Police officer resorts to use of firearm to stop truck driver
Discharging of firearm by police is to be investigated
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An on-duty police officer shot a truck driver in the chest in order to end a dangerous chase in the eastern city of Kuopio on the night between Sunday and Monday. The shot was fired from a police car which was being pushed sideways in front of the truck, driving along a highway at around 60 km/h.
The truck driver, a man from Eastern Finland born in 1970, is suspected of attempted murder, aggravated endangering of traffic safety, and of aggravated DUI. The man did not have a valid driving licence.
Even the discharging of a firearm by the police will be investigated. An inquiry will be launched into determining whether the use of a gun was justified in the situation.
When it comes to the police officer who fired the gun, the incident is being investigated as an aggravated assault in a self-defence situation and as dereliction of duty. The inspector on duty who was in charge of directions concerning the use of force is being suspected of dereliction of duty.
The chase began on Highway 5 in Lapinlahti after 2:00 am.
A police patrol tried to stop a truck that had only a few moments earlier been caught speeding by a photo radar.
Moreover, the description of the truck was similar to that of another vehicle that had been seen at the scene of a crime.
The scene in question was linked with a suspected crime against property, reports Detective Inspector Heino Kosonen from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
The driver of the truck refused to stop, after which attempts were made to stop the vehicle with a spike strip, but to no effect.
According to the police, the truck drifted dozens of times into the oncoming lane. The police car pursued the truck with flashing lights. Oncoming vehicles were warned by blinking the high beams.
On the motorway, two police patrols overtook the truck that was by this stage running on mere rims at around 50 to 60 km/h.
The truck repeatedly hit the sides and the rear of the police vehicles.
In the village of Kasurila in Siilinjärvi, further attempts were made to stop the truck by firing several shots into its radiator.
About ten kilometres away from the centre of Kuopio, the police car that had been driving in front of the truck slewed sideways and was pushed by the truck dozens of metres.
The driver of the police vehicle fired two shots with his handgun towards the driver of the truck.
One of the shots hit the man in the chest.
According to DI Kosonen, the truck driver is in hospital but his life is not in danger.
Three police patrols from the Police Department of the North Savo region took part in the chase. The officers will continue working as normal during the investigations.
National Police Commissioner Mikko Paatero cannot remember any similar case, in which a Finnish police officer would have been forced to use a firearm against another person during a traffic confrontation.
”Even incidents involving shooting out the tyres of a vehicle are extremely rare cases”, Paatero notes.
On Monday, Paatero was not willing to comment on the North Savo shooting, as he did not know the details of the incident. However, he pointed out that sometimes a major decision has to be made very fast.
”Such a situation always emerges quickly. We are talking about seconds, maybe even fractions of a second”, Paatero argues, noting that others have a great deal more time thereafter to consider what should have been done than the officer or officers in question. .
In 2009, a total of just 37 assignments involving a police duty handgun were recorded in Finland.
Only in two of those cases was a gun actually fired, and in one of the cases the gun was not aimed at a person.
A police officer is allowed to pull a gun for two reasons: either as the use of force or as self-defence. The use of force is always a premeditated police action, but the aim is never to kill anybody.
As a basic rule, the use of a firearm in a traffic situation is beyond rare, and in principle off-limits, since it is an ineffective and often dangerous means of stopping a vehicle.
It would only be considered when there is a need to stop a heavy vehicle that cannot be halted by any other means.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 22.6.2010 - TODAY |
 Police officer resorts to use of firearm to stop truck driver |
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