Lynchburg, VA — On the night of February 17, 2018 Walker Sigler, his wife Kate, and their children were asleep in their home doing nothing wrong and harming no one when two Lynchburg police officers came to the door. As Sigler woke up to the noise, the officers opened fire through the closed door and shot Sigler. This innocent man’s leg was shattered and he was nearly murdered because two trigger happy cops were scared of their own shadows.
In June of last year, Officers Edward Ferron, 41, and Savannah Simmons, 22, were both indicted for their actions that night on three felony counts of reckless handling of a firearm resulting in serious bodily injury, unlawful wounding and unlawful shooting at an occupied domicile.
In March, they pleaded no contest to the charges and were “sentenced” for their crimes to 100 hours of community service — a travesty of justice indeed.
“This is an exceptionally difficult day, as you can imagine,” John E. Lichtenstein, Sigler’s attorney, said after the hearing. “It is difficult to understand these actions. But I think what we want you to know is the Siglers respect the process. They respect this process with what happened today. And he’s doing all they can to try to get better and to try to deal with it.”
As WSET reports, officers said they approached the home and announced that they were there to investigate suspicious activity. One of the officers attorney’s, Chuck Felmlee, said the officers then heard yelling and heavy foot steps as though someone was running toward them. They say it was Sigler who then slammed the door which made a loud clanging sound they believed to be a gun shot at the time. The officers fired four shots. One bullet hit Sigler and shattered his leg.
None of this “loud clanging sound” is evident in the video and the actual door to the home was all the way closed. The only open door was the the storm door which most people never lock.
Instead of calling the home, waiting for someone to respond, or talking to neighbors, these rogue cops decided a tactical entry into the home was warranted — despite no signs of forced entry and nothing suspicious. Clearly afraid of their own shadows, the video shows the terrified officers begin shooting within only seconds after arriving at the home. Sigler was shot in the leg, shattering his femur which required multiple surgeries.
Despite all these facts, the two trigger happy cops do not have to go to jail.
“No outcome is going to satisfy everyone or make this, quote, right,” special prosecutor, Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter said after the hearing. “It’s impossible to get a just resolve when someone’s shot and grievously wounded like this. Given the frailty of human existence, the best we can do is try to pick up the pieces and find some kind of just outcome.”
But this outcome is anything but just. These two cops were given the lowest possible sentence they could’ve received and Sigler is left permanently disabled as the blood loss caused severe problems with his vision as well.
“He is effectively blind in his left eye and has partial permanent losses of vision and other issues in his right eye as a result,” Lichtenstein said after the hearing. “He has and continues to suffer excruciating pain and will require treatment throughout his life for these devastating injuries.”As you watch the video below, remember the oft-repeated statement, “if you don’t do anything wrong in front of police, you have nothing to worry about.” This couldn’t be further from the truth. This could be your home, your spouse, or your children who fall victim to fearful cops with no regard for life. And, as the lack of punishment highlights, police have no incentive to act any different.
