To the Editor:
On Thursday, Aug. 29, Fairfax County Police in Springfield responded to a domestic call in which the caller said her boyfriend had thrown out her clothing and that the boyfriend has a gun. If that is the extent of her call, the response of a single police unit would be hard to justify. But according to news reporting, a helicopter and the SWAT team were also on site!
During the negotiations between the police and the boyfriend, who according to news reports remained in the house throughout the entire episode, an officer fired a shot into the home. The shot killed the boyfriend.
This case is alarming because thousands of county residents own firearms, and a benign call to the police in which "gun" is mentioned, could trigger a Springfield incident with similar or worse outcomes.
The loss of any life is tragic, but we are hoping that there is more to this case, more that would justify the police response in terms of manpower.
Steve A. Brown
Springfield