2016's final Darwin Award nominee!!!!!

WAFB 9 News Baton Rouge, Louisiana News, Weather, Sports

Man says he was shot while testing 'theory' about police brutality

Thursday, December 29th 2016

BAKERSFIELD, CA (KBAK/CNN) – A man who was shot by police last week after being pulled over says he wanted to prove to his friend that police officers are good people.

Last Monday, 29-year-old Jose Vaca was pulled over while driving with a friend. He got out of the car holding a rifle, which he’d purchased at a flea market and was not legally allowed to have...

OK, the reporter seems to mention this without much judgement. I think it's a safe assumption that Mr Vaca is a convicted felon and he's "not legally allowed" to possess a firearm. See comments at the bottom.

"...I exit my vehicle, I come to the front of the police vehicle, I put my butt of the rifle on the floor and I just put my hand up,” Vaca said.

The weapon startled the police officers, who opened fire without warning, according to Vaca.

"Soon as I hit the ground, I just attempted to play dead, and then they fired a couple more shots at me from the back as I was lying on the ground,” he said.

Vaca says he never planned to shoot the officers. Instead, he thought this would be an opportunity to prove a point he’d made to a friend months ago about police brutality.

"First thing that came to my mind is I'm already going to get pulled over. I know they're most likely going to take me in, but I’m going to try my theory real quick and see that it's true so she can believe there’s good officers in the world,” he said.

I think I speak for a lot of cops when I say, "We appreciate the sentiment on the profession. However, next time you get pulled over by a cop...don't have a gun.

Vaca says he was shot 12 times, with three of the bullets passing completely through his body; though the police report says only nine shots were fired. The man says it’s a “blessing” he’s alive.

Looking back, Vaca considers his experiment ill-conceived because it went “completely bad.” However, the man says he still believes there are good police officers in the world.

"They didn't know what to expect,” he said.

Nighter did the officer. You don't like to be surprised, we don't like to be surprised.

Vaca is currently being held on $400,000 bail, booked on 11 different criminal counts

People don't get 400K bail for a weapon's possession charge, and with "11 different criminal courts," that tells me he is not full coming with his story....

Why, shocking, he wasn't complete in his statement:

Man shot by police charged with attempted murder

Jose Vaca appeared in Kern County Superior Court expecting to be charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and gang participation, but Kern County Deputy District Attorney William Schlaerth added a new, much more serious charge.

"We added attempted murder," said Schlaerth...

...Vaca was pulled for a traffic stop on Dec. 19 at Oswell and Niles streets. In a jailhouse interview, Vaca admitted to having a rifle in his car.

He said he deliberately approached officers carrying the weapon to test a theory he said he had about police brutality. Vaca claims he never pointed the loaded weapon at officers. He said officers never told him to stop before they began firing....

He got out with the weapon in his hand, "...deliberately approached officers carrying the weapon.."
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