XPost: alt.guns, sac.general, alt.politics.guns   
   XPost: alt.law-enforcement   
   From: cop.nuttery@thanks.obama.com   
      
   An Arizona police officer shot and killed a man Sunday night   
   after responding to a report of a man pointing a rifle out a   
   fifth-floor hotel window.   
      
   Turns out, the man was only holding a pellet gun that he used   
   for his job in pest control.   
      
   And it’s not even clear if the man Mesa police shot and killed   
   was the man holding the pellet gun. Not that it should matter   
   because nobody’s life was in danger.   
      
   Police say they only killed Daniel Shaver, a traveling   
   businessman from Texas, because he “refused to comply with   
   officer commands and reached toward his lower back several   
   times,” according to the Arizona Republic.   
      
   And usually that’s all it takes for most people to give police   
   the thumbs up in the shooting.   
      
   But Shaver’s wife, Laney Sweet, posted a heartbreaking Facebook   
   description of what likely took place that night.   
      
   Her husband, who traveled the country on business, just had   
   dinner with a man and a woman at a restaurant when the three of   
   them returned to his hotel room.   
      
   Shaver was apparently showing them the pellet guns he uses for   
   work, at least one which was a rifle. Either Shaver or the man   
   was holding the rifle out the window of the hotel room. The kind   
   of thing people do when showing each other a gun after ensuring   
   it is unloaded, especially in a gun-friendly state like Arizona.   
   Probably checking out the scopes on the rifle, oblivious to the   
   alarm they were creating.   
      
   And somebody got scared and called the cops – many times the   
   worst thing anybody can do – and now the man is dead, leaving   
   behind a wife and two daughters.   
      
   The pellet guns were in a case near the window.   
      
   Shaver was killed in the hallway.   
      
   Here is the account from the Arizona Republic:   
      
   A Mesa police officer shot and killed a man at a La Quinta Inn   
   on Sunday night after receiving reports that he was pointing a   
   rifle out of the hotel window, officials said.   
      
   Two guests in the pool area reported seeing the man point a   
   rifle outside the fifth-floor window of his hotel room, located   
   near U.S. 60 and Power Road, said Detective Steve Berry, a Mesa   
   police spokesman.   
      
   Police located the hotel room and commanded the two occupants, a   
   man and a woman, to come out, Berry said. The pair exited the   
   room, and police detained the woman without struggle.   
      
   Berry said the man refused to comply with officer commands and   
   reached toward his lower back several times.   
      
   “Based on the initial report of the suspect having a gun, not   
   complying with commands and reaching behind his body, the   
   officer felt threatened and discharged his weapon, striking the   
   suspect,” Berry said in a prepared statement.   
      
   These are the stories we read every day where we tell ourselves,   
   if only he had complied because we know how trigger happy cops   
   can get.   
      
   But reading his wife’s Facebook post makes this incident much   
   more personal because Shaver does not come across as the type of   
   person who would deliberately refuse an order from a cop   
   pointing a gun at him.   
      
   He was a man on a business trip, possibly entertaining clients,   
   probably wondering why cops were even at his door in the first   
   place.   
      
   His wife said 48 hours had passed and police had not notified   
   her of her husband’s death. She had to call around to hospitals,   
   jails and police stations to eventually find the truth.   
      
   Here is her Facebook post:   
      
   My beloved husband, Daniel, was shot and passed away the evening   
   of Monday, January 18th. All of the details are not clear right   
   now but I feel the need to put out what we know as truth and   
   allow the rest to unfold through proper investigation– and to   
   dispel rumors that have been circulating in the media.   
      
   Daniel was traveling for work in Mesa, Arizona. He makes this   
   trip 2-3 times a month and frequently services pest removal   
   stores there. He carries his work equipment: two pellet guns   
   (one approved for flying and one that is not allowed due to an   
   air compressor, I believe.) among other things like a pump, ect.   
   with him on every trip. Due to how expensive his company’s   
   pellet guns are, he takes his hard case into his hotel room   
   every night.   
      
   Daniel had dinner with two individuals, a man and woman, in the   
   evening at a local restaurant. They returned to the hotel and   
   went to his room together. I spoke with him on the phone and he   
   had also been online and playing a game with a friend. At some   
   point, someone near the pool called the local police stating   
   that they saw a man with a gun near the window of a 5th floor   
   hotel room. Whether Daniel was the one holding it or he allowed   
   the other man to view his equipment and look into the scope, we   
   don’t know. The man left the room at some point, for what we   
   think was a trip to the gas station. Shortly after, three police   
   arrived to his hotel room and Daniel and the woman came to the   
   door. When asked to step out of the room they both did without   
   hesitation. We were told that Daniel was not aggressive but that   
   he failed to listen when instructing to NOT put his hands behind   
   his back. Due to him putting his hands behind his back, the   
   Mesa, AZ police department took forceful action and shot him.   
   Daniel passed away in the hallway of his hotel, unarmed. His two   
   pellet guns were in and next to his case near the window. It has   
   been almost 48 hours and I have yet to be contacted by anyone   
   about this matter. No notice of death, nothing. I had to do my   
   own investigating after not hearing from him/him not showing up   
   to work, that led me to call every hospital, jail and police   
   station searching for answers.   
      
   Unfortunately, I did finally find him when calling the local   
   coroner. No one had the respect or empathy to call me and our   
   children and tell us that Daniel had been taken from us. Not   
   only that, but not one detective assigned to the case has called   
   me back after leaving voice mails seeking answers.   
      
   He was my best friend. The love of my life. A son. A brother.   
   Many people’s friend. The glue that held me together. He was   
   madly in love with his two daughters. He sacrificed being away   
   from his family for 25 days a month so he could provide for us,   
   in hopes one day we could all be together all the time. Our   
   oldest, Natalie (6), is a true daddy’s girl. Anyone who has seen   
   them together knows how much they adored each other. Emery will   
   be turning four next week. The last time they saw their dad, we   
   went to lunch together at Natalie’s school to surprise her   
   before he left town. He came home, pushed Emery in the swing for   
   awhile and said goodbye. I was upset that he had to go so he   
   turned his truck back around and gave me three, sweet and   
   meaningful kisses. I am so thankful that is my last memory of us   
   together. He always did everything for us to be happy– and   
   without his comfort, we are broken and we miss him terribly. My   
   girls want their daddy home. I want their tears to stop and for   
   their sweet little delicate hearts to have never experienced   
   this traumatizing loss.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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