Pinal sheriff gives account of deputy's gunbattle in desert

[ArizonaLiberal]

Source: AzCentral



Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said Tuesday that Deputy Louie Puroll was working alone, tracking footprints in the desert shortly before 4 p.m. Friday when he spotted armed smugglers ahead of him.

At that point, Babeu said, the deputy called for backup while continuing to trail the suspects.


"What's he to do?" the sheriff asked. "Do you run? Or do you expect us to take action?"

Just 10 minutes later, as deputies rushed to lend support, Puroll was fired upon by a gunman who apparently circled around for an ambush.

Babeu said Puroll, he unloaded a 30-round clip from M-16 A1 assault rifle and then a full magazine from a .40-caliber Glock with 16 rounds in it.

The gunbattle lasted less than a minute, and the smugglers continued to fire in Puroll's direction even after he took cover.

Read more: Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/pinal/articles/2010/05/04/20100504pinal-county-deputy-shooting.html#ixzz0n1ovS1jx

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This is just too fishy, first 5, than 6 guys, 2 with ak47s, then all had rifles. To live in Arizona! They showed where he was shot. He was grazed. There should be shells everywhere. Forensics!

[PavePusher]

1. What are you refering to?

"This is just too fishy, first 5, than 6 guys, 2 with ak47s, then all had rifles. To live in Arizona! They showed where he was shot. He was grazed. There should be shells everywhere. Forensics!"

What are you talking about? Has the article changed since you posted? There is nothing about numbers of assailants or their weapons mentioned...

[ArizonaLiberal]

2. The many stories that have come from his office since the incident ....

They have lengthened the report.

[ArizonaLiberal]

4. First headline................

Pinal County Sheriff's deputy shot in desert confrontation
Pinal County Sheriff's deputy shot in desert confrontation, A Pinal County Sheriff's deputy was shot in the stomach Friday after a traffic stop on Interstate 8

Shot by a car load of illegals during a traffic stop. They kept fanning the flame by not giving a straight story.

This link speaks of some of the early stories.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2010/05/pinal_county_sheriffs_deputy_s.php

AzCentral Link to early story.


5 attackers are hunted after ambush of deputy

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/05/01/20100501arizona-deputy-shot-by-drug-smugglers.html#ixzz0n2EYTF3R

They talk about the helicopter being fired upon. Today we found out is was a clipboard falling in the cabin. The pilot sad the Sheriff was, "Not brought up to date and ran with it."

Another link.

http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/2010/04/30/20100430pinal-county-officer-shooting.html

Early story with video of press vonference.

[pinboy3niner]

5. That links to an anti-Obama "patriotic resistance" website

You do not want to link to that type of site here.

[ArizonaLiberal]

8. Whoops...Removed and replaced......

Just did a search on early stories. My bad. Sorry.

[PavePusher]

7. Maybe I'm skimming too fast?

Still not seeing changing numbers, or mention of a car.

Wouldn't be the first time electronic news stories got edited on the fly as more info became available (or reporters just made stuff up).

[ArizonaLiberal]

13. But he conceded that early reports about the incident were confusing

and sometimes incorrect. For instance, a helicopter crew responding to the emergency mistakenly reported that it had come under fire. And although Puroll never spoke with the smugglers, sheriff's officials issued a description of two attackers claiming one of the men had a "Sinaloan accent."

Read more, updated: http://www.azcentral.com/community/pinal/articles/2010/05/04/20100504pinal-county-deputy-shooting.html#ixzz0n3ihhFWr

[boppers]

3. 46 rounds, no hits?

That's some pretty lousy shooting, unless his strategy was to try and simply force them to stay behind cover...

[PavePusher]

6. Ever been in a firefight?

This hit/miss ratio is not uncommon, for police or soldiers. Shooting at moving targets, while moving, and/or from/to various cover/concealment, in rough desert terrain, will turn 99% of shots into "suppresive fire", intended to make the opponent keep his/her head down and interfere with their aim.

[boppers]

9. If we're sending them solo, and suppressive fire is required, 30 rounds is nothing.

I have only been in one firefight of sorts, they were shooting at me, I was walking and giggling at them (they were shooting a .38 revolver at me, at 50 feet... didn't hit anything, I didn't even bother to draw, because they were a moron and not a real threat).

That being said, if somebody *is* trying to lay down suppressive fire, *and* they're taking on 3-5 folks with 30 rounds or more, and have no 2 minute backup... 30 rounds isn't much.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

12. I have, and your comments are generally correct. However most cops are not trained all that well

in firefights and marksmanship in general. Look at the Eula Love shooting: 2 officers 12 shots (38 Special) , point blank range, 6 hits

[ProgressiveProfessor]

11. Your average cops are not known for their marksmanship

I have helped to retrain more than a few.

[ArizonaLiberal]

10. Link to raw footage of press conference.......

http://www.kgun9.com/global/category.asp?c=172043&autostart=true&clipId=4758721