Thanks for that, even though we can’t confirm it it’s still an interesting piece of possible evidence.

I have no idea of this is the same guy but it is from 2011 (quoting in case it gets removed from FB).

” My name John van Allen II and the purpose for me posting for on your wall is to get some help, I have a Court order from The Hon. Judge Manning to order the BradDock to to return my weapon when the pulled me over and tried to trump up charges on me on the 25th day on Feb. 2011. My Att. Fred Rannner ask them to provide Evidence of their Allegations they did not there for all charges was dismissed and withdrawen. And they still have not returned one of my weapons they took without just cause. I am seeking help from all of you local news stations to put a spot light on this so this police misconduct can be stopped and so it may not happen to anyone else.”

I’ve read in several places that he was in the Army Reserve from 09-12. No mention of a deployment. Several articles about the shooting have pictures of him in uniform, and in one he’s holding a SAW. I’m convinced he was in the Army, although I’d be surprised to find out he deployed, In an interview with his close friend on Oregon Live, the friend said nothing about Allen deploying.

Regarding training, I absolutely agree that both military and armed civilian training needs a huge amount of added realism. I discovered real training after I came home from Iraq, and since then I’m pretty disgusted with the drivel we get from the military sometimes.

Thanks for your service, and best of luck to your sons. I have a Marine son-in-law, and I’m sure he’ll be making a trip overseas before too long.

I’ll never forget walking up to a car where a guy had been shot in the head from close range with a .38. About a third of his skull above his ears missing, pieces of head all over the place, and the guy was conscious and aware. Freaked me out. People can be hard to kill.

I remember in the first police academy I went to, an instructor asked a cadet, “When you’ve got a suspect stopped, what do you watch?” The cadet answered, “His eyes.” The instructor responded, “No, you watch his hands. His eyes can’t kill you.” Looking back, that seems like such obvious truth, but so many people don’t know it.

Generally speaking, if I was dealing with a suspect and he didn’t immediately show me his hands, my weapon came out. It may not have been pointed at him and he may have never known it was out, but it came out.

The memories that scare me are of the suspects who actually did trick me, and I didn’t figure it out until later. Remember the old “Street Survival” textbooks? Inside the back cover of one it had this quote: “The question isn’t ‘did you make it home at the end of your shift?’ The question is, ‘how many people could have taken me today if they’d really wanted to?'”

I tried to keep that one in mind on patrol. But even with that, I know that some suspects let me get away with making stupid mistakes.

Thanks for the assessment! Particularly liked the observation of military and police training regarding firing from a static position. It’s time our military and law enforcement train as they fight by expanding this concept down to tier II and tier III combat elements regarding tactical weapons qualification. I trained both of my sons and son-in-law prior to their combat deployments with a focus on training as you fight until they had developed muscle memory and instinct. I am no master, but these wars have gone on so long that they have spanned two generations, me being retired after my tours and two of my sons now being deployed.

Regarding armed civilians, I find it critical to also instruct the armed civilian on actions to take after a legal self defense shooting. I found some that defend themselves legally have ended up almost shot by the police responding to the incident because they were in shock and found it difficult to impossible to follow instructions, gun still in hand and waiving it around. Train, train, train.

-Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

-Lance Heckerman

Combat Leader

SFC, US Army, Retired