Another shooting by US police

Caporegime
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I didn't think it was semantics, people impersonating officials is a real thing (inc police officers), there was a story on the BBC just the other day about an incident over here on the motorway


It may be a real thing, but it's still a tiny percentage when compared to real police calls. If there's never a level of trust that it's really the police, then incidents like this will always happen. Imagine if we all went about our day worrying about the 0.001% what ifs.

I've just read that the officer is/was part of the same police department that had the officer who fired several shots after an acorn fell on his car :cry:
 
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Soldato
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14 Jan 2018
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Hampshire
Hard to tell from the video, either way the victim doesn’t move it towards the officer.
Indeed he doesn't, its pointing at the floor but remember that is just a video and its clear for us to see from the comfort of our office chairs. I think opening the door with a gun after an officer has clearly shouted lots of times is only every going to end one way in land of the free guns.
 
Soldato
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21 Jan 2008
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England
A combination of poor police work and idiocy on the victims part.

The context from the officers point of view is critical really. For all we know he was warned that the suspect was armed, or perhaps that he had a history of violence or assaulting police. Another thing to consider is that he's single crewed, which only increases the risk to the officer going into the situation.
 
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Soldato
Joined
22 Oct 2002
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Near Cheltenham
Yeah..

The problem with guns, especially with the Police is you are expecting people to override their natural instincts..

i.e. there is a real chance you may be shot without warning when attending such things, and so just the merest sight of a gun in the persons hand might be enough to trigger a fight/flight response..

Looking at the video I think it's fair to say the officer 'could in theory' have waited and only shot if the guy started raising his arm with the gun, but from his reaction it seems he just saw the gun, yells 'get back' and presumably with the guy still walking towards him maybe his arm swinging slightly and instinct kicked in, hence the shouting of 'drop the gun' after being shot.

This is what happens when you have to arm the majority of the police force.. I know armed officers in the UK, any errant instinctual behaviour would be weeded out and unless you can be calm under pressure, you would likely not make the cut.

50/50.. A police officer that does not cope well under pressure, and an idiot taking a gun to the door..

Of course, we only hear about these stories if the person shot is black and the officer is white... every headline mentions his race so we all know it'll be used for race-baiting.
 
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Soldato
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17 Jan 2016
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Oldham
I'm surprised the door doesn't appear to have a spy hole. All the apartments I stayed in did.

As for the actual shooting, I think it was reasonable for him to assume hostile intent and to take defensive actions. I can't blame the officer for reacting to the situation in front of him.

Though I don't know why the US cops feel the need to fire multiple shots. It's like they are aiming to kill rather than disarm or disable the suspect.
 
Soldato
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Near Cheltenham
I've just learned it is legal in Florida to answer the door with a gun, like this guy did.

The cop also fired without warning.
The cop yelled 'get back' before he fired. the guy takes a step forward, the gun hand is largely obscured so can't say if that moved in any way.
 
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Soldato
Joined
22 Oct 2002
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Near Cheltenham
I like the rest of your post, but I have seen several incidences of white people shooting white people in the news.
The ones that gain the most traction and get over reported are generally when a black person or non-white person is shot.. Hence why so many outlets label him a 'black airman' as if that was relevant..

The BBCs US Police Shootings ensemble (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cr07gpl05emt) is not exclusively, but is overwhelmingly cases with black or non-white individuals (I've only gone back to Jan 2023), yet the stats are that twice as many white people get killed than black people.
 
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Soldato
Joined
26 Dec 2009
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North
So what would happen in this situation?

Cop raises gun to fire, bloke is some sort of quick scope expert and fires at the cop first, downing and killing him.

Would the suspect be charged or would he have the right to self defence as ultimately he shot the officer before he would be shot himself?
 
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