Several hours before his subsequent capture on September 9th, fugitive murderer Rallph "Bucky" Phillips was spotted by a New York State canine trooper. When Phillips pointed a gun at him, the trooper fired a volley of shots, missing the fugitive who then fled into the woods. The morning after Bucky's capture, New York State Police Superintendent Wayne Bennett stated on the NBC Today Show that it was UNFORTUNATE the trooper's shots did not hit the fugitive. Oops - slip of the tongue - honest, but politically incorrect.
The bleeding hearts and civil libitarians are going to have a field day with this one. To those paragons of virtue, Supt. Bennett's statement came across loud and clear with only one meaning - he wanted Bucky dead, not alive! Let's be honest about it - so did every other police officer in this country. Why would police officers want Bucky brought back dead instead of alive?
Phillips, a habitual thief, escaped from a jail near Buffalo last April, shortly before he was due to be relaeased. In June, he shot and wounded a New York state trooper during a traffic stop. On August 31, he ambushed two state troopers who were staking out his former girlfriend's house, shooting them in the back. One of those troopers died, while the other is still in critical condition. Once, he promised to "splatter pig (police) meat all over Chautauqua County," and he let it be known that he would not allow himself to be taken alive.
When the police finally caught up to Bucky, he meekly surrendered. It is to the credit of the officers that they did not shoot him dowm, which they could have easily done with no witnesses around. I remember that many years ago, a couple of thugs murdered two New Jersey police officers. The killers were traced to a New York City tenement. A team of New York officers, not New Jersey officers, rushed their hideout with guns blazing, thereby executing the cop killers without giving them any chance to surrender. At the time, civil libitarians screamed like stuck pigs with accusations that those officers were a bunch of cold blooded murderers.
The police see themselves as a close knit family and whenever an officer is killed, no matter where, it is the same to them as the death of a brother or sister. So, it is natural for them to want retribution when someone takes the life of a fellow officer. Bucky not only killed one officer, but he tried to kill two others.
If Phillips is sentenced to death, he will probably sit on death row for about 10 years before the sentence is carried out, if it ever is. Even though he was politically incorrect, it was refreshing to hear Supt. Bennett's honest opinion that it was unfortunate the canine officer did not hit Phillips when he fired at him.
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