Another Day, Another Cops-Gone-Wild Story

The "rule of law" continues to take body-blows from those entrusted to preserve it. 

...The only reason Sgt Cotton was emptying his gun into Mr Tolan was because his colleague, Officer Edwards, had mistransposed a digit when taking down Tolan's license plate, which is 696BGK. Instead, Officer Edwards entered into the database 695BGK, which came up stolen.

As Mr Tolan and his cousin exit the vehicle, Officer Edwards draws his gun, orders them to the ground, and accuses them of stealing the car. "That's my car," says Tolan, but complies with the request to lie face down....

Family members emerged from their home, and Tolan's mother asked the cop what in Hell he was doing.

...[The cop] radios for back-up - because in America one heavily armed officer shouldn't have to deal with four unarmed civilians all on his own - and so the small mistake of a transposed number becomes a very big mistake. Sgt Cotton arrives, pistol drawn, and orders Mrs Tolan, a law-abiding person not accused of any crime, to stand against the garage door. She says, "Are you kidding me? We've lived here 15 years. We've never had anything like this happen before." Three people testified that Sgt Cotton grabbed her arms and slammed her into the garage door with such force that she fell to the ground.

Yes, there are pictures of the damage this "law-enforcer" did to Mrs. Tolan.

At this point, the kid--who had been face-down, as you recall, became a bit contentious.

...Both parties agree that Tolan then exclaimed, from roughly 15 to 20 feet away, 713 F. 3d, at 303, "[G]et your fucking hands off my mom." 

So, in order to adjust this kid's attitude,

... Cotton then drew his pistol and fired three shots at Tolan. Tolan and his mother testified that these shots came with no verbal warning. Id., at 2019, 2080. One of the bullets entered Tolan's chest, collapsing his right lung and piercing his liver. While Tolan survived, he suffered a life-altering injury that disrupted his budding professional baseball career and causes him to experience pain on a daily basis.

There!  Lesson learned, punk!!

The good news?  The cops didn't use their .50-cal tripod-mounted Ma Deuce on the rest of the family.

HT:  Cold Fury