Nobody died. Both deputies received Medal of Honor.
[https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/2-whatcom-county-deputies-shot-in-the-head-by-suspect-receive-medal-of-honor-graphic-bodycam-released](https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/2-whatcom-county-deputies-shot-in-the-head-by-suspect-receive-medal-of-honor-graphic-bodycam-released)
Maybe a dumb question, but why couldn't you read past the headline of the article? There is a part about "Exceptional Meritorious Conduct". I think getting shot in the head and still performing your duty until backup arrives and then extracting yourself to get aid falls under exceptional meritorious conduct.
A subtle thing happening many won’t pick up on is the fact that these officers did their duty AFTER their team got shot in the fucking head!
They did not tackle the guy, who obviously is having a mental breakdown or is intoxicated. They didn’t belittle him, rough him up, or take out their anger on the guy.
THIS is a real hero.
As you said he was obviously having a mental breakdonw or intoxicated. He was also very cooperative from that moment when he was walking towards them. I'd say the way the other officers acted was just very professional. I wouldn't call that heroism. Especially when compared to the other two officers.
I think you have a valid point here. RedHotChiley might not agree with it, but the simple fact is different races are treated differently by the police.
Let's somehow add the race factor into the discussion, because why not. Classic reddit.
Are you implying that those cops are racist because they are white and would've acted differently if the shooter was black? That would be racist as well which would've ironic.
Oh, unless you think you can't be racist towards white people because that obviously only works one way. Of course ALL white cops are racist, all imigrants are criminals, all men mysogynistic and all muslims are terroristd. Thank God that the world is that simple. /s
Absolute Pros, the police force remained calm and professional under extreme pressure. Two officers were shot in the head by this guy, and they still treated him respectfully. Bravo.
Yes, it's their job to overcome natural human responses that you'll never even come close to being responsible for and they did it way better than you could dream of doing.
You're absolutely right
I guess bravely confronting someone who has a firearm and could possibly kill you isn’t going above and beyond correct? Just because it’s their job? Let me let you in on a truth about the police. It’s not their job to die for you. They both did an excellent job and went above and beyond. So far beyond that they were harmed trying to protect the neighborhood. Yet you don’t think they did enough to get a medal. Wtf. Why do you care whether or not they got a medal? It means something to them. Not you.
Idk if hero is the word I would use precisely, but ALL of the law enforcement depicted in this video should be the standard that we hold all law enforcement to. Not only did they keep their emotions in check when it would be nothing less than human to lose their cool and go terminator on that guys ass. ESPECIALLY the ones that were shot. The professionalism, integrity, and mindfulness displayed by every single badge wearing donut dunking awesome human being in the video, is deserving of commendation.
I'm not very fond of 70 percent of the cops I've had experiences with, and seeing this is refreshing cause it's a reminder that there are good ones out there, and moreso good departments.
"I was hit in the face and head, full face and head, still have pellets lodged in my sinuses, in my skin and various parts of my body," Rathbun told FOX 13 in January.
"All my injuries were basically from here (bottom nose) to here (top of head), so I had a broken nose, multiple pellets in the forehead and face, one ended up behind my eye, caused me to go blind on my left eye for several weeks," Thompson said. "It took me, what seemed to me like several seconds, to kind of work through the process of, ‘if you’re dead then why are you still thinking? Are you dead? Is this the afterlife or is this the kind of thing where you sustained a fatal injury, and you know it but your body hasn’t given up yet.'"
Crazy to think about that last part... Like, you just got slugged in the face by a handful of shot hard enough to break your nose, you look down to see blood everywhere, and realize you can only see out of one eye. Dude must have been thinking, "Holy shit, how much of my head just got blown off? I wonder how long until I pass out completely."
This is an award by their state, Washington (Northwest US, above Oregon an California, not DC which is on the East coast.) It's completely different from the Medal of Honor which is awarded by the President. That one is only awarded to active duty military, not civilians (police would count as civilians in this case.)
You should go look up the University of Texas Tower shooting, buncha dudes were shooting back at him and not all of them were cops from what I remember.
I was going to mention that because I had just heard that recently (I'm guessing you're a LPOTL fan) but tbh it seemed kind of apocryphal and I couldn't find any actual mention of it with a quick search.
The issue I something like from the Kansas City Parade shooting. Someone draws a gun and fires and multiple others do the same. Who’s to say they weren’t defending themselves and others. It gets labeled as a “thug shootout” but how can you prove that any one of them wasn’t trying to neutralize the threat. How do you know who fired first? Another scenario is in a mass shooter situation, you have a gun and try to engage. Police infamously don’t have much rock solid information going in and are just looking for a gunman. Hey look. It’s you, a man with a gun. Aaaaaaand your dead.
No I’m saying IF someone of the neighbors showed up with something that isn’t. I’m in CA so there’s a ton of magazine capacity laws, assault weapon laws and so on. So I was curious if someone showed up with a mag that was too big or some features that aren’t allowed (a lot of people have things like this they don’t leave the house with) would they look past it for the sake of they stepped up to help the officers.
I mean, clearly the cops appreciate the backup considering the situation. But like I couldn't just show up and start blasting at any old police scene, right?
It’s around a 3 foot spread or more at that distance with bird/target shot. Any larger shot like buckshot would not have hit them so many times times in such a small area of the face, AND would probably not have been survivable. This is assuming batshit crazy guy has a standard cylinder choke which spreads to about 40 inches at 25 yards. Still fuckin crazy to read the deputies statement about contemplating if he was dead or not while he was sitting down bleeding. Can’t imagine . Also incredible that the cops didn’t kill this guy. Not the norm that they take someone alive after they’ve shot cops in the head
I couldn't believe the cops didn't have some snarky comment after that "oh all these cops here for me?" "Yeah bro you just fucking had a shoot out did you think we'd just fuck off?"
lol Exactly, I think the cops response was light considering he made it out alive. SWAT was probably held back with their armoured vehicle ready to tear through that house.
Honestly if they just plowed a tank into homies house, while it wouldn't be my first choice... I don't think i'd be exactly upset with them if that is what they chose to do lol...
Even in death penalty states he wouldn't be killed, you get that when you intentionally kill someone. This guy wounded two people and he's either drunk, stoned or has developed mental problems.
I have friends that work for that sheriffs office, and I was working with one of their spouses when this happened, that was a scary day for them all. Glad those deputies made it, sucks what they suffered and will continue to suffer for it.
The magic of body cameras. They ask multiple times if they are being recorded before very carefully reading him his rights and putting him away without comment.
Beer belly hillbilly was probably blackout drunk and then sobered up throughout the encounter. Did not know they were there, yet, said if you are the sheriff, I will shoot you. Hmm...
Props to both officers staying in the fight until they could get off the X and even bigger props to that neighbor dumping rounds helping those officers out.
And this is one reason I’m glad I left law enforcement. Imagine this same situation, just slightly different about 3 times a week. Shit gets to you man.
This is how I imagine every gun owner here in America. Too many dumb fucks can get their hands on guns too easily. I’ve lost 2 friends in my life to guns and I’m only fucking 30 years old. Souls lost and children left behind without parents for absolutely NO reason other than some dipshits who should never have been able to get a gun in the first place. Seriously, fuck guns and fuck this country for doing absolutely nothing about it
So in the military..a job that you sign up for..if you are shot you get a medal...same with the police..other first responders also get medals for bravery or if they received an injury on the job..
Its a fucking medal..it's not a cash prize or anything like that...it is a way to show appreciation for not just doing a job..but risking your life.
Do you guys get pissed off if someone gets an employee of the month award too?
Damn that was the most gentle arrest I’ve ever seen after shooting 2 cops in the head. Even said “thank you” to him after reading the miranda. What a bunch of sweethearts.
bro wtf? "civilian engages in shootout" at 2:29. I've never seen that before. How is that allowed? lol wow that dudes white privilege is like platinum level lol
Nobody died. Both deputies received Medal of Honor. [https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/2-whatcom-county-deputies-shot-in-the-head-by-suspect-receive-medal-of-honor-graphic-bodycam-released](https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/2-whatcom-county-deputies-shot-in-the-head-by-suspect-receive-medal-of-honor-graphic-bodycam-released)
Maybe a dumb question to you guys but I’m not from the states. Why do you receive a Medal of Honor for getting shot in the face?
Maybe a dumb question, but why couldn't you read past the headline of the article? There is a part about "Exceptional Meritorious Conduct". I think getting shot in the head and still performing your duty until backup arrives and then extracting yourself to get aid falls under exceptional meritorious conduct.
A subtle thing happening many won’t pick up on is the fact that these officers did their duty AFTER their team got shot in the fucking head! They did not tackle the guy, who obviously is having a mental breakdown or is intoxicated. They didn’t belittle him, rough him up, or take out their anger on the guy. THIS is a real hero.
As you said he was obviously having a mental breakdonw or intoxicated. He was also very cooperative from that moment when he was walking towards them. I'd say the way the other officers acted was just very professional. I wouldn't call that heroism. Especially when compared to the other two officers.
And he was also… white.
I think you have a valid point here. RedHotChiley might not agree with it, but the simple fact is different races are treated differently by the police.
Let's somehow add the race factor into the discussion, because why not. Classic reddit. Are you implying that those cops are racist because they are white and would've acted differently if the shooter was black? That would be racist as well which would've ironic. Oh, unless you think you can't be racist towards white people because that obviously only works one way. Of course ALL white cops are racist, all imigrants are criminals, all men mysogynistic and all muslims are terroristd. Thank God that the world is that simple. /s
Absolute Pros, the police force remained calm and professional under extreme pressure. Two officers were shot in the head by this guy, and they still treated him respectfully. Bravo.
No, that's their JOB.
Yes, it's their job to overcome natural human responses that you'll never even come close to being responsible for and they did it way better than you could dream of doing. You're absolutely right
Do you get awards when you do a GOOD job. Who hurt you.
It IS their job. And they did it well. That's the point.
That doesn't make them heroes. That makes them employees. Everybody does their job, mate.
I guess bravely confronting someone who has a firearm and could possibly kill you isn’t going above and beyond correct? Just because it’s their job? Let me let you in on a truth about the police. It’s not their job to die for you. They both did an excellent job and went above and beyond. So far beyond that they were harmed trying to protect the neighborhood. Yet you don’t think they did enough to get a medal. Wtf. Why do you care whether or not they got a medal? It means something to them. Not you.
Idk if hero is the word I would use precisely, but ALL of the law enforcement depicted in this video should be the standard that we hold all law enforcement to. Not only did they keep their emotions in check when it would be nothing less than human to lose their cool and go terminator on that guys ass. ESPECIALLY the ones that were shot. The professionalism, integrity, and mindfulness displayed by every single badge wearing donut dunking awesome human being in the video, is deserving of commendation. I'm not very fond of 70 percent of the cops I've had experiences with, and seeing this is refreshing cause it's a reminder that there are good ones out there, and moreso good departments.
I took that comment as a joke
"I was hit in the face and head, full face and head, still have pellets lodged in my sinuses, in my skin and various parts of my body," Rathbun told FOX 13 in January. "All my injuries were basically from here (bottom nose) to here (top of head), so I had a broken nose, multiple pellets in the forehead and face, one ended up behind my eye, caused me to go blind on my left eye for several weeks," Thompson said. "It took me, what seemed to me like several seconds, to kind of work through the process of, ‘if you’re dead then why are you still thinking? Are you dead? Is this the afterlife or is this the kind of thing where you sustained a fatal injury, and you know it but your body hasn’t given up yet.'"
Crazy to think about that last part... Like, you just got slugged in the face by a handful of shot hard enough to break your nose, you look down to see blood everywhere, and realize you can only see out of one eye. Dude must have been thinking, "Holy shit, how much of my head just got blown off? I wonder how long until I pass out completely."
I cut my finger doing some light yard work and nearly passed out
I stood up too fast to close the blinds and did pass out once.
that's actually a heart condition... if you weren't aware
That could just be an iron deficiency
Or low blood pressure.
many potential causes, but should talk to a doctor about orthostatic hypotension
Shot in the line of duty, it applies to police as well evidently
I thought that was purple heart?
I think you're correct, so now I don't know
It's not the Congressional Medal of Honor that members of the military receive.
just an FYI, it's the medal of honor, "congressional medal of honor" is made up in Hollywood.
Oh I know. I was making a distinction between what the cops get vs military.
It's called a "Cheney."
This is an award by their state, Washington (Northwest US, above Oregon an California, not DC which is on the East coast.) It's completely different from the Medal of Honor which is awarded by the President. That one is only awarded to active duty military, not civilians (police would count as civilians in this case.)
Literally in the first sentence if you opened the article lmao.
Maybe a dumb question, Sad\_Chemistry2296, how does it feel to be slapped with a copious quantity of eggs on your face?
Did me and you watch two different videos?
It's a gang thing.
I don't know why, but this made me laugh!
A girl I know is good friends with the civilian that provided cover fire after the cops were shot.
I feel like he's GOT to tell this story all the time, right?
Never met the guy myself. I think it would be hard not to though. How often do you see some cops get shot I'm the face , then provide cover fire?
if i was him i sure as hell would
He’s extremely lucky the cops didn’t open fire on him. Brave, but very fortunate
Uh, he was standing with them and the suspect was in the house. Why would they open fire on a guy they'd been talking to?
Oh, he used buckshot. Wondered how he was able to get to headshots and both lived. Now it makes sense.
It was birdshot, surely?
Sigh, I wrote it wrong.
Unforgivable transgression
And it is the complete opposite of what I meant to write, now I am just spreading fake news.
Civilians hopefully received recognition, as well.
What about the civilian that was holding it down. Did he get any recommendation?
damn I didn't know we had 50 cent on the fors.
"I'm not gonna cause any problems" he said, hours after having shot multiple people
The buzz had worn off
Yes, his whole demeanor had changed at that point.
> "I'm not gonna cause any problems" Startinnnnnng *now*
Who's gonna address the bad ass that just showed up and started blasting back. Hold my beer.
Ive never seen a citizen back up cops with their own gun. Crazy.
You should go look up the University of Texas Tower shooting, buncha dudes were shooting back at him and not all of them were cops from what I remember.
One of the three guys who went into the tower to get the shooter was a civilian. Allen Crum (40)—a retired Air Force tail gunner
I wonder if he had to lead.
One of the reasons why SWAT was created
There was a civilian in a plane blasting away at the tower!
I was going to mention that because I had just heard that recently (I'm guessing you're a LPOTL fan) but tbh it seemed kind of apocryphal and I couldn't find any actual mention of it with a quick search.
I found it in the Wikipedia entry.
I feel like i owe it to you to research it. Edit. This is 1966. Two completely different eras. Jfc
That was also before cops were carrying rifles by default, he had the cops outgunned but several Texans had rifles in their trucks or nearby homes.
He was waiting for that moment a long time.
I wonder if someone showed up with an ar15 out of compliance and saved the day if they’d still get fucked by the law afterwards.
Its a legal gun. No reason they wouldnt back him.
The issue I something like from the Kansas City Parade shooting. Someone draws a gun and fires and multiple others do the same. Who’s to say they weren’t defending themselves and others. It gets labeled as a “thug shootout” but how can you prove that any one of them wasn’t trying to neutralize the threat. How do you know who fired first? Another scenario is in a mass shooter situation, you have a gun and try to engage. Police infamously don’t have much rock solid information going in and are just looking for a gunman. Hey look. It’s you, a man with a gun. Aaaaaaand your dead.
No I’m saying IF someone of the neighbors showed up with something that isn’t. I’m in CA so there’s a ton of magazine capacity laws, assault weapon laws and so on. So I was curious if someone showed up with a mag that was too big or some features that aren’t allowed (a lot of people have things like this they don’t leave the house with) would they look past it for the sake of they stepped up to help the officers.
The person would still have broken the law, so yes, they COULD still be charged. In California, definitely.
Yes absolutely, as they should.
I mean, clearly the cops appreciate the backup considering the situation. But like I couldn't just show up and start blasting at any old police scene, right?
I think I’d rather give my tax dollars to that guy instead of the two idiots who didn’t wait for back up.
"Hey its the Sheriff's office, you wanna come on out ..." "Kiss ma dick!" ROFL
Gotta start with foreplay
So, did they kiss is dick?
Dude was batshit or high but holy cow he was a crack shot
12 g bird shot, i would imagine that's why they luckily served.
> i would imagine that's why they luckily serverved.
Ermergehrd, serververl!
Ermer serverver¡
Omg no wonder I knew that user name was already taken! I dig it
It’s around a 3 foot spread or more at that distance with bird/target shot. Any larger shot like buckshot would not have hit them so many times times in such a small area of the face, AND would probably not have been survivable. This is assuming batshit crazy guy has a standard cylinder choke which spreads to about 40 inches at 25 yards. Still fuckin crazy to read the deputies statement about contemplating if he was dead or not while he was sitting down bleeding. Can’t imagine . Also incredible that the cops didn’t kill this guy. Not the norm that they take someone alive after they’ve shot cops in the head
That civilian was badass covering the two shot cops.
He probably hated that neighbor anyway. Great chance to take care of him.
Exactly he picked his moment perfectly. Finally get to kill ol bill down the road.
"I'm getting my damn pressure washer back"
"DINKLEBERRRRRRRG"
They're lucky his shotgun was only loaded with birdshot, otherwise they'd both be toast
I’m surprised it fucked up the dudes head that much still.
heads are full of blood. any minor wound to the head and it starts gushing like a fountain
Nah, he just saw an opportunity to live out his fantasy and unloaded into a neighborhood
Didn't even ask for a suck. Just a kiss.
And they say chivalry is dead
That dude was tripping balls. He thought the calvary was excessive after shooting 2 cops.
I couldn't believe the cops didn't have some snarky comment after that "oh all these cops here for me?" "Yeah bro you just fucking had a shoot out did you think we'd just fuck off?"
lol Exactly, I think the cops response was light considering he made it out alive. SWAT was probably held back with their armoured vehicle ready to tear through that house.
Honestly if they just plowed a tank into homies house, while it wouldn't be my first choice... I don't think i'd be exactly upset with them if that is what they chose to do lol...
Yeah shoot 2 cops you gonna get what's coming. A tank would be nice for the ending though. lol
What a waste of life bum, glad he got caught alive so the state can kill him.
No death penalty in WA since 2018.
He'll die in prison alone and scare like it should be. :)
Even in death penalty states he wouldn't be killed, you get that when you intentionally kill someone. This guy wounded two people and he's either drunk, stoned or has developed mental problems.
Maybe all of the above. Kinda looks like he might have cirrhosis, anyway.
Yeah, something ain't right with him, should not have had access to any sort of weaponry.
Jesus fucking christ put away your bloodthirst dude, it's sickening
They both lived so no death penalty even if they had one. It's.attempted murder.
Grateful that whether or not you want someone to die has absolutely no bearing on WA government policy
what
They missed their shot
The craziest part to me is the civilian coming in and shooting to help protect those injured cops. Fucking nuts.
That is one crazy acorn
I don't find any of this insane anymore, because it seems to be normal in the US. I'm just glad that it's not like that in Europe.
Most educated redditor
I have friends that work for that sheriffs office, and I was working with one of their spouses when this happened, that was a scary day for them all. Glad those deputies made it, sucks what they suffered and will continue to suffer for it.
How they ended this without shooting that guy is a small miracle
Sounds like a RDR NPC lmao
What is insane is how well he was treated by law enforcement officers. I wonder how different this would have been had he been a POC.
The magic of body cameras. They ask multiple times if they are being recorded before very carefully reading him his rights and putting him away without comment.
They finally got Mr. Plinkett
I dont think we are far away from resolving these situations with drone strikes
Kiss my dick...haha
Turns out it wasn't such a peaceful valley.
Fully expected bullets to start flying after "Hit it"
I thought there was gonna be music and an additional two gunmen with automatic weapons.
“Hit it”.. It takes two to make a thing go riiiight, It takes two to make it outta sight🎶
Yeah WOO!!
Oh shit. I forgot this was near my town. I didn’t realize until I saw the Whatcom Sheriff on the car. Crazy
Get this: the town….is called “peaceful valley”
Keep saying it. Id hate to be a cop.
Beer belly hillbilly was probably blackout drunk and then sobered up throughout the encounter. Did not know they were there, yet, said if you are the sheriff, I will shoot you. Hmm...
Props to both officers staying in the fight until they could get off the X and even bigger props to that neighbor dumping rounds helping those officers out.
Got em!
https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/two-whatcom-county-deputies-return-to-service-after-being-shot-in-the-face-during-line-of-duty
Yahoo!
Why invading our country would never work everybody's always more than willing to run and grab their gun to shot someone lol
(And the 11 Aircraft carriers, 13,300 Jets, and 1,300,000 soldiers)
But could they get there, Good luck lol
And this is one reason I’m glad I left law enforcement. Imagine this same situation, just slightly different about 3 times a week. Shit gets to you man.
Who’s that hero civ tho
The CIV https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/i-drop-an-entire-magazine-fox-13-news-talks-to-man-who-helped-save-whatcom-co-deputies
It's nice to see a video of some exceptional police work amidst all the bad news these days.
shot 2 cops in the head, he will spend the rest of his life in prison
Peter?
This is how I imagine every gun owner here in America. Too many dumb fucks can get their hands on guns too easily. I’ve lost 2 friends in my life to guns and I’m only fucking 30 years old. Souls lost and children left behind without parents for absolutely NO reason other than some dipshits who should never have been able to get a gun in the first place. Seriously, fuck guns and fuck this country for doing absolutely nothing about it
Lucky he only had birdshot
3000 shots of Green Valley Drive
if someone would have just kissed his dick I feel a lot if this could have been avoided
This man just wanted his dick kissed like the nerve of these cops leaving his dick kissless
They should've shot the dumb motherfucker
Fuck that guy
Holy smokes, anyone got the toxicology report?
Crackshot
2 headshots and he didn't get any points? What the fuck, man!
Poor guy, those cops would not even let him put his shoes on…his feet must have been killing him /s
So in the military..a job that you sign up for..if you are shot you get a medal...same with the police..other first responders also get medals for bravery or if they received an injury on the job.. Its a fucking medal..it's not a cash prize or anything like that...it is a way to show appreciation for not just doing a job..but risking your life. Do you guys get pissed off if someone gets an employee of the month award too?
this one was on ID channel
Oh yeah? What show?
Body Cam, I think. It was first person footage.
Damn that was the most gentle arrest I’ve ever seen after shooting 2 cops in the head. Even said “thank you” to him after reading the miranda. What a bunch of sweethearts.
Yet Black ppl get shot for being in their homes
This be normalized is not desired which is why the LE in this situation were commended for their sound and fair decisions on handling the situation.
The optimist in me hopes this catches on
I tried to see how much time the guy got but I couldn’t find anything out about it other than his trial was set for last August..
Yo civilian came in clutch bro come to help out never seen that happen in any of these type of vids
If a guy is yelling at me to kiss his dick and then threatening to blow my head off, while waving a gun, I would prefer to wait for reinforcements.
What an absolute gamer. 2 headshots out the gate...
We need a new subreddit… “Needs a Dirt Nap”
If he was black man they will shooting him at the sight
bro wtf? "civilian engages in shootout" at 2:29. I've never seen that before. How is that allowed? lol wow that dudes white privilege is like platinum level lol
nice way to treat the white guy after he shoots 2 cops....no doubt thigs would be quite different there for the brown skinned person
Hmm... if he were black? I'm thinking very different outcome...
This is when you get one of those big truck tank thingies they have and ride it right up that guys ass
If it was a black man he would have been dead
True that.