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163305 tn?1333668571

OCIETY Another Police Shooting Sparks Controversy When Man Is Fatally Shotf

By Lisa Fogarty, Wed, September 24, 2014
A 22-year-old man was reportedly shot dead by police officers in Eureka, California, on Wednesday morning while sitting on his porch checking Facebook.

Eureka Police say Tommy McClain reached for a gun and that they responded by fatally shooting him out of self-defense – but Nichole Mottern, who is the wife of McClain’s cousin Josh Mottern, says this story is not true, reports Inquisitr.

According to Mottern, the young man, who lived with his cousin and his family, was not holding anything in his hand when he was allegedly shot by a group of cops.  She says they had returned from celebrating her husband’s birthday and were slightly inebriated. She and McClain were sitting outside after midnight talking when she claims police showed up on their property, reports Lost Coast Outpost.

“A cop yelled, ‘He’s got a gun,’” Mottern said. “They all fired. I saw him getting shot from all different angles. First one fired and then they all fired. It wasn’t one cop. It was them all. There were a lot of cops. He crumpled down into the ground.”

Mottern’s mother-in-law Corinna Ward says she also witnessed the incident and that there were “five or maybe six” officers surrounding the man. It has also been reported that police tasered McCain’s cousin after the shooting.

A neighbor, who wishes to remain anonymous, says she saw something in McClain’s hand at the time of the shooting. Eureka Police Officer Andy Mills says they returned to the property the following day and recovered a gun, but that no additional information would be provided until forensic investigators examined it.

A Facebook memorial page called “Justice for Tommy McClain” has been created by his family and friends. On the page it reads, “On 9/17/14 at 12:30am a precious life was taken due to a Eureka Police Officer making the wrong call. EPD needs to know they did wrong. RIP Tommy”

Police say they were searching for two men with warrants out for their arrest on the night McClain was shot, but it’s unclear whether he was one of the suspects.

Sources: Inquisitr, Lost Coast Outpost

- See more at: http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/crime/police-fatally-shoot-california-man-he-checks-facebook#sthash.DHlOdN65.dpuf
12 Responses
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Avatar universal
LOL! Vance you have NO sense of humor! Now its time for my morning joe....Thats coffee!
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the utter waste of time reading your post. Thought you actually had something of value to add.
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Avatar universal
I get where yer coming from after watching COPS.....

I feel the same way about men after watching those shows that portray someone acting as a child and all the pervs that show up thinking they are gonna have sex with a child, only to get busted....

Yep, after watching that I think ALL men want sex with kids too!!!!!
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Avatar universal
Go on You Tube and watch the show COPS. Might give you a better idea on the guns police have to deal with.
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Avatar universal
No such thing as peace officers, they are police officers. They are trained to stay alive. If you understand how many cops are shot yearly and how many calls they go on with weapons involved then you will understand that there life is #1 priority, as it should be.
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163305 tn?1333668571
Are you referring to me ???
No meds, other than my usual one little pill that my hepatologist says I have to take.
Of course, I could use a good strong cup of coffee. Time to go make the brew.
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206807 tn?1331936184
Off the Meds today or to many of them?
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163305 tn?1333668571
I know Eureka and it's harvest time in Humboldt county. My guess is some cop was looking for pot plants and got jumpy when he didn't find them.
What bothers me personally is how close to home this is. This isn't a big city and we can't blame it on racial stereotyping.
I do think the police are being trained as armed combatants against the citizens. Whatever happened to peace officers ?
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206807 tn?1331936184
Even the info that is provided doesn’t make since. Like Ferguson, I think both sides are so full of $&*^T, I doubt we will ever know the truth.


“A 22-year-old man was reportedly shot dead by police officers in Eureka, California, on Wednesday morning while sitting on his porch checking Facebook.”

“Nichole Mottern, who is the wife of McClain’s cousin Josh Mottern,….. According to Mottern, the young man, who lived with his cousin and his family, was not holding anything in his hand when he was allegedly shot by a group of cops.”


“A neighbor, who wishes to remain anonymous, says she saw something in McClain’s hand at the time of the shooting.”


I’m not up on all the new technology but unless they have invented an invisible Iphone or Pad, he had to have something in his hand to check his Facebook

“Eureka Police Officer Andy Mills says they returned to the property the following day and recovered a gun,”

If he had a gun, how could it have disappeared in front of that many people?
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Avatar universal
Not enough info.
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Avatar universal
How about the many police officers and other victims all over the nation in the same time frame as ferguson? And by the way, they clearly made the distinction that ferguson shooting had nothing to do with the recent unrest there, so why then? Did they feel the need to report a random shooting much like ones that happened all over but never hit the news? Oh, could it be to implant the very suttle implication that it came from ferguson, where blacks hate cops or visa versa depending on your take on it?

Now back to THIS article.

Not enuff information forthcoming imo, but will be interesting to see what develops.
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Avatar universal
How about the police officer that was shot in Fergusion?
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