needs to speak or worship or own a firearm. Despite the 21st Amendment, his right to alcohol could have been limited or eliminated because of his conviction.

Did he need a .357 or a rifle that resembled an AK-47? As I said above, irrelevant, and it could be limited based on terms of his probation since you can lose a right based on criminal conviction. It's probably not automatic that a DUI would have resulted in that, but it's based in law if a state chose to do it.