Bobby Tolan’s Son Shot
Tolan’s 23-year-old son was shot in front of the family home on New Year’s eve, after local cops pull him over (wrongly) for driving a stolen car. The Tolans came outside to clear up the situation, one of the cops shoved Mom into the garage door, then started slinging lead as Robbie Tolan tried to get up off his stomach. One slug went through the younger Tolan’s lung and ended up in his liver.
It looks like Tolan will survive, but I suspect his baseball career might be over.
This sounds like a really messed up situation. Best wishes for a speedy recovery and justice for all involved.
January 7th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Indeed sounds like a mess. Thoughts and prayers for the family.
January 7th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Agree, how horrible.
January 7th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
man, that’s rough. the article makes it look bad for the cop. if that’s really the way things played out, i imagine this case might get some further publicity.
i just hope the kid turns out to be ok.
January 7th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Maybe someone can explain this to me… How can you live with a bullet in your liver? Honestly? How does that work?
The story offers more questions than answers. How if you are lying on the ground and “rise slightly” do you get shot in the lung? Also, when were guns drawn? Were guns drawn after the confrontation at which point the two men complied? Were the guns drawn immediately? Did the men get out of the car because they were home and officers thought they were fleeing or were they asked to get out of the vehicle with guns drawn?
Please don’t think I’m justifying it. I’m not. The website’s story was just lacking some information, or there is conflicting information which doesn’t add up. I think he was wrong to shoot him. But I don’t think the cop was just a dumb hick who wanted to shoot the guy like the story portrays it.
January 7th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Good points, David, but have you been to Texas before? It’s a different world there, especially when it comes to cops and black people.
January 7th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Yeah, this really sounds like a case of Driving While Black. Also, the cop may well be a dumb hick. When I was in high school (not in Texas) four white kids started a brutal fight with two black kids on school grounds. Guess who went to jail and who just got a slap on the wrist.
January 7th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
For the record, obviously, not all cops are bad, but some of them are. And some of the bad ones are REALLY bad.
January 7th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
I actually saw this on CNN at lunchtime, and then looked up an article online to link to.
The TV report was pretty lengthy and more-or-less even-handed, though the local sheriff wasn’t doing himself any favors.
Tolan’s cousin/brother (I’ve seen him referred to as both) was in the car, and said that the cops approached the car with guns drawn, and flashlights up in the occupants’ faces. He said they never identified themselves as cops, asked for ID, or did anything else that clued them in.
Of course, I’m not sure that information was exactly relevant to how things eventually went down, since there seemed to be some interval between the cops’ approach and the shooting.
To me, it sounds like the cops did some racial profiling, the Tolans took justifiable exception, the cop got really out of line with Mrs. T, and the kid (stupidly, but understandably) tried to protect his mom.
January 7th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Without trying to get too political here I’ll just say that’s awful.
Dave, I’m not really sure how one lives with a bullet in there but I imagine it’s the best alternative to having surgery to try and remove it without causing further damage to the liver.
January 7th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Dave - He could totally be a dumb hick profiling. I just tend to give people the benefit of the doubt and the story left questions.
Chris - Thanks for the post. I’m sure as more information comes out, we will get a better feel for the complete story.
January 7th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
It’s just one of those terrible situations, where if any of a dozen things happen slightly different, there’s no major incident and everyone starts the new year happy.
It seems like I shouldn’t have to say this, but I’m sure the cop didn’t WANT to shoot the kid, but I’m also struck that this probably wouldn’t have happened the same way if it had been a white kid fooling around in his car, in front of his parents’ nice suburban house, with his white middle-aged parents coming out to straighten things out. Not that it COULDN’T happen - I’m just having a hard time picturing it.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Chris- Why does it matter what color he is? I just recently read of a young college student shot to death by cops while dressed in Nazi army clothes on new years eve…he was white so what gives? The fact is that the AA (black to be politically incorrect) community has a crime problem…and people are human and make mistakes in situations, in this case on both sides. Another fact is how much attention the news media gives these situations when there is any racial differences involved.
A man got shot by police and it may be a bad cop issue, race should be irrelevant. What should they do fire all the cops?
After the investigation is complete then maybe we’ll see what really happens. Thank God nobody was killed.
January 8th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
I’m not completely up to speed on police process, but would it have been so terribly difficult to just run the tags and see that the tags matched the make/model of the vehicle? Why were these policeman assuming the vehicle was stolen w/o doing the basic steps first? That’s just bad police work.
January 8th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
mhopp, I just have to disagree with you on this one.
I have no information about the Nazi being shot, but will submit that many more innocent black men are shot than innocent whites.
As for the “black community has a crime problem” comment — that’s the type of racial profiling that a cop isn’t supposed to engage in.
I agree that people make mistakes. As I said, I don’t think any cop sets out with a desire to shoot someone.
January 8th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Also, this type of thing SHOULD be newsworthy. I think shooting innocent people in their driveways should be discouraged by any reasonable means.
January 8th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
mhopp - The nazi guy had a rifle and took aim at the police twice. They shot him the second time. It’s not quite the same situation.
I won’t bother retyping all of the excellent points that Chris just made.
January 8th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
I agree with everything Chris has written.
mhopp, the only reason the news/people point out the difference of race is that it happens way too often where innocent and unarmed black men are shot by white police officers. The saddest part about it is usually the police officers involved get time off with pay before returning back to the job.
In regards to the nazi guy I just looked it up…he was holding a fully working rifle with a bayonet attached. While I’m not suggesting that was a justifiable homicide I’m just saying that’s a pretty huge difference compared to a guy who was getting off the ground after an officer assaulted his mother.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
I know it’s a sad situation, but I couldn’t help but laugh at this sentence:
Police searching the apartment after the incident found the large collection of German military regalia and a lot of alcohol, Kappel said.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008582093_shooting02m0.html