284 replies to this topic

[h2831]

Joseph was a smart, witty, funny, sensitive, creative person--full of big dreams. He was a great friend and loving older brother and son. He graduated with a degree in criminology from UC Irvine and helped his parents out with their family business. As far as I know, he has no criminal record nor any run in's with the law. He was a great kid, with a full life ahead of him. I know that he will be missed by the many people that loved him.

[camay2327]

Drooling, where did you come from?


Let him rant and just don't answer him/her.

[a little bean]

Ha that wont be an issue. I wouldnt want to be killed for no reason then have an entire town villify me while crowning the officers who did it as heros and saviors.

Have some respect for Joseph and his family people. Bashing the victim whos tragically no longer with us while glorifying and supporting the trigger happy goons who ended his life shows everyone how "special" you really are..

Dude, no one is glorifying or saying that this was the right outcome. All that I've heard is that in general people think that the Folsom PD does their best, and without knowing all the facts, we're not going to accuse them of murdering the young man. Over and over it was said that this was a tragic outcome for all involved. No one wants to villify either party. I'm not sure what it is that you're so hot and bothered about.

[mylo]

Ha that wont be an issue. I wouldnt want to be killed for no reason then have an entire town villify me while crowning the officers who did it as heros and saviors.

Yeah, that would be tragic.

[bordercolliefan]

Joseph was a smart, witty, funny, sensitive, creative person--full of big dreams. He was a great friend and loving older brother and son. He graduated with a degree in criminology from UC Irvine and helped his parents out with their family business. As far as I know, he has no criminal record nor any run in's with the law. He was a great kid, with a full life ahead of him. I know that he will be missed by the many people that loved him.

That is a beautiful tribute that puts a human face on the person who lost his life.

Is there any explanation for how this happened? Was he troubled, depressed, or having other problems? The whole thing is very hard to understand.

[Steve Heard]

Let's not vilify either side in this. It is a tragedy and I'm sure that all involved wish it hadn't happened.

It is wrong to suggest, without the facts, that these were trigger happy cops who wanted to shoot somone.

I didn't see the report, but was told that the young man was hit with tasers twice, and wounded by gunfire once, but came back at the officers again.

According to sacbee.com, the last time Folsom had an officer involved shooting was in the early 90's.

[Bill Z]

Let's not vilify either side in this. It is a tragedy and I'm sure that all involved wish it hadn't happened.

It is wrong to suggest, without the facts, that these were trigger happy cops who wanted to shoot somone.

I didn't see the report, but was told that the young man was hit with tasers twice, and wounded by gunfire once, but came back at the officers again.

According to sacbee.com, the last time Folsom had an officer involved shooting was in the early 90's.

Hmm, >10 years since the last time.

Yeah, like that really supports the trigger happy image

[nlove4ever]

Last week 3 Police officers in Pittsburgh, Pa. lost their lives after being called for a domestic disturbance. Two or three weeks ago 4 Oakland Police officers were killed by a nut case thug. Sorry, but I am not placing any of the blame on the cops. You go after a cop with a knife and don't go down when tazered, you are going to be shot and enough times to make sure you stay down. The Police protected themselves and everyone else in the house.

Yes I agree 100%. They can’t take any chances especially with the recent events. I read that they tasered him 2 times. Maybe he was on drugs?? I have heard that people on PCP have unbelievable amounts of strength. I think they did what they had to do to protect themselves.

To the person that commented on them shooting him 3 times, well I believe all 3 officers shot once. I would call that justified. It’s not like they have time to decided which one of the three are only going to shoot him once. And if one shot 3 times, well I think he had that right when someone was coming at him with a knife. If he was on drugs is may have taken 3 shots to take him down.

[nlove4ever]

I've read all the posts here, and have not chosen to give an opinion, due to the high emotional energy.

However, I will say that during my life I have seen a few cases where death was such an unexpected shock and rumors went around among friends and relatives as to what happened. Those bits of information were mostly wrong after the true details came out weeks later.

There seems to be so much grief with a loss that sometimes a person wants to strike out and lay blame on others. There is a sense that there must have been someone to blame for such an untimely death to occur. I've seen fights at funerals, and arguments among relatives and friends over a death like this, even years afterwards.

Blame seems to go everywhere when this sort of tragedy happens. Everyone connected to the situation is suspect of making the wrong judgment call, or not doing something they should have to avoid the death. It's a very common reaction and very human.

When someone loses a friend or relative, the loss can be so overwhelming, they lose perspective and need time and patience, as well as sympathy, until they can cope better.

I also know for a fact that police officers dread the day they must take a life. They have to have counseling and sometimes take a time off work to cope with it. Nightmares are common and regret is the biggest effect they have. I'm sure the officers involved are also suffering, as they know of the severe loss of this family, and the suffering it has caused.

My heart felt sympathy goes to the family and friends of this young man. It is, indeed a great loss to them and to our community to lose a person so young and obviously so educated and so full of hope and dreams for his future.

I hope the friends and family take good care of themselves and make sure to also take care of the needs of those who are also suffering this tragic death. Love each other.....
time is so short, every minute, should be cherished.

Very well put..........

[northlexer]

I know for a fact that the blade was only 4 inches long. It was a swiss army knife. However, I do agree, any knife is still dangerous.

sorry. I got my info from the article on the myfolsom homepage.

[supermom]

Swiss army knives are made that long?

My sons swiss army knife is only 1 1/2" long.


Does anyone know how this young man's family are doing?

Or how the police officers are doing?

Do they need a casserole or something?

Hand wringing seems more productive than arguing about how this should not have been handled.

I'm sure that the FPD have some sort of Internal Review that investigates deaths and incidents like this.

Let's give them a chance to do their job.

[Sue]

well, I have heard a 8 inch knife, but I guess that includes a 4 inch blade and a four inch handle...maybe.

[Sue]

BTW, the Sacramento Bee says the Sacramento County DA is investigating, so hopefully the truth will come out, one way or another. I also heard 3 officers, 3 shots, but only 2 officers shot their guns.

[Lexhills]

This is not the first time a person in a mental health crisis has been killed by police. Police are not mental health prof.(MHP) yet they are at times the only ones we can turn to in this type of emergancy.

I challenge all of you who believe this tragedy should have been or could have been avoided to, in the memory of this young man, join together in your community to find a solution. Some have suggested that police departments need to hire MHP to accompany police on calls such as the one to Joseph's home. If a MHP had responded with police would the outcome have been different? Could Joseph be alive today if the police had this resource? Possibly.

Talk is cheap. Folsom is the perfect setting in which to try this approach. How many more lives could be saved? How about asking the Folsom City Coun. to find a way to fund this? Voters are being asked to divert funds from the Mental Health Services Act to help with the budget deficit. This finds from this act would be perfiect for funding this type of prevention program. If this won't work for Folsom, how about one of the new federal grants for police - part of the economic recovery program?

Edited by Lexhills, 14 April 2009 - 07:23 PM.