Troublesome Tragedy

Somethign bothers me about this story and it's more than just the horrible tragedy. It seems that a police officer was shooting at a snake, missed at least twice sending his bullets far and wide. One splashed into a lake where 5 year old Austin Haley was fishing with his grandpa. When the first round hit the water near them, the grandfather held the boy close to him. The second round hit the boy in the head killing him. Here is the story from CNN.

The City Manager, Bob Wade, would not identify the name of the officer who is suspected of firing the shots. Wade states that the officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Why is that? Why would a servant of the citizens be protected when he accidentally kills one of them? Why do police get preferential treatment when they screw up? The grandfather seems to have spotted this hypocrisy.

"I'm not saying the cop shot him on purpose," Tracy said. "It was an accident. But let me tell you -- if I had a kid and put him in this car and didn't put him in a car seat and he got killed on the way to town, they'd charge me with murder ... and what this cop did is a lot worse than that."

He's right.