LOS ANGELES, Nov. 29, 2007

Rodney King Shot, Wounded In California

Struck In Arm And Face By Shotgun Blast; Injuries Do Not Appear To Be Life Threatening

  • Rodney King is pictured in this Aug. 21, 1996 file photo.

    Rodney King is pictured in this Aug. 21, 1996 file photo.  (AP (file))

(AP)  Rodney King, whose videotaped police beating in 1991 led to deadly rioting when the officers involved were acquitted, was shot on a street corner, but his wounds were not life-threatening, police said.

King, 42, was shot two or three times from a distance by birdshot fired from a shotgun. He then bicycled about 1½ miles back to his home in neighboring Rialto and called police. King was hit in the face, arms, back and torso, police said.

Authorities said when they arrived at the home, King and others appeared drunk and were largely uncooperative in providing information about the shooting.

King was taken to a hospital. His condition on Thursday was not immediately known.

The shooting may have involved a domestic dispute, San Bernardino police Lieutenant Scott Paterson said.

King, who is black, was videotaped being beaten by white Los Angeles police officers after he was stopped for speeding in 1991. Four officers were acquitted of most criminal charges in 1992, triggering rioting in Los Angeles and neighboring cities that left 55 people dead and caused $1 billion in property damage.

King sued the city over the beating and obtained a $3.8 million settlement.

However, he continued to have run-ins with the law. In 2004, he was ordered to spend 120 days in jail and ordered into treatment after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of the drug PCP after he lost control of his SUV in 2003 and slammed into a power pole in Rialto.

Rialto and San Bernardino are about 55 miles east of Los Angeles.

© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Add a Comment See all 50 Comments
by bhappy2-2 December 1, 2007 12:04 AM EST
No, re/****, you got it ALL WRONG! Your "second amendment right" protects the states'''' rights to form "well-regulated militias", not your individual "right" to have any weapon you like! However, if we assume you are correct about this "right" (even though you are not), you STILL got it all wrong! Your ability to have a gun DOES NOT, IN ANY WAY protect anyone''''s first amendment right to free speech. You can''''t do ANYTHING to protect free speech other than (1) make good use of it, and (2) vote for politicians who understand and respect your right to free speech. (And that is definitely NOT what GW Bush and the neocons have done.)

Posted by MyIDonCBS

HEY JASSACK! When the second amendment falls YOUR first amendment won''t be far behind it! As long as the people are armed we have some small chance to remain free. When that right is taken away it will be to allow the others to be taken without resistance. While I may not be able to prevent the government from taking my rights I WILL be able to resist for a little while. Even if I fail at least I will die trying. NOT sucking air through @SS like you.
Reply to this comment
by bhappy2-2 November 30, 2007 11:58 PM EST
bhappy2-2 ... you are talking about something that was written hundreds of years ago... the rights of yestarday should not be taken at the base word but analyzed on a much greater standard... does the second right reallyh indicate individuals to carry fire arms... or does it refer to the will of the people or representation...

plus i don''''t thing the guns then are represented of the guns today...

Posted by jester188

So, jester, does that mean the other amendments, since they are so old, should be disregarded as well? Or is it only those YOU don''t approve of that should be disregarded? After all, the first amendment (do you know what IT is about?) could be viewed by some as meaning the newspapers OF THAT ERA and the people OF THAT ERA needed the right of free speech to tell others about the perils of being governed by a king from across the ocean. Besides, the words of today are so advanced compared to what was available then, they didn''t even have words like COMPUTER, INTERNET, BLOG and so many others. Shouldn''t this whole freedom of speech thing be eliminated as an amendment to our constitution since SO MUCH HAS CHANGED SINCE IT WAS WRITTEN?
If you don''t support ridding ourselves of ALL amendments DON''T TELL ME WHAT ANY OF THEM MEAN. As I said, my second amendment protected firearm defends your first amendment right to tell me I don''t need one. When my second amendment rights disappear your first, third, fourth, fifth and right on down the line will not be far from falling as well.
Reply to this comment
by kailumego1 November 30, 2007 5:08 PM EST
For all the white folks that are so quick to bring his race into the equation as symptomatic of his repeated predicaments, you need to watch CourtTv "Inside the Jail", I watched, as one after the other, white males and females, all in a drunken tirade, were thrown into a cell, for disorderly conduct.

Some high on alcohol, alcohol and meth, or other narcotic substances, so stop with the racial pandering, some white folks are drunken low-life losers as well.
Reply to this comment
by kailumego1 November 30, 2007 4:59 PM EST
Iceman_1960,

Re: "the right to bear arms"

Thank you, for that profound explanation, when I''ve read the 2th Amendment repeatedly that''s the conclusion I''d drawn, a well armed militia.
Reply to this comment
by santa2007-2009 November 30, 2007 11:02 AM EST
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by slim1h2o November 30, 2007 10:49 AM EST
16 years ago he was a black, drunk, drug-using, violent loser who hung out with the wrong crowd. Today in 2007 he is still a black, drunk, drug-using, violent loser who hangs out with the wrong crowd. Gee, what a fu*cking surprise!

Posted by MichaelT302 at 09:00 PM : Nov 29, 2007

Thanks,,,You just answered my question, before I asked it.

Which is,,Why does this knucklehead keep showing up in national headlines???????
Reply to this comment
by iceman_1960 November 30, 2007 3:02 AM EST
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms [Muskets], shall not be infringed." - Second Amendment

I"ve never handled a Musket, but it was certainly a comparatively primitive weapon and required a great deal of experience and practice to use effectively, like a crossbow or a sword.

Not like modern firearms that young criminals seemingly can become familiar with quickly.

The Second Amendment seems to be stating that the need for well-regulated Militias, is behind the Right of private persons to keep and bear these weapons so as to use them in military service without a long period of training.

That is my take on this. But I may just be another re/****.
Reply to this comment
by myidoncbs November 30, 2007 2:52 AM EST
drivelphobe says, "He [Rodney King] deserved everything the cops did to him when he was beaten."

No human being deserves to be surrounded by a bunch of blood-thirsty cops, and kicked and severely beaten! Not even if he is a "thug", as you described him. You are a sick, inhuman being to think such atrocities are "deserved".

Futhermore, re/****, wherever the supposed $3.8 million dollars went is NO concern of yours, and it has absolutely no bearing on his honest attempt to quell the violence in LA when he said, "Why can''t we all just get along?" Whatever else he may have done in his life, that was a good moment. He deserves credit for trying to calm things down.
Reply to this comment
by iceman_1960 November 30, 2007 2:50 AM EST
gunownerdan,

The more guns held in private hands in any modern society, the greater the level of criminal violence in that society.

There is no nation on earth, from Japan to Iraq to the USA, that has widespread private gun ownership and also civil peace and harmony.
Reply to this comment
by myidoncbs November 30, 2007 2:45 AM EST
"Criminals will always prefer unarmed victims!" - gunSELLERdan

Gun dealers will always prefer a terrified and parnoid population. It drive sales through the roof! -- me

Dan doesn''t give a damm about ANYBODY protecting themselves. The fact is, if you own a gun, you are more likely to die from a gunshot than if you don''t own a gun. Sure, about 1 in a million times you might actually use a gun to save yourself. The problem is, the odds of being killed by that very gun are MUCH higher than 1 in a million. But Dan wants you to believe that you''ll "protect yourself" by waving the gun around, without shooting anybody. Ask yourself this: If a would-be assailant is scared off by seeing you wave your gun around, how serious of a threat was that assailant, REALLY? Don''t most criminals have their OWN guns? Don''t they arrive on the scene with the gun loaded, aimed, and ready to fire? Unless you are awake 24x7x365, and safely hiding behind a gun turret, with your gun loaded and pointed, what are the odds that YOU will get the drop on THEM? It just doesn''t happen like that!

More guns is NOT the solution to ANYTHING. More guns means more people will die, PERIOD.
Reply to this comment
by iceman_1960 November 30, 2007 2:42 AM EST
"No, re/****, you got it ALL WRONG! Your "second amendment right" protects the states" rights to form "well-regulated militias", not your individual "right" to have any weapon you like!"
- Posted by MyIDonCBS at 11:29 PM : Nov 29, 2007

That is not exactly what the Second Amendment says.

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

In other words, (in those days) a Militia could not be raised quickly if the people themselves were not familiar with the keeping and bearing of muskets.

The Amendment could simply have said "only well-regulated Militias can keep and bear Arms" if that was the intended meaning.



(By the way, is the common word *** (re/****) really banned by the silly software ?)
Reply to this comment
by drivelphobe November 30, 2007 2:39 AM EST
King is and always has been a thug. He deserved everything the cops did to him when he was beaten. The whole trial was joke, like OJ''s. The city of Los Angeles had to pay out that money and every black in the city rejoiced. It was nothing but a racial scam. Gosh, and all he wanted was to just "get along." Where''d the $3.8 million go??
Reply to this comment
by myidoncbs November 30, 2007 2:29 AM EST
Some total re/**** said, "My second amendment right to keep and bear arms protects your first amendment right to tell me I don''t need one."

No, re/****, you got it ALL WRONG! Your "second amendment right" protects the states'' rights to form "well-regulated militias", not your individual "right" to have any weapon you like! However, if we assume you are correct about this "right" (even though you are not), you STILL got it all wrong! Your ability to have a gun DOES NOT, IN ANY WAY protect anyone''s first amendment right to free speech. You can''t do ANYTHING to protect free speech other than (1) make good use of it, and (2) vote for politicians who understand and respect your right to free speech. (And that is definitely NOT what GW Bush and the neocons have done.)
Reply to this comment
by iceman_1960 November 30, 2007 2:10 AM EST
"Hang on here...King CALLED police himself this time?"
- Posted by tcoleman12 at 11:01 PM : Nov 29, 2007

Yup.

This time they impounded all the camcorders before they beat him up.
Reply to this comment
by tcoleman12 November 30, 2007 2:01 AM EST
Hang on here...King CALLED police himself this time? Then he and his friends were uncooperative when they arrived? Is he needing more money these days?
Reply to this comment
by iceman_1960 November 30, 2007 1:53 AM EST
"Just goes to show... you can take the boy out of the hood, but you can''''t take the hood out of the boy!"
- Posted by briannorwood at 04:02 PM : Nov 29, 2007

Eh ? Rodney King was the shooting victim, not the shooter.

The shooter may have been a White Presbyterian gang member.
Reply to this comment
by mcv57 November 30, 2007 1:34 AM EST
Mr. King never said he was a saint. Now we know what a "rich" junkie and pip does with his money and time. Still, the law enforcement establishment knows better to practice racism and violence on U.S. citizens.
Reply to this comment
by jester188 November 30, 2007 1:11 AM EST
bhappy2-2 ... you are talking about something that was written hundreds of years ago... while the ideal stay the same the principle changes... you are talking about a time when the people represented the military against the british... today there is a military to guard against attacks... the rights of yestarday should not be taken at the base word but analyzed on a much greater standard... does the second right reallyh indicate individuals to carry fire arms... or does it refer to the will of the people or representation...

plus i don''t thing the guns then are represented of the guns today...
Reply to this comment
by pared1 November 30, 2007 1:09 AM EST
Must be tough being famous for being beaten up, being arrested and now being shot. Can I have your autograph Rod?
Reply to this comment
by toolmangler-2009 November 30, 2007 1:08 AM EST
Go here and see a writer---a black writer---talk about it.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/
7499442?MSNHPHCP 1=10637

Posted by MichaelT302 at 09:04 PM : Nov 29, 2007



Best article I have read in a long time, Also 100% right on.
Reply to this comment
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