Questioning the FBI in Police Shooting
* It’s interesting to observe the political storm revolving around the ATF and the Justice Department regarding the happenings at Waco, yet not hear one complaint to date about a former Fountain Valley police officer charged with bank robbery being gunned down by FBI agents in a Mission Viejo shopping complex (“Ex-O.C. Police Officer Shot to Death by FBI,” July 25).
According to the press reports that I have read, serious questions are raised about how the incident occurred. Why did the confrontation have to take place next to a McDonald’s restaurant, which is heavily visited by children? Was there a less deadly means the agents might have used? Could they not have simply apprehended the accused quietly and professionally at his house?
These and other questions about the methods used by the FBI in “getting their man” need to be answered. So far, the FBI has been understandably silent about the proceedings. If the press can’t get some straightforward answers from the FBI, then perhaps one of our local or national representatives can. I’m still waiting.
RIC STEPHENSON
Mission Viejo
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