Officer Shoots Snake, Kills OK Boy


Investigators say Noble police shot and killed a 5-year-old boy while trying to shoot a snake. A person apparently called police after noticing the snake in a wooded area behind some homes. Detectives say officers found the snake and started shooting at it. Apparently, stray bullets hit a 5-year-old boy near a pond. A medical helicopter flew the boy to Norman Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Oh my ... that is so horribly tragic... why would they just start shooting without making sure no one was near?

And why even shoot the snake? Was it venomous?

__________________
" You've Been Thunder Struck ! "

On the NEWS it stated that officer(s) were shooting up into the rafters at a snake when they heard a scream and then they found out that a stray bullet had hit a small child that was playing in/around a nearby pond.

They said that the area was a 'rural section' and that it was "heavily wooded".

I can not even comprehend why any officer would shoot at a snake unless someone was in immediate harm. Stray Bullet? What were they doing? Why shoot the snake in the first place?

This really upsets me. It is very difficult for me to even begin to comprehend a loss such as this.

What a terrible tragic loss of a little Oklahoma child. Bless his family and his little soul.

Stray police bullet kills Noble youth

Transcript Staff

A 5-year-old boy died Friday evening after he was apparently hit with a stray bullet from a Noble police officer who was attempting to shoot at a snake, said Noble City Manager Bob Wade.

“I think we need to have a full investigation and gather all the facts,” Wade said. “It makes you wonder why an officer would shoot into the air like that.”

Noble police were responding to a call of a live snake that was stuck in the rafters of a house about 6:30 p.m. Friday in a rural part of Noble in the Crestdale addition off of South Etowah Road when the incident happened, Wade said.

“One of the officers made the decision to shoot the snake,” he said. “After he fired, they heard a commotion coming from a field behind the house.”

A bullet apparently hit the boy who was fishing with a relative nearby, Wade said.

The boy was taken to Norman Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Wade said.

Noble police chief Ben Daves was at the emergency room late Friday evening and could not be reached for comment.


The Norman Transcript - Stray police bullet kills Noble youth

This is just sad and pathetic. Who in their right mind would try to shoot a snake? Even if it was venomous! I mean come on, we live in Oklahoma, are snakes really that uncommon? Haven't they ever heard of a long stick, or calling animal control? Makes you wonder what exactly was going through that officers head.

Personally, I would press charges against him. I sure don't want someone that makes irresponsible decisions like that having a badge and "protecting" the innocent. Who knows who is next. A hostage situation and he shoots the hostage to capture the criminal.

Where has common sense gone!

If you're going to kill a snake, you should use a shotgun, not a handgun!

I don't know about pressing charges, but certainly firing him would be proper. I feel sorry for both the family and the officer. I can't imagine having to live with killing a little boy over a stupid decision that I made. It's a horrible situation for all involved.

__________________
My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind
Albert Einstein

NewsOK: 5-year-old shot and killed

By Johnny Johnson
Staff Writer
NOBLE — The first shot was so loud it made the hair stand straight up on Jack Tracy's arm. The bullet hit the water just a few feet in front of the boat dock where he was standing.


Instinctively, he pulled his 5-year-old grandson, Austin Haley, close to his left side and began yelling that there were people down by the pond.

Then came the second shot, and the unforgettable thump of a 9 mm bullet penetrating a young boy's skull.

"It went right through the back of his head and came out the front,” Tracy said. "He was just bleeding severely and I knew, right then, he was most likely dead, right there.”

Tracy thought he and his grandson were under attack by someone trying to kill them both, so he threw the boy into the back of a 4-wheeler and drove to his daughter's house about 200 yards away.

"Then two officers came out of the brush over there,” he said. "They didn't tell us they were the ones who had been shooting or that they had shot him. They didn't admit a doggone thing.”

Much later, Tracy said, he found out one of the officers had fired two shots in the Crest Lane neighborhood, trying to kill a snake that had become lodged in a birdhouse on the back porch of a house just up the hill from Tracy's pond.

‘I just feel really bad'
Police had gotten a call of a snake complaint from a woman on Crest Lane, whose 16-year-old daughter saw the snake hanging about 3 feet of its body outside a neighbor's bird house.

The woman, who would not identify herself, told The Oklahoman she called the police station to see if animal control could respond and take care of the snake, which she believed to be a diamondback rattlesnake.

She was told that the city, which lost its only animal control officer recently, would send a police officer over to help.

"This was just a freak and tragic accident,” the woman said, "and I just feel really bad for everyone involved.”

Other neighbors weren't as sympathetic.

Crest Lane resident Kara Johnson said there was no excuse for shooting a gun at a snake in a residential area.

"It's a shame that someone had to lose their 5-year-old child over a snake,” Johnson said. "And that's their only child. They'll never get their kid back.”

Neighbor G.W. Henderson said his wife heard a woman screaming within minutes of the shots.

"She was shouting ‘You shot my boy! You shot my boy!'” Henderson said.

Second shot hit snake
City Manager Bob Wade said rumors of overeager Noble officers are inaccurate. "I was told that they tried several ways to get the snake down, but it was still hissing at them and firmly lodged,” Wade said. "What I was told is that the owner of the home either suggested or agreed that they should go ahead and shoot the snake, and then everything happened from there.”

Wade refused to identify the officer suspected of firing the shots but said the officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents were told that officers decided to shoot the animal after being told there was a field behind them, said Jessica Brown, bureau spokeswoman.

"The first shot grazed the snake, and the second killed it,” Brown said.

Wade said he is 90 percent sure that the same bullet that killed the snake also killed Austin, but due to the trajectory of the shot and the fact that Austin and his grandfather were downhill, investigators have to be 100 percent certain.

"This is so bizarre it has to be fully investigated. ... We're pretty sure circumstantially that it is the bullet from the police officer's gun, but it might be a bullet from someone else,” Wade said.

Tracy has little doubt about what happened.

"I was standing right beside him when they shot him in the head,” he said. "There just wasn't anything I could do for this baby. He was dead. And he was just the finest Christian boy. His mother just bought him a Bible not a week before this — he wanted one that was camouflage because he was in the Lord's army.'”

Tracy said that when he saw the news reports and heard the police chief saying it was an "unfortunate accident,” the remark seemed too trivial and dismissive.

. "I'm not saying the cop shot him on purpose,” Tracy said. "It was an accident. But let me tell you — if I had a kid and put him in this car and didn't put him in a car seat and he got killed on the way to town, they'd charge me with murder ... and what this cop did is a lot worse than that. ... There was no reason for him to kill my grandson.”

Guest Book - Austin Haley


Please sign the Guest Book for:
Austin Haley

5 year old child killed by Police Officer in Noble, OK

‘He was a special boy’

By Tony Pennington

Transcript Staff Writer

NOBLE – The boat dock on the family pond was a favorite spot for Jack Tracy and his six grandchildren.

Tracy often would gather the children in his all-terrain vehicle and travel the more than 100 yards from his home to the watering hole. There the clan would feed the fish or drop a line in the water among the numerous trees, constant hum of insects, irregular splashes of fish breaking the surface and the cawing and chirping of various birds.

This once pristine setting has become tainted following a Friday evening shooting that left Tracy’s grandson Austin Haley, 5, dead and at least one Noble police officer on administrative leave.

“There was no reason to discharge a firearm,” proclaimed Tracy Saturday afternoon mere feet from the boat dock where Austin was struck by a stray bullet.

Fighting the tears visible in his eyes, Tracy continued, “He killed my grandbaby. I wish he killed me.”

Austin died Friday evening at Norman Regional Hospital following injuries he sustained when a rogue bullet struck him in the head. The 5-year-old, who would have attended kindergarten at Katherine I. Daily Elementary School in Noble in a few weeks, was at the pond with Tracy, his great-grandfather Jim Gillum and younger brother Dalton, 2.

According to Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation officials a Noble police officer fired his weapon twice at a residence in the 300 block of Crest Lane in Noble. The rooftops of the houses on Crest Lane can been seen from the boat dock.

The officer, whose name has not been released by the Noble police department, was responding to a call sometime around 8 p.m. about a snake trapped in a birdhouse. The animal is believed to have been a “cotton mouth” or “water moccasin” — a poisonous water snake. It was then the officer allegedly unholstered his firearm and expelled two rounds.

“The officer decided shooting the snake would be the best option,” said OSBI spokesperson Jessica Brown. “They heard a splash in the pond from the first shot. The second shot struck the 5-year-old in the head.”

Brown estimated the home on Crest Lane is about 200-250 yards away from Tracy’s pond in the 1200 block of East Etowah Road. Tracy’s home and the home of Austin’s parents, Jack and Renee Haley, also are on the same piece of land as the pond.

OSBI was called to the scene Friday night where they conducted interviews and collected evidence.

“It will be given to the district attorney to determine any criminal wrong doing,” Brown said.

The Noble police department declined to comment on the investigation but did state a release would be issued Monday. Noble City Manager Bob Wade confirmed at least one Noble officer was placed on administrative leave, but could not offer more information.

“There are still a lot of lose ends that need to be investigated,” Wade said.

While authorities continue to research the circumstances of the shooting, Austin’s family has pulled together and struggled to understand why the officer used his weapon in a residential area.

“This is not a rural area,” Tracy said. There are at least 30 houses in the immediate area. “This officer was criminally negligent.”

Jack and Renee also expressed their grief.

“He was a special boy,” said Renee while clutching the camouflaged Bible she purchased for Austin last week. The Curtis Inge Middle School teacher spoke about her son’s devotion to his faith. Austin would remember scriptures and often quoted them to friends and family. He told his mother he was in the Army of God.

“He wanted to know all about the Bible,” Renee said. “… maybe he wasn’t a boy, he may have been an angel.”

The absence of Austin has left the family with a “one step-at-a-time” mentality. They are trying to stay as strong like the faith that infused Austin.

“We believe in God,” Tracy said.

And with God is where Renee believes she will find her son.

“We will never forget this special 5-year-old boy,” she said being comforted by her husband. “I will hold him again someday.”

Tony Pennington

366-3541

tpennington@normantranscript.com

I truly hope the officer is charge with a crime - manslaughter, reckless endangerment, or something similar.

Austin Gabriel Haley


Austin Gabriel Haley of Noble passed away Friday, August 3, 2007, at the age of 5, the day after his mother's birthday.

Austin was born October 24, 2001 in Norman, OK, the older of two sons born to Jack Haley and Renee (Tracy) Haley.

Austin was deeply loved by his parents and 2-year-old brother, Dalton Haley.

Austin loved his family with a godly kind of love.

He loved sharing God's word through the memorization of Bible verses and singing to the Lord.

His favorite Bible verse was Jeremiah 17:7: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him."

Wednesday, two days before his death, Austin was heard praying fervently from his heart by his mama:
"I love you, God.
I love you, Jesus.
I love you, God.
I love you, Jesus."

Austin loved to run and play with his friends and family.
He cherished fishing with his Grandpa, his Daddy, and his baby brother, Dalton.
Austin said on Friday morning, "Mama, I want you to play on the swing set with me when you get home.
Please, push me on the swing and help me across the monkey bars.
I also want to go to the pond and feed the fish."
All his wishes came to pass that day before his death just before 8:00 p.m. that same evening.
Austin will forever be cherished by all who knew him.

He is survived by his parents, Jack and Renee Haley and baby brother, Dalton, of Noble;
grandparents, Jack and Cheryl Tracy of Noble;
his Nanny, Bettie Ruth Haley of Tecumseh;
great-grandparents, Jim and Dixie Gillum of Noble and
Melvin and Jeanie Lee of Whitney, TX
and several aunts, uncles, cousins, church family, and friends.

Funeral Services are scheduled for 11:00 A.M. Wednesday August 8, 2007 at the Noble Assembly of God Church with Rev. Steve Lance officiating.

Pallbearers will be Frank Middleton, Jack Tracy II, Travis Tracy, Kenneth Haley, Leonard Haley and Chad Hall.

Honorary bearers will be Carson Howlett, Collin Deaton, Jackson Lewis, Seth Tennison and Jaylin Kendall.

Burial will follow at the Noble I.O.O.F. cemetery under the direction of the Wilson-Little Funeral Home of Purcell.

Memorials can be made to the Austin Haley Memorial Fund @ Tinker Federal Credit Union @ any Oklahoma Branch.

Who calls the police because they have a snake?

And why would the police even respond to such a call?


The whole thing is completely bizarre in addition to being tragic.

from what i understand, noble does not currently have an animal control officer on staff. what is beyond my understanding is an officer trained in the use of firearms discharging his weapon into the air... obviously the bullet is going to come down somewhere. pure carelessness.

-M

actually Malibu, I think calling the police and/or fire department is fairly common in situations as this. Fortunately the officers/firefighters usually have more common sense than to start firing away with a gun. Keep in mind, most small towns (as with Noble) do not have and/or can't afford animal control so the police are kind of the do it all for the town.

It would be interesting to see what the Noble P.D.'s policy on the discharge of firearms in the performance of police duties is. Generally, such things are heavily restricted.

__________________
It's a friendlier OKCTalk!

I heard them talking about this story a little more on the radio this morning on a business trip. Did anyone else catch it?

I "thought" I heard them say that the investigation is completed but the results have not yet been released yet. I may have been mistaken due to talking business and catching the tail end of it. Hope someone else heard it so I may be enlightened with the current situation.

Also, yes, I do agree that reckless endangerment does sound very suitable, I don't know about "manslaughter" though due to the fact that it was not intentional. With the officer's complete disregard for a)having any common sense and b)intelligence to even look at his surrounding before discharging the weapon into the air, I would say at the bare min. of the above.

What's that basic law??
Oh yeah, what goes up must come down right?

Damn gravity......

Manslaughter in the second degree only requires "culpable negligence." If the guy wasn't a cop, I think that he'd already at least be charged with Manslaughter in the 2nd degree.

Seeing as he's a cop, he probably gets off with a relatively minor charge.

Also, since the cop used a firearm in the commission of a felony, he'd be eligible for 2 automatic years under another criminal statute (21 O.S. 1287).

__________________
It's a friendlier OKCTalk!

I know I will definitely be upset if no action is pursued in this case. There are just no justifiable reasons for this to ever happen. Granted if the situation MAY HAVE been life treating, (i.e. something more threat posing than a snake being caught in a rafter), but in this, my "personal and moral" opinion, that judicial apprehension and punishment should be in the minds of everyone.

What a horribly tragic event all the way around. I hate guns.. (I know, I know, I know - I don't want to start another gun discussion ..but I just hate them)

So many people affected and lives ruined because of this... so very sad.

Fri September 7, 2007
Charges filed against police officers in Noble boy's death

By Jennifer Griswold
Staff Writer

NORMAN — Two police officers have been charged in Cleveland County District Court with second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of a young Noble boy Aug. 3.

Paul Bradley Rogers, 34, and Robert Shawn Richardson, 29, are accused of causing the death of Austin Haley, 5. by negligently firing at a snake. The bullet ricocheted and hit the child while he was outside fishing with his grandfather.

District Attorney Greg Mashburn announced the charges at a press conference at the courthouse this afternoon.

__________________
" You've Been Thunder Struck ! "

The charge is manslaughter II -- the preliminary hearing conference is on October 23rd.

You can monitor the case here:



If I could guess what is going to happen, I'd guess that the prosecutor dismisses as soon as they're convinced that the public won't notice.

__________________
It's a friendlier OKCTalk!

Tue October 9, 2007

The 3 Noble police officers involved in the Aug. 3 shooting death of five-year-old Austin Haley were fired.

I cannot believe that not a single one of them resigned. If I had done something that stupid. I would have resigned out of respect for the department and the citizens I served.

Then again their attorneys may have told them to wait because a resignation might have meant admission of guilt that could be used in a civil trial later.