Sheriff, MSP Respond to Shooting of James Dean

Leonardtown - 12/27/2006

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Press conference Tuesday evening: Sheriff Tim Cameron speaks to media about the shooting of James Dean earlier that afternoon.

By Anna Bedford

The Bay Net Photos by Lewis Russell Following yesterday's 14 hour stand-off between police and Leonardtown veteran James Dean, Sheriff Tim Cameron and Maryland State Police’s Tim Hutchins held a press conference to release initial information. The conference itself was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. but delayed over two hours as police gathered facts compiled a release. Above and below are video footage of the conference. For previous reports of the incident see The Bay Net’s articles here and here.      Press gather outside the Sheriff's Office in Leonardtown

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Tim Hutchins, MSP, speaks at press conference regarding tactical shooting of James Dean

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MAT5 12/27/2006 at 2:59 PM A call for help! Did this "tactical" shooter that shot Jamie have to shoot to kill??? I'm sure the family regrets the call for help! My heart goes out to his dad and family. Reply to This Comment

X-Fusion 12/27/2006 at 4:07 PM Reply to MAT5: Maybe .. I don't think you can really question the actions of the officer that shot James. Put yourself in his situation. You have a man, who is/was a former Army Ranger raising a gun at you. There's a pretty good chance you're gonna get killed. It's you or him. Congrats to the state police and sheriffs department for showing restraint through the night.

jhns64 12/27/2006 at 8:44 PM Reply to MAT5: UNREAL You CANNOT tell me that those police/sharp shooter couldn't take a shot to his arm or leg or something to just dis-arm him and get the help he obviously needed and wanted. There is NO REASON for a deadly shot to someone who is crying for help. If they were a "sharp shooter" they could've gone for a non-lifethreating injury versus death!

Christy9920 12/27/2006 at 3:54 PM I Agree... My heartfelt sympathy goes out to all of Jamie's family and close friends. Hindsight is always 20/20 and if the family had of known then what they know now, I'm sure the call would have never been made. I honestly don't think it needed to end the way it did, but then again, I'm not a cop and wasn't in their situation. This was a shock to the community. May Jamie Dean rest in peace. Reply to This Comment

jnevis 12/28/2006 at 9:16 AM Reply to Christy9920: shooting Unfortunately whether or not the family called the police the outcome could have been the same. His mental stability was in question and he may have shot himself eventually and may or may not have hurt someone else in the process. My condolences to the family and to the officer who had to shoot him.

ksue61 12/27/2006 at 7:09 PM Cry for help but Police shoot to Kill One disturbed man versus an entire police force all because of this uncalled war in Iraq. I understand he had a gun, but the "tactical" policeman is supposed to be very well trained in shooting, so why couldn't he have shot him in the leg or arm to bring him down instead of one shot aimed to kill? Reply to This Comment

ksue61 12/27/2006 at 7:09 PM Cry for help but Police shoot to Kill One disturbed man versus an entire police force all because of this uncalled for war in Iraq. I understand he had a gun, but the "tactical" policeman is supposed to be very well trained in shooting, so why couldn't he have shot him in the leg or arm to bring him down instead of one shot aimed to kill? Reply to This Comment

GRTNSO 12/28/2006 at 2:35 PM Reply to ksue61: Understanding Police Tactics. Police do not shoot to kill. They do shoot to neutralize a threat. Officers, including sharpshooters, snipers or whatever other name they go by, are trained to take very high risk, but very calculated shots. They are very good at it. They cannot be held to the standard of being able to shoot a gun or a knife out of a suspects hands in every situation, nor can we expect them to be able to calculate, aim and shoot a non-fatal shot, when their lives are at stake. While a feel very bad for Mr. Dean and his family, and I wish he had gotten the help that he obviously needed sooner, but I do not want to see our police officers be blamed for the outcome of this situation. Keep in mind that this incident had been going on for about 14 hours. Mr. Dean had already fired at police officers and occupied police cruisers. I think the police showed a lot of restraint through those incidents. Given Mr. Dean's willingness to put officers in the line of fire, his actions to raise a weapon again as EST, SOT and STATE teams were moving towards his residence clearly show that his actions were to harm those officers. Mr. Dean's death is tragic, but in this case was necessary to keep those officers safe. Mr. Dean was a highly trained Army Ranger with combat experience. He knew how to handle a weapon and to fight tactically. The Trooper that shot him was in a "countersniper" position, basically a distant, concealed position, with a vantage point to be able to view the entire situation and relay information to the tactical teams -- being that they were in positions not able to see the entire situation. This Trooper saw Mr. Dean raise a weapon at his fellow officers and had mere seconds -- if that -- to take action. I commend this Trooper for doing the job we as tax payers pay him to do.

jdjlcombs 12/28/2006 at 8:04 AM Do you really think Do you really think he was out to hurt someone honestly!!! He is a Army Ranger, he knows how to shoot to kill, so if he really wanted to harm someone he would have, they dont train for this in the military for nothing. I think he was just scared and didnt want to go back to the mess of the war. There was no reason for him to be shot dead, there could have been other way for the police to disarm him by maybe shooting a leg or arm, but why kill him!!! I guess we will never know. Reply to This Comment

poster 12/28/2006 at 10:28 AM Reply to jdjlcombs: DOING THEIR JOB I DON'T THINK THE POLICE DID ANYTHING WRONG THEY ARE THERE TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC. HE COULD HAVE ACCIDENTALLY OR INTENTIONALLY SHOT SOMEONE AND THEY'RE JOB IS TO STOP THAT FROM HAPPENING. HE OBVIOUSLY WAS WILLING TO DISCHARGE IS WEAPON BECAUSE HE'D ALREADY DONE SO. I FEEL FOR HIS FAMILY AND THE OFFICERS DOING THEIR JOBS. REMEMBER THE POLICE HAVE FAMILIES TOO AND THEY HAVE TO SIT AND WAIT TO SEE IF THEY'RE LOVED ONES WILL GET HURT ALSO.

captbuck 12/28/2006 at 10:41 AM A necessary evil Cops are nothing but little boys with cool toys. Once they get a call like this, they are thrilled to break out their guns and equipment just for a chance to use it. Look at the scene they made in the photos. Where is the big picture perspective? A man needed help, not a hole in his chest. They compounded the situation and made it worse. Why couldn't they back down and diffuse the situation vs making it the scene it was? Why couldn't a K-9 been thrown into a broken window? I suppose we don't have tazers or bean bag guns down here. Congrats on the notch on your belt, johnny law. Reply to This Comment

BlueCat 12/28/2006 at 2:16 PM Be real? Do you knuckleheads really think that if you raise a gun towards police that they should shoot you in the leg? Duh! This is a very sad story. But Jamie had 15 hours to end the standoff in a peaceful way and chose to go out with gunfire. The police would have preferred an ending that gets him the mental help he needed but they couldn't break through to his sense of reason. By the time they responded, he wanted someone to die. Thankfully we're not writing a story about a good deputy who leaves behind a wife and small child and was just there doing his job. Meanwhile, if you followed the standoff, he fired on an occupied police car. He fired at officers who were trying to communicate with him by delivering a telephone to him. Jamie was a good man who snapped and refused the help that was offered to him. Hopefully he will be remembered as just that - a good man who served his country - and not for the last 15 hours of his short life. May he rest in peace. Reply to This Comment

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