To the editor:

As a former resident of both Eudora and Lawrence, I read with interest the article in which the Eudora peace officer, who was almost run down by a fleeing suspect, shot out the tire of the fleeing car. The Lickteigs compared the policeman to Wild Bill Hickok. He should truly be honored. Wild Bill was a Kansas lawman for many years and was admired for his courage and the fact he would only draw his gun and fire in cases of self defense, rare in frontier lawmen of the time.

A motorized vehicle is a deadly weapon when someone is using it to assault another person and the use of deadly force is justified. During the last two years in Albuquerque there have been three cases of people trying to run over a cop in which the officers shot and killed them. They weren’t going for tires. They shot directly at the drivers that were threatening them. In contrast, the Eudora officer showed great courage and restraint by only shooting a tire.

I can’t say the officer didn’t make at least one mistake in this episode. It was very rude of him to let his life be threatened near the Lickteigs’ house. He should be more considerate next time and only let this sort of thing happen when he is near the home of people who appreciate he puts his life on the line to help make them safer. In the meantime: Ride On Wild Bill!

Brian Neis,

Albuquerque, N.M.