Guns and alcohol do not mix. The latest example of this truism comes from Baltimore, where a Marine veteran of the Iraq war was killed after he was shot at 13 times by an off-duty police officer. Police are investigating whether the officer consumed alcohol.

Police say Tyrone Brown, 32, a husband and father of two, died after being hit by six of those shots, which were fired at close range by officer Gahiji Tshamba, 36.

The cause of the mayhem may have been an advance made toward a woman that Tshamba was with. If that's not the most ridiculous reason to open fire in public and risk hitting other people, I'm not sure what is.

"After the advances, the officer and the individual exchanged words," Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Gugliemi said. "There was an argument, and the altercation turned physical. At that point, the officer pulled out his service weapon and fired multiple shots at our victim."

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Brown may have been joking and touched the bottom of a female companion that Tshamba was with. The woman may have taken a swing at Brown, when Tshamba drew his weapon.

Brown's touching of the woman's bottom was entirely inappropriate even if he was joking, but it is certainly not worthy of death. Brown apologized after the incident and was walking away when the shots rang out.

Brown's sister, La-Belle Scott, said her brother was actually trying to diffuse the situation and had his hands in the air to show that he was not armed.

"My brother tried to approach him, saying, 'Calm down, calm down. All this is uncalled for.' And, the next thing you know, several shots rang out. It was maybe eight or nine shots that rang out, and then, all I know is my brother is telling me, 'I'm shot,'" Scott said.




"It's just crazy that he would have to shoot 13 times at an unarmed man," Scott said. "He was a loving, caring person. [He] always looked out for everybody. He loved his kids. His family came first."

Police are investigating whether alcohol was a factor in the shooting, after Tshamba declined to take an alcohol breath test.
The sad part about this situation is that police may have been able to prevent it. This is not the first time that Tshamba has shot a man, with the consumption of alcohol involved.

In 2005, Tshamba shot another man in the foot while he was off-duty. The incident, where Tshamba was called racial slurs by a group of men before they advanced on him, was deemed justifiable, but Tshamba was found to be under the influence of alcohol and disciplined.

Any time an off-duty officer takes his weapon out with him he should commit to not drinking. Baltimore police guidelines call for off-duty officers who are taking their weapons out with them to not drink.

Even though Tshamba's shooting was deemed to be justified, carrying his off-duty weapon while intoxicated seems like an offense that could get an officer dismissed. Carrying a gun while drunk is a display of poor judgment. Police officers, who are authorized to use deadly force, already have to make split-second life-and-death decisions. Making those decisions while completely sober is hard enough. Being under the influence of alcohol does not help one make good decisions.

Even police, who usually protect their own, have made some harsh statements about the firing of 13 shots at an unarmed man.

Police spokesperson Guglielmi said homicide detectives have "not been able to find a concrete motive" that would have caused Tshamba to unload his glock.

Union head Robert Cherry said the public should reserve judgment until Tshamba makes a statement and all the evidence is reviewed:

"The officer has not yet had an opportunity to give his version of events," Cherry told the Baltimore Sun. "There may be videos to review. There may be many more witnesses to interview. ... The refusal by him to give a statement is not something that should raise people's concerns that he is trying to hide something."

For Brown's family, however, there is a hole in their lives that can never be filled:

"I just hope justice will be served because my brother was supposed to walk me down the aisle next month. I'm getting married on July 24th, and he would've walked me down the aisle and he's not here," Scott said.