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Nothing Good Happens at 4:00 a.m.

Kevin Brown was shot to death after allegedly pulling a gun on Austin Police Officers after tussling and fleeing from the cops. The incident started around 4:00 a.m. outside of a bar.

I wrote that “nothing good happens at 4:00 a.m., especially outside of a bar.”

If you’re hanging around, loitering, or looking for something to do at 4:00 a.m. — you’re probably up to no good or — at the very least — asking for trouble.

Like this guy in Houston:

A carjacking suspect was shot early this morning by a Houston police officer outside a southeast branch library.

The man, whose name was not immediately released, was expected to survive after being taken to Ben Taub Hospital with a bullet wound to the chest, according to Officer Johanna Abad, a spokeswoman for HPD.

She said events leading up to the shooting began around 4 a.m. when police received a call about an alleged carjacking in the parking lot of an AutoZone in the 200 block of S. 69th Street.

The suspect allegedly stole an employee’s 2004 Ford Expedition as he arrived for work, Abad said.

Police quickly spotted the stolen vehicle in the area around Keller and Evergreen and a short pursuit began. Abad said the driver of the stolen vehicle struck several parked vehicles before hitting a tree behind the Melcher Branch Library, in the7200 block of Keller near the intersection of Evergreen.

The suspect allegedly got out of the car and fled on foot as officers began searching around the library. Abad said they spotted the man crouched behind an overnight book drop box near the library’s front door.

Sgt. E. Cisneros, a 15-year veteran of the force, then ordered the man to come out from behind the box. Abad said the suspect looked as if he was going to comply with the order before he crouched back down and made a motion as if to pull something from his waist area. The officer fired once and struck him in the chest, Abad said.

I hope the Cop’s not white and victim black — because we’ll have to hear the outrage from the black community and local NAACP leaders about racism and excessive force from HPD. And I’m sure we’ll hear all the stories about what a great guy the victim was, you know, when he wasn’t out car jacking people.

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Friday, June 8th, 2007 | Trackback |

5 Responses to “Nothing Good Happens at 4:00 a.m.”

I’ve heard a lot of comments about how 4:00 a.m. = obvious evil intention. I think that’s sort of strange. I’m up that late quite often. It’s just my wiring. No drugs, light drinking perhaps, but just enjoying the company of friends at their house or mine. My weekends are cherished for these late nights. I just don’t see what the time of day has to do with prejudice in judging a criminal case. I have a spotless record despite my night-owl tendencies.

Left by Pete on June 8th, 2007 at 4:52 pm

Robbie- you might be getting old.

Generally, I agree with what you’re saying: if you want to avoid being murdered being home by 11:00 is probably a good place to start. But that’s the opinion of a guy who has to be at work by 9. Back in my younger days staying out till 12:00 was the rule, 2:00 was common; and 4:00 was not unheard of. -and there wasn’t a single murder plotted during that whole time.

Left by Preston on June 9th, 2007 at 7:05 am

Oh, I know there are plenty of exceptions — back in my bartending days, we would get off work about 3:00 a.m., and would commonly stay out/not go home until the sun started coming up.

I’ve always just kept in mind what a cop friend of mine told me back in those days: There’s nothing to do at 4:00 a.m. but get into trouble.

It’s not an absolute rule, but a pretty good rule of thumb.

Left by Robbie on June 9th, 2007 at 9:09 am

Apparently being out past 4am is grounds for being shot in the back.

Left by John Jarzemsky on June 12th, 2007 at 12:09 am

No, John — and it takes quite the leap in logic to get to that conclusion, or a severe lack of reading comprehension.

But fighting with police, running from them, and pulling a gun (whether Brown pulled it so that he could try to dispose of it, or if it was pulled to fire at the officers) on police officers (who were told that you were carrying a weapon) — well, that is grounds for being shot.

Now, the 4:00 a.m. thing?

Well, maybe if Brown had been home in bed, rather than out at a club notorious for trouble — home in bed getting a good night sleep so that he could get up in the morning and go look for a real job that doesn’t involve pistol whipping people during drug deals gone bad; at home taking care of his child so that his parents don’t have to — if Brown had been home at 4:00 a.m. rather than out doing all those other illegal things he was doing….well, he wouldn’t have gotten shot.

You do acknowledge that Brown was 1) resisting arrest, 2) running from the police, and 3) a gun was found a few feet from his body — right? And you acknowledge that all of those things are illegal? And that Brown, at the very least is pretty damned-responsible for his own fate that night?

Because not being able to acknowledge all of those things shows a serious lack of moral honesty.

Left by Robbie on June 12th, 2007 at 7:50 am

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