'Erratic' Man Won't Stop Harassing, Threatening Family, So Fearless Father Makes Him Pay: Police
A young father in Washington shot and killed a man who was reportedly acting “erratic” and had “threatened” his child on Sunday afternoon.
The incident happened at a dog park in the city of Yakima and occurred after the protective dad made multiple attempts to de-escalate the situation, The Yakima Herald reported.
Based on the information provided by a police news release, this is a classic case of someone with the best of intentions being forced to use their weapon to defend their life or someone else’s from someone who might have been out to cause grave harm.
After making every effort to escape a bad situation, the dad used his lawfully-owned firearm to keep himself and his child safe.
The Yakima Police Department said in a statement that a 28-year-old father was walking in the Randall Dog Park when he encountered 22-year-old Daniel Ortega.
The department said “multiple people” called 911 to report that Ortega had “arrived at the Randall Park Dog Park acting erratically.”
“The erratic subject attempted to endanger the life of the small child with his words and actions, at which point the child’s father protected his child from the threat,” Yakima police said.
“The child’s father gave the erratic subject verbal commands to leave his family alone, while he attempted to leave the park,” police added. “After attempts to verbally de-escalate the incident failed, the child’s father, a 28-year-old Yakima man, discharged his legally owned firearm in defense of himself and his child.”
Ortega died at the scene, and cops said the father’s recounting of the event was backed up by witnesses.
“Multiple interviews of the involved parties and witnesses corroborated what was believed to have occurred,” police said. “After consultation with the Yakima County Prosecutor, the man who discharged the firearm in this incident was released after cooperating with detectives.”
A prosecutor will ultimately decide if the father, whose identity has been withheld, is charged with a crime. From the details offered, it sounds as though this man made every attempt to walk away.
He only fired his weapon after it had become apparent it was absolutely necessary.
While the death of a 22-year-old — whose life ended unceremoniously in a dog park — is not something that should be celebrated, an ordinary citizen and parent who chose to defend their child from potential peril is worth a hat tip.
It is always a father’s job to protect his family.
The young man in this case used his better judgment when he decided to buy a weapon and learn how to use it. From what we know, he acted honorably and within his Constitutional rights.
Our country’s problems with violent crime are out of control, and the root cause of that is up for interpretation.
But one cold, hard reality is: Citizens can often choose whether or not they are their own first responders — even in states run by mostly Democrats.
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