NJ Detective Involved in Road Rage Shooting – Pulling Over Never Ends Well [POLL]

Over the weekend, a Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office detective shot and killed a man with whom he was involved in a road rage incident in Maryland.

According to this:

Joseph Walker, 40, a detective with the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, is accused of shooting a 36-year-old Maryland man on the shoulder of a ramp leading to Route 97 in Gambrills, a Baltimore suburb, according to the State Police there.
He is also charged with manslaughter.

Walker, who lives near Mount Holly, was being held Sunday at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center on a $1 million bond. He works for the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office and has been a public employee for 17 years, according to state pension records.

It appeared, State Police said, the incident started because of road rage that began brewing on Route 3, about a mile from the shooting. Walker was traveling in a gold Kia minivan with his family — including his children, ages 3 through 11 — when he encountered Joseph Harvey Jr, a Halethorpe, Md., resident, who was driving a green Honda Accord and riding with one passenger, authorities said.

For some reason, police said, both men pulled to the side of the road on a northbound ramp to Route 97. Harvey exited his car and began to approach Walker, who also got out of his minivan and, according to a statement from State Police, "allegedly announced that he was a police officer."

"Harvey continued to approach Walker in a reportedly aggressive manner," the police statement continued, noting that the passenger remained by the side of the Honda. "Walker then brandished a firearm and shot in the direction of the two men, injuring Harvey."

Harvey was taken to Baltimore Washington Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead after the 8:30 p.m. shooting, police said.

Walker was also taken to the hospital because of chest pains.

I guess I’d have chest pains too if I realized that I’d just shot somebody due to an altercation on the side of the road.

Makes me wonder.

If you’re a cop, shouldn’t you know better than to pull over if you see you’re about to get into a altercation with someone? Where’s the restraint, especially knowing you have a gun on you, and your family in the car?

While one could easily make the argument that the cop shot in self defense since the other motorist was coming at him reportedly in a menacing manner, I think just the act of pulling over, to say the least, was ill advised.

I don't think there's going to be too much sympathy for the guy who lost his life. After all, he chose to pull over himself. But since we hold cops to a higher standard, don't you think he should have known better?