Richard Dale, 54

April 19, 2008, 1:52 a.m.

Richard Dale, a 54-year-old white man, was killed in an officer-involved shooting Saturday, April 19. According to Torrance police spokesman Dave Crespin, officers responded to a complaint of loud music in the 2200 block of Torrance Boulevard in Torrance about 12: 45 a.m., but when they arrived the music had been turned off.

A few minutes later, officers responded to a second complaint of loud music. According to Crespin, officers were making their way to an upstairs apartment when they were confronted by Dale, who allegedly pointed a handgun at them. Shots were fired and Dale was killed.

According to a coroner's report, Dale was shot multiple times in the chest. His time of death was listed as 1:52 a.m. by paramedics with the Torrance Fire Department.

A handgun was recovered at the scene, police said. Police also recovered "numerous weapons and ammunition" inside Dale's home.

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12 reader comments

Termagant crone,
Do you even remember his favorite line? : "It's your word against mine."
- Are you choosing to forget that I LIVED WITH HIM MY ENTIRE LIFE? At least, up until he had a pistol to my head.
- I didn't just tell the school counselor, I called the police. I told everybody, that would listen, how dangerous he was! Oh, did he not tell you that? Right, I'm the manipulative one! Well, if I am manipulative, that's a trait I learned from him.

Rule #1 of gun safety: ALWAYS (treat/)assume a firearm (as if it) is loaded.
Rule #2 of gun safety: Never point the muzzle, of a firearm, at ANYTHING you don't intend to destroy.
- Did you forget, he taught me the basics BEFORE I started dressing myself?! I knew what his intent was. Unfortunately, he was completely irresponsible in his actions, and never assumed that he was enraged, which was quite often.

He ruined his own life, and regretted mine. He chose drinking himself to oblivion, instead of being the best husband/father he could have been. Being as immature as he was, he should not have had offspring. He should of stepped up, as a gentleman/father, and done things differently. He, still, could of had his hobbies; but he chose to obsess over them, instead of his family.
- One more thing is for certain:
You showed your own level of insecurity, irresponsibility, and maturity, when you allowed your youngest son ... to speak to your late son's only child, the way he did. You two had a chance to treat me as family, once again. You, two, chose to blame your grandson for your sons follies. You never even allowed me grieve, before ostracizing me.
I will never forget my uncle's, or your, actions. You two can carry on with your blissful ignorance. I will hold no respect for you, regardless of you being my elder. Maybe, when you can hold yourselves accountable.
- I was venting, when I wrote those posts, three years ago. I don't even know, nor does it matter, who's at fault. I just don't understand: Why did they need to unload their clips(pistol magazines) into him? He, really, must have gotten under their skin.
I'm not speaking ill of the dead, I'm telling the truth. If you have a problem, then you never knew him and are completely ignorant to his foolishness.

— My father's son Feb. 3, 2013 at 9:13 p.m.

[IMG]http://www.johnnyfirmin.com/in-gods-hands.gif[/IMG]

This could have been prevented since you knew about his drinking/anger problem and his collection of weapons.

But then again he was not that old , only 54.
I am sure the cops didn't want to shoot/kill him, but cops who don't react first or fast enough -get shot at and die.

However i will never understand why our police officers have to fire so many bullets in any fatal part of the body when shooting them anywhere else is just as effective in disarming the suspect without fatally injuring him.

The Torrance police department keeps my family and neighborhood safe. We live in a crime infested county, and all of southern California is an extremely dangerous place to live in, our officers must protect themselves in order to protect us and they do what they can to prevent or stop a crime from happening.
They were only doing their jobs and they might have over-reacted but the man was armed and angry and so shots were fired...
I am sorry for you loss. I am not sure if this means anything to you, but be assured that he is in God's hands now and he is watching over you and your family.
God Bless You.

— SadinTorrance Sept. 25, 2010 at 2:05 a.m.

Now, I can't prove this. In fact, all of this is a speculation. However, it seems to fit better than the “official report”, especially considering resent stories of Torrance PD's other overreactions. A suicidal adolescent with a knife gets shot and killed THROUGH A DOOR. My friend's father was killed in his home for no reason. The Torrance PD manage to prove one. It's official popular belief to say that police officers aren't racist. Then what does NITAD mean? Why were the TPD not allowed to say this over their radios? N in Torrance after dark. I can assure you that N doesn't stand for nachos.

Why should I care? My father wasn't a “minority”. Let me ask a better question. So, why is it that police officers are still being backed by the public. They don't protect and serve anyone else but other police officers. They aren't trained to protect and serve a metropolitan area. In fact, they aren't even funded to do so. They are just there to serve as a public reminder that the government has the big private parts. They are there to simply be a thorn is the lion's foot. If lion is the public, who is the mouse, and why hasn't the mouse shown up in the story yet. Why does the mouse have to help the lion?

What will it take to make things better. Not for me, for everybody. Can't the government spend more of our tax dollars on things that will help the public, or is it that the government really only cares about taking it's private parts and cramming them where they don't belong? Sorta like what they did to my dad.

— My father's son Sept. 22, 2010 at 2:35 a.m.

My father and I never really got along, though I can say he tried. He wasn't the most understanding of people and he did have a temper. However, these were simply overreactions to people doing him wrong. Hypothetically, if you shot his dog, he would burn your house down while you and your family weren't in it. He never wanted to hurt anybody. All he wanted was for you to learn that one's actions causes a reaction. Most of the times, in his case, an over reaction.

He did own guns, many guns actually. He was a gun connoisseur. He owned guns of all types. Pistols, rifles, black powder, guns that predated World War 2. All kinds of guns! I think this was his reasons for attempting to become a police officer. He wanted guns in his life at all times. The one thing he never did with a gun was point it at someone which he wasn't ready to fire at, and he never missed, ever.

He would not allow anyone to hurt or destroy those he loved and the things he loved. He was very smart and understood what actions he was taking. However, he was also a drunk, and at least as far as I understand, BEFORE he was diagnosed with diabetes. It was the reason why he divorced a wife that loved him. It was the reason why he blamed his child. So, it could have been the reason why he was killed. But, I doubt will never know the truth of what actually happened that night.. The Torrance Police Department have done nothing to console me. They have never even attempted to contact me. They don't want to answer my questions and simply tell me to read the official report. Without any remorse.

Frankly, I know he wasn't right in the head. However, I still want to know the truth. The vague answers and huge plot holes don't seem like any reason to kill someone with such aggressiveness. It only takes one well placed gun shot to kill someone. You don't need two fully emptied pistols to kill someone unless your not trained, at all, or you have a personal vendetta.

If my father did have a gun at the time the police were there and he did point it at them, then they did not follow the procedures of a trained officer when approaching him. Otherwise, he would have simply put his weapon down, or taken one of them with him.

The only reason I can see for him to be shot so many times was that he was being his arrogant self and mouthing off to police officers. However, he would have only done so without any weapon. I'm sure he would have mentioned his weapon, out of defiance, to show the police, whom rejected him, that he can protect himself. He understood what it meant to threaten a police officer. So, he wouldn't go outside “guns a blazin”. He wasn't a foolish criminal, he was just someone with anti-social behaviors. So, the police took it upon themselves to overreact.

If it was suicide, then why did he turn the music down in the first place. He would have wanted them to see him with a weapon. He would have made the first shots.

— My father's son Sept. 22, 2010 at 2:34 a.m.