Officer Quickfire Weekly Recap: Third Week of August

Aug. 23, 2013
Here are some of the stories you may have missed that ran on our site during the week.

It can be hard to keep up with all of the news that occurs on daily basis.

Because of this, the Officer.com staff presents the "Quickfire Weekly Recap."

Here are some of the stories you may have missed that ran on our site this week:

Weekend (Aug. 16-18)

Fort Hood, Texas Police Officer Kimberly Munley testified Friday during the military trial of Maj. Nidal Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 people at the military base in November 2009.

Munley recalled trying to fire her weapon as she lay bleeding on the ground, but nothing happened. She said Hasan then kicked the gun from her hand, but then his weapon malfunctioned before one of her fellow officers shot him.

More than 100 officers from Boston-area police departments took part in a motorcycle ride Saturday honoring slain MIT Police Officer Sean Collier.

Collier was allegedly shot and killed by the Boston Marathon bombing suspects while trying to elude authorities on April 18. The event was put on by Ride4Cops and raised $50,000 to help families of officers who die in the line of duty.

The Anchorage Police Department announced Friday that it plans to deploy dozens of civilian volunteers to patrol the city in unmarked cars during weekend nights in search of drunken drivers.

The initiative is aimed at ending a spike in drunken-driving wrecks that have killed four people in two months. So far, 45 volunteers have signed up to drive their own cars, pickups and SUVs in the weekend patrols.

A judge and a sheriff's deputy in Cook County, Ill. tackled a defendant who tried to run out of a courtroom Friday.

Vongia Weathers became violent after Judge Nicholas Ford said he was increase bond. The man allegedly shoved and punched Deputy Fred Holcomb and attempted to run out of the courtroom. As Holcomb struggled with Weathers, Ford lent a hand and helped wrestle him to the floor near the first row of benches.

Monday (Aug. 19)

Authorities in Iowa intensified their search for an inmate who escaped Friday night after he allegedly shot a Taylor County Sheriff's deputy late Sunday night.

Deputy Dan Wyckoff was shot twice after leaving his cruiser to check on a man walking along the highway. The suspect stole his cruiser and fled the scene.

A responding deputy picked up Wyckoff and they pursued the suspect, locating the abandoned cruiser about 40 minutes later.

A 10-month investigation into an operation allegedly smuggling firearms into New York City resulted in 19 arrests in three states and 254 weapons.

Officials say the firearms were hidden in luggage and carried on discount buses into the city.

Huntington Beach, Calif. police arrested a suspect in a July 28 riot after he 'liked' a photo of the vandalism he allegedly perpetrated.

Luis Enrique Rodriquez reportedly tipped himself off by clicking the "like" box on the police department's Facebook page next to a photo of expletives written on the sides of police cars.

The NYPD is receiving complaints from upset residents making a stink over the department's mounted patrol unit.

They claim that the manure left by the horses is not being clean up in a timely manner.

Tuesday (Aug. 20)

An Iowa man, who along with his wife was being held hostage by an escaped inmate, fatally shot the man who allegedly shot a sheriff's deputy over the weekend.

Jerome and Carolyn Mauderly were asleep in their Bedford home when Rodney Eugene Long -- the man police say shot Taylor County Deputy Dan Wyckoff -- broke into their home. Jerome reportedly shot Long with his shotgun around 2 a.m. after being held hostage for nearly four hours

A New Mexico court ruled that the widow of an off-duty Pojoaque Pueblo tribal police officer who died more than a decade ago while rescuing a boy is entitled to workers' compensation benefits.

Cheryl Schultz had waged a long legal battle after a workers' compensation judge in 2007 rejected her claim for after her of her husband, Kevin, died after pulling a boy from the river while he was fishing.

Maricopa County, Ariz. Sheriff Joe Arpaio is warning members of local militias that they could end up shot by one of his deputies.

Arpaio's comments came after a member of an Arizona Minuteman border-watch movement was arrested over the weekend for pointing a rifle at a deputy he apparently mistook for a drug smuggler.

The bags of Doritos handed out by Seattle police officers at the annual Hempfest event are proving to be a hot item.

The bags of chips, which included information on them about the state's new marijuana law -- are fetching $50 on eBay. Officers handed out 1,000 bags of chips at the event that draws as many as 85,000 people per day.

Wednesday (Aug. 21)

A man with a rifle and other weapons exchanged gunfire with officers at a Decatur, Ga. elementary school before surrendering.

Students at Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy were escorted by teachers and police to safety and no one was injured.

California's push to relieve severe prison overcrowding has resulted in the Los Angeles Police Department taking dozens of officers away from their regular patrol duties.

A report estimated that the department will spend about $18 million of its payroll and equipment budget on those officers in the current fiscal year.

Detroit's police communications systems went down for the second time this summer.

Officers out at shooting scenes had only their personal cell phones for communication.

Police in Elyria, Ohio say confusion over a phone message about a toy gun fight prompted a false report of a shooting at a school on the first day of class.

Officers rushed to Open Door Christian School and Church and put it on lockdown for what turned out to be a Nerf gunfight.

Thursday (Aug. 22)

The New York City Council voted to create an outside watchdog for the NYPD and make it easier for people to file profiling claims against it.

The decision overrode the vetoes of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who said following the vote that oversight will make it "harder for our police officers to protect New Yorkers and continue to drive down crime."

Las Vegas police say a couple spent hundreds of hours over four months plotting to abduct torture and kill police officers.

Officials say David Allen Brutsche and Devon Campbell Newman planned the killings as a way to attract attention to their anti-authority "sovereign citizens" movement.

The school bookkeeper who helped calm a gunman during a standoff at a Georgia elementary school earlier in the week was commended by DeKalb County police for her efforts.

Antoinette Tuff spoke to the suspect, 20-year-old Michael Brandon Hill while she was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher.

Meanwhile, police say Hill took a photo of himself with an AK 47-rifle and packed up nearly 500 rounds of ammunition before the attack.

Friday (Aug. 23)

Army Maj. Nidal Hasan was convicted for the deadly 2009 shooting rampage at the Fort Hood military base in Texas.

Hasan was found guilty on all 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder and is now eligible for the death penalty.

As outgoing FBI Director Robert Mueller wraps up his tenure, he says he worries that terrorists will once again target planes.

Mueller will be succeeded by James Comey after he leaves his post on Sept. 4.

Through the help of mathematical analysis, the Chicago Police Department hopes to hone in on people it believes are most at risk of shooting someone or being shot themselves.

The department's 'Heat List' calls for warning those listed individually that further criminal activity will result in the full force of the law being brought down on them.

The Ohio Highway Patrol and the Ohio State Troopers has settled a disagreement over shoes.

Troopers can now choose to wear a dressier short boot or a more athletic version with laces. The union previously contended the buckle boots being required were slick and potentially insecure, creating unsafe working conditions.

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