San Diego Housing Bubble News and Analysis

Temecula is well on it's way to becoming the next Moreno Valley.

Temecula is also ready for new leadership in the City Council IMO.

Violent crime up, schools closing, teachers being layed off...it's like living in San Diego.

I just want answers. Does the media think that they can just say that there was a brawl, and an off duty cop shot two of the guys? That's it, end of story, nothing to worry about. If this was any big city, we'd have all the details and names of this strange event. So far this is typical Temecula media and typical Temecula law enforcement. At least 60 people witnessed this in some way or another, but we get the same old.. "there is an ongoing investigation, and we aren't releasing names." Hopefully, the cops don't help brush this under the rug. I just want to know that those guys who got shot, and the one who died, deserved it, and last time I checked, fighting and being a nuisance doesn't justify being shot at.

Based on some of the police related cases I have followed in the IE - and in particular based on jury comments after a trial - getting a fair trial vs. police in the IE is a tall order to say the least.

"Witnesses said some men were beating the officer pretty badly, possibly kicking him in the head," Williams said. "He had identified himself as a police officer."

I dont know about you, but I know that if I am kicking a cop in the head, I am prob gonna get shot. And not to be an asshole, but if 5-8 guys are beating the shit out of anyone, then they deserved it. I have no special love of cops, actually for the most part, I dont really like them. All I have ever gotten from them is grief and hassel and a crooked smile. But if even 5 guys are ganging up on me and beating me in the head in the middle of the street, I will do what is necessary to defend myself. If the cop did something wrong, then he is easy to identify and can be prosicuted includeing loseing his job and going to jail. No one supports cops who kick the crap outa someone, why do we support the thugs who kill cops?

PS I know nothing of this story, I just read that post and wanted to respond with what I read.

Last time I checked, 5 against 1 isn't a public nuisance, it's assault to do great bodily harm, if not death. I don't think the officer fired enough shots !

I'm sure different versions of what happened will emerge - and it makes little difference to me if the person being assaulted was a cop or not as anyone in that circumstance has a right to defend themselves.

Assuming that is actually what happened.

Also, we don't even know if the person killed was actually involved in the alleged assault.

This is what I read in the news:

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?sectio...

TEMECULA (KABC) -- Family members of a man killed by an off-duty police officer in Temecula are speaking out about the incident.

Family members of a man killed by an off-duty police officer in Temecula are speaking out about the incident.
Shawn Velan, 30, was shot and killed Saturday night in Temecula by an off-duty Costa Mesa police officer.
"At about 7:20 P.M., officers from the Temecula Police Department responded to a 245 -- assault with a deadly weapon  call in the area. The responded to a restaurant-type bar and located two victims of a gunshot shooting," Riverside Sheriff's Deputy Craig Roberts said.

Police say it all started while people were out celebrating the end of a popular annual hot rod car show.
Velan and his friends were at a Mexican restaurant when witnesses say the officer inappropriately touched a female friend.

"She turned around and said, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'Oh, I thought you were my sister.' Then Shawn stood up for her and said, 'Don't touch her like that,'" said Dara Lewenthal, the victim's girlfriend who witnessed the altercation.
Police say the shooting eventually took place outside the restaurant where the officer pulled out a gun and shot Velan and his friend. Lewenthal says Velan's 7-year-old son was standing right next to his father when he was shot.
"(The officer) just pulled out a gun and started shooting. He hit Shawn and shot (his friend) in the leg, which is (his son's) height," Lewenthal said.

"I'm sure an officer is trained to shoot-to-kill and that's what he did. Just full-on shot him in the chest. Just blew his chest apart," Karen Crowley, the victim's mother, said.
Velan's friend Taylor is in critical condition at a local hospital. The police officer was also injured in the shooting but has been released from the hospital.
It's unclear if any charges will be filed against the officer.

Police are still trying to piece together what exactly happened, so if you have any information you're asked to call the Temecula Police Dept. at (951) 696-300

Maybe some of you should read this article:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/03/... before you think that this killing was justified and that this dead guy Shaun should have more bullets in his body.

"They said they observed the officer drinking and eventually leaving the restaurant. When Vilan and his party left, the officer and his friends appeared to be waiting for them outside, they said." ... hardly sounds like 5 against one law enforcing cop

I don't know about you, but a drunk off duty cop shouldn't be carrying weapons, or inappropriately touching strange women on their ass, or waiting outside a bar with their buddies for someone else to exit and confront.

None of the witnesses saw FIVE men attacking this cop. The cop escaped with MINOR head injuries and was released quickly. According to this article the cop never even hit the ground and wasn't kicked in the face.

"Some say no punches were thrown, just words. Others say there was a minor scuffle or a bit of pushing. Another said it was sort of like a mosh pit situation for a second.

But everyone is clear on one thing: Not long after the confrontation, about five shots rang out, Vilan was hit in the chest, and one of his acquaintances was shot in the leg."

Sorry, but this doesn't sound like a threat to human life, and doesn't even constitute pulling a firearm in a populated public place while intoxicated. I'm not saying this guy Shaun was a model citizen, or even that he was wasn't acting out of line, but these types of things happen all the time and don't end in an unarmed man being shot in front of his family and friends. I do want the truth to come out, justice to be served, and my heart goes out to the family and friends. It sounds like this guy was starting to change his life for the better. His brother, son, girl friend, and possibly his mother were all there to witness the end of his life.

This doesn't sound right to me. If this report is right, then this is more like a murder, and needs to be treated as such. This Shawn deserves better and I hope the truth comes out. I'm trying not to take sides, but logically this seems unnecessary.

It is very possible that this is the case of an egotistical and trigger happy cop who felt that he could do no wrong and was above the law. They do exist, and sadly some look forward to the day when they can kill another. This guy may have been looking for trouble too. If he really was concerned, he should have notified on duty local police instead of waiting outside with his friends.

My nephew saw the whole thing. officer walked out and 3 men attacked him and beat him to the ground punching and kicking him in the head. The officer identified himself and the 3 men didnt care, they kept beating the officer. The officer pulled his weapon and started shooting. The officer look pretty beatup. They had to give him stitches.

Getting beat down by 3 people at once, i would consider that life threating, if i had a gun i would start shooting to defend myself. Kill or be killed.

After working years in the emergency department, the "victim" is often just minding their own business, and it seems that aften the family state how "they were just turning their life around." I don't know the specifics of this case, but I have seen way too many times of the "innocent" seem to end up in the middles of things.

spam comment deleted

Gee Tibuan, trying to buy something in Temecula are we ??

really bring up a year old article is a bit much…

Tibuan is a scumbag SPAMMER who digs up old threads that he thinks are related to the piece of shit product that he is hawking and then posts a link to his website. What's really sad is that people like Tibuan actually believe that people will buy their products when they spam web boards with their nonsense. A word to the wise, Tibuan.............The overwhelming majority of people on any board would NEVER buy any product where the board was spammed with this kind of foolishness. But in your case, you're dumber than a rock so just forget about the the word to the wise. Never Mind!

I don't know about you but if 5 guys have me on the ground and are kicking me in the head, if I have a gun in my possession I'm going to shoot and probably shoot to kill...and I'm not a cop!

Ex-SD sums it up pretty well. Worse yet, I already banned one username for this person and he/she created a new username in order to inflict more lame spam posts upon us.

Folks, I don't ever have time to read all the forum threads to watch for this stuff, so if you spot any comment spammers like this, feel free to email me at rich [at] piggington [dot] com and I will take care of it.

Thanks!
Rich

Hi Rich,

Not sure if you are aware of this module for drupal, but maybe this will help: http://drupal.org/project/blogspam

flu, are you a fellow drupal nerd? Cool...

Thanks for the link, I will check it out when i get some spare time (which could be a while)... in the meantime, it's pretty manageable between ip blocking, username blocking (both native), and piggs alerting me to offenders.

Thanks,
rich

sort of :)

Good luck with this war on spam...I'll share my experiences with you on this module when i get around to it. Don't know if it persists from the same individual group if you can seek some sort of legal means via canspam