Details released on police shooting

[Joanne98]

Source: Indiana Daily Student


Officers John Coleman and George Connolly were the two policemen involved in the shooting of a 16-year-old Bloomington North High School student downtown Wednesday afternoon, according to a Bloomington Police Department report.

A preliminary investigation revealed no police misconduct.

According to the release, a call came in to the 911 center at 1:22 p.m. indicating a boy was “threatening to kill the police” and brandishing a kitchen knife at the Bloomington Transit terminal at Fourth and Washington streets.

Bloomington High School North principal Jeff Henderson confirmed Wednesday afternoon the boy is a student there.

Coleman was the first to arrive on the scene. According to the report, Coleman approached the terminal from the west, walking around the north side of the building with his baton ready. He spotted the suspect standing with his hands in his pockets, about 15 feet away. Coleman then commanded the suspect to remove his hands from his pockets, according to the release.


Read more: http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=65313&comview=1

---

A new one!

[atreides1]

1. "A preliminary investigation revealed no police misconduct."

Do they ever?

[ikojo]

Since it's the cops investigating the cops

this never surprises me when they claim no police misconduct.

Wow! and THIS is the culture that the US Military is exporting to the rest of the world?

[ixion]

2. of course... it's perfectly normal conduct to shoot someone in the back, execution style

while going through the routine of being a "peace" officer. :eyes:

Yeah. Right. Whatever. :puke: :argh:

[SouthernVoter]

8. Where does this article say that?

I can't find where he was shot in the back "execution style."

Can you point me to it?

[TroglodyteScholar]

9. Please read the article.

Not the same story as the one you're referring to.

[Realityhack]

11. Read the link before posting next time.

This is not the incident you are thinking of.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

63. What the hell are you talking about?

[Realityhack]

72. They are thinking about another incident.

Failure to read the link FTL.

On edit. They loose not you.

[peacetalksforall]

3. Shoot first. DON'T try to talk him 'off the ledge'. DON'T try to wrestle the instrument away

from him. DON'T wait for time for the boy to reconsider. DON'T try to contact a parent.

DO KILL HIM.

DO CONTINUE SHOOTING YOUNG PEOPLE AND DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE REACTIONS OF THE CITIZENS.

With all due angry sarcasm,

[SouthernVoter]

10. Here's an easy excrcise for you.

Find someone you would consider a total novice at knife handling, self-defense, whatever. Give that person a sharpie with the cap off and tell them you will give them $10 for every mark they put on you.

Now wrestle it away from them.

See how many black marks you have at the end of that exercise and tell me a cop should get into a wrestling match with a guy with a knife.

Want another one?

Find another friend to help with this one.
Have that person stand next to you. Now have your friend, without warning, start running straight ahead as fast as possible. When that happens, you pretend to draw a gun and point it and yell "BANG!" When the other person hear's "bang" they stop. Look at how far that person got. It will really surprise you.

This of course assumes something that rarely happens in pistol shootings, that you hit what you were trying to on the first shot and that that was enough to stop a determined attacker from running at you.

Factor all that in and you tell me how close you would let someone threatening you with a kife get.

[peacetalksforall]

13. Factor this.

One kid.
One knife

Two cops at the time.
Two adult cops.
Two trained cops.
Two cops loaded down with gadgets for control.
Two cops - two mouths.
Two cops - not thinking about what IF it were my kid.
Two cops - not wanting to use negotiation.
Two cops - who did not stop to figure out some life saving solution.

Conclusion: Two cops who were obviously trained wrong and pumped up for the violent route.

Why? Because they could and probably because of their superiors.

Two cops - thinking like George Bush and Dick Cheney.

Also factor this - a growing record of cops being acquitted.

[Brucie Kibbutz]

15. The only person pumped up for violence in this incident

was the criminal holding a knife and making death threats.

[Realityhack]

16. Failure to read the link for the loose.

It is obvious from your statements that you still have not read the link and are defending your position blindly. Frankly it makes you look willfully ignorant and I am glad you are not in the position to second guess these officers actions.

"Two cops - who did not stop to figure out some life saving solution."
For the record, the child did not die. The officers called for an ambulance immediately after the shooting. They stopped shooting as soon as the child was no longer a deadly thread. This means their training worked. Once firing starts it can be very hard to stop. Their training kicked in perfectly.

"Two cops - not wanting to use negotiation."
The kid charged an officer with a knife after being ordered to show his hands. You expected them to *talk* to him?
"who did not stop to figure out some life saving solution."
Sure the kid charges them and they should stop and hold a meeting about how to save him rather than protect themselves. That is a truly ignorant position. Contrary to what you personally seem to think this IS a life and death situation.
From the information in the article it does not appear the police went into this expecting to have to use force. The DID start by talking. Then one was charged with a knife, a VERY dangerous situation that you do not seem to appreciate. It is quite clear you have never had training in this type of thing.
They responded with deadly force but stopped as soon as their was no longer a threat.

[peacetalksforall]

18. WHAT THE HELL ARE TASERS FOR IF YOU BELIEVE THEY HAD NO

POWER OF PERSUATION OVER THIS KID, NO ALTERNATIVE BUT THE GUN? IT'S THE SAME AS TELLING SOMEONE ON A LEDGE TO JUMP - THE END RESULT CAN BE THE SAME - SURVIVE OR DIE. OR IS PERSUASION A MYTH OF AMERICAN POLICE?

[Pavulon]

20. Less lethal than 127grain hydra shock

not non lethal. You cant go charging at police here, or in any NATION and not expect a reaction. Even the UK they will crack your fucking head for doing that. Other nations with armed police would have shot as well.

[Realityhack]

25. Stop shouting.

Have you checked to see if they were carrying tazers?
Are you perhaps a little emotionally involved in defending your earlier statements made in complete ignorance?

A person rushing at you with a knife is a deadly situation. Neither you nor I was there. The police made a split second decision and they successfully defended themselves without falling into an all too easy over-reaction of continuing to fire.
A tazer MIGHT have worked. It might not have. They may or may not have been carrying one. But being rushed with a knife is a situation that does warrant deadly force. This kid wasn't wielding a stick, an officer could have died.

Do you really think you have the facts to second guess their choice of weapon or are you reacting to what other police officers have done that is over the line? Nothing about this particular case screams excessive force.

As for your bogus statement:
"IT'S THE SAME AS TELLING SOMEONE ON A LEDGE TO JUMP"
Get a clue. One of the cops was charged with a knife. According to the information we have they appeared to have every intention of handling the situation without violence up to that point. The kid made the choice to escalate not the officers.

[Brucie Kibbutz]

28. It doesn't matter what the facts are.

On DU, all cops are murderous racists and violent criminals are unfortunate victims.

[Realityhack]

30. For some. There are a few of us who judge it case by case...

glad to see you here ;-)

[Brucie Kibbutz]

35. I'm glad you decided to speak up.

Some of the comments in this thread are beyond absurd.

[SouthernVoter]

52. When a cop enters a situation like this with a Taser

There is always a cop with a pistol backing him up. ALWAYS.

Tasers are not typically for use in potential deadly force situations.

Once the dude charged it became a deadly force incident and the kid is lucky he wasn't killed.

Knives are extremely dangerous, had the dude reached the cop and gotten on top of him, there would have been no choice for the other but to jump in the H2H fray, putting TWO police in a life-threatening situation.

[Realityhack]

53. Very well put. n/t

[Brucie Kibbutz]

21. exactly

Anyone that suggests a cop should "negotiate" with a knife wielding attacker needs to have their fucking head examined.

[Realityhack]

22. To be fair the DID approach it that way... just stoped when the kid charged. n/t

[peacetalksforall]

23. It was a knife wielding child-attacker. It's very interesting to learn that there

are so many death oriented people on DU.

[Realityhack]

34. "Death oriented people"? Bullshit.

And child might be a bit strong. The information in the article is teen in high school. We don't know what size and any high school student can be quite dangerous/deadly with a knife. Let's not pretend this was an 8 year old or something.

What did you expect the police to do when charged by a high school student with a knife?

BTW it turns out it was an attempted suicide by cop. That means the teen was probably doing everything possible to be a threat in order to get shot.

So what do you as the Monday night quarterback think they should have done?

[Regret My New Name]

37. I suppose you think cops should shoot and murders toodlers who poke other kids with sporks, right?

teehee. teehee. teehee.


NOT FUNNY!

[Realityhack]

43. Oh absolutely.

:sarcasm:

Hope that wasn't required but I fear it may be given what some people have said on this thread.

[Scout]

54. oh for gods sake.....

:eyes:

[Realityhack]

55. Thanks.

It is comforting to see sane posts on the internet from time to time.

[SouthernVoter]

69. Sorry wrong post replied to

Oops

[EFerrari]

62. There is special training for dealing with mentally ill people.

It started in Atlanta, iirc, and is now widely available. CIT training is to prevent exactly these kinds of deaths.

Eta: Shootings. Apparently he didn't die.

[Realityhack]

74. Training for mental ill people does not cover them charging you with a knife.

At that point it is an attack no matter what preceded it. From the report we have there was no chance to talk the teen down. Once he is charging an officer with a knife it is back to basic self protection.

[EFerrari]

75. The suspect did not start out charging anyone. He was standing there

with his hands in his pockets. The officer was either not trained or he fucked up. You don't approach a psychotic person with your baton out. It tends to turn out badly.

[Realityhack]

77. Wrong. And completely unreasonable.

First off the teen was trying to commit suicide by cop. He called it in himself. It is very unlikely anything the officer said would change jack shit about the kid charging him.

The officers were summoned to the scene with reports of someone threatening people with a knife. It is completely reasonable for them to bring out a baton as they are looking for that person. At this point they don't know if they will get jumped form behind a corner or what.

The officer then spots the teen meeting the description sanding with his hands in his pockets.
The evidence suggest that he did NOT approach the teen at this point. When the teen charged him the officer was far enough away to draw a gun, fire twice, and have the teen land around five feet away. That puts them some distance apart. It isn't like he was coming at the kid with a nightstick.

The officer made a reasonable demand that the kid show his hands. There is nothing wrong with that.

The teen shows a knife. The officer presumably ordered him to drop it (not stated in article, but reasonable to assume). The kid shakes some plastic off it and charges.

There was no standoff. No negotiation. No chance for the officer to talk him down.

What you don't do is approach a suspect who reportedly has a knife out like he is an 8 year old throwing milk in the cafeteria.

What EXACTLY do you think the officer should have done differently?

[EFerrari]

78. A trained cop would never have approached a mental health case

with his baton out. If he's going to jump, a baton won't help you, will it? That was just stupid. No, it's not wrong or unreasonable at all. In fact, that cop put himself in needless danger.

And you have no idea what was going on in that kid's head. That's why there is TRAINING for these situations, so geniuses like you don't get yourself or other people killed.

[Realityhack]

79. LOL.

A trained cop would never have approached a mental health case with his baton out.

First off. No such thing happened. You are making this up.
The officer did not approach the suspect very closely. We know this because of what I said in my last post. The officer was still some distance away.
Secondly, this was NOT a 'mental health case'. This was an unknown suspect that had reportedly been threatening people with a knife.
He then drew the knife, and within a short period charged the officer.
And finally your blanket statement is factually incorrect. Use of the baton depends upon the danger to the officer and others. It is highly situational and the fact that someone is mentally disturbed does not render them magically harmless and make it so the baton will never be employed.

If he's going to jump, a baton won't help you, will it?

At what point exactly did you decide someone might be trying to jump, and off what? This sentence doesn't bear any relationship to reality.

The baton WILL help you if a knife wielding suspect jumps out at you while you are looking for him. And guess what the officer was doing... that's right... looking for a suspect who was allegedly armed with a knife and threatening people.

In fact, that cop put himself in needless danger.

You clearly do not know what you are talking about.

And you have no idea what was going on in that kid's head.

Actually we now have some idea. If this is a reference to my suicide by cop comment it turns out the call came from the kids cell phone. He phoned himself.

It is clear you have no idea what you are talking about.

[EFerrari]

81. Right.

lol

I hope you have a nice desk job.

[Realityhack]

88. Wow you really countered my points with that. n/t

[Realityhack]

60. I see I never addressed your initial post. Let's compare it to reality.

Shoot first.

Nope. The officer didn't shoot first. First he asked to see the suspects hands:

"walking around the north side of the building with his baton ready. He spotted the suspect standing with his hands in his pockets, about 15 feet away. Coleman then commanded the suspect to remove his hands from his pockets"

DON'T try to talk him 'off the ledge'.

The officer was charged. There is no time at that point to talk.

DON'T try to wrestle the instrument away from him.

Not a good choice if you value your life. This is the officers call to make. A knife is a lot more dangerous that you are making it out to be and 'instrument' is a convenient obfuscation.

DON'T wait for time for the boy to reconsider.

You want the officer to wait to see if the kid reconsiders charging at him wielding a knife? Now that is truly stupid.

DON'T try to contact a parent.

Gee, excuse me sir but before you stab me with that knife you are charging at me with would you mind giving me your phone number so we can contact your parents?
Good god. How the hell did you come up with that one.

DO KILL HIM.

Obviously the police shoot to kill but it should be noted that he did not die.

DO CONTINUE SHOOTING YOUNG PEOPLE AND DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE REACTIONS OF THE CITIZENS.

And which other young people has this officer shot?
...
...
chirp...

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

64. Can you read?

[pattmarty]

4. This has gotten completely out of hand over the last 20 yrs............

.............You never, never see a cop bought up on charges much less convicted of a crime. The ONLY way to stop lawbreaking is to put the offenders in jail (I mean real jail, not clubfed types). You do this for bad cops and crooked Wall st types and just watch the offenses DROP.

[Scout]

56. neither of these cops deserve charges, nor jail time n/t

[Pavulon]

5. Umm, says he charged the cop with a knife

suicide by cop?

the teen revealed a knife in his right hand wrapped in a “kind of plastic material,” which the suspect started to shake off.

The suspect then charged at Coleman, who fired his weapon twice when the boy was within five feet of him.

Investigation is warranted but every police shooting is not always murder.

[Realityhack]

12. Furthermore he didn't die.

"The suspect...underwent surgeries for two shots in his chest and abdomen. The injuries were reportedly not life threatening."
May be attempted suicide by cop. Or it could just be a disturbed young person.

People (not you) need to calm the fuck down and read the story before condemning the police conduct. There have been several horrible incidence recently but the indications are this may well have been justified. It turns out there are people who attack cops. Seems like that would come as a surprise to some here.

[peacetalksforall]

24. Oh, so the cop shot so that he wouldn't die? Good training.

[Realityhack]

27. My point was that they stopped shooting when the threat disappeared.

and several people on this thread have claimed the child died showing they haven't even read the short linked story.

And that is very good training. It is very hard once that situation arises for the officers to cease fire. A lot of training time is spent on it.

[ellisonz]

84. See! They didn't shoot him 14 times!

[Realityhack]

94. Do you have any idea how much training goes into that?

If they had kept shooting once the kid was down it would be excessive and wrong. And I would never support such. And that happens quite often.
But that isn't what happened.

Are you arguing that they should not have shot a charging attacker with a knife?

[RC]

36. Yep, shot him in the chest so as not to kill him.

[Realityhack]

40. Did you read where people here claimed he died?

Or my response regarding their stopping shooting when there was no longer a threat?

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

65. I think he was only pointing out your lack of reading comprehension.

[Realityhack]

73. Yep. That was my intention.

Was I really that unclear?

[newfie11]

6. Well he did charge the cop with a knife

"the teen revealed a knife in his right hand wrapped in a “kind of plastic material,” which the suspect started to shake off.

The suspect then charged at Coleman, who fired his weapon twice when the boy was within five feet of him, according to the release. Paramedic crews arrived on the scene after officers immediately called 911, the release stated."



What would you have the police do? I didn't see anywhere he was shot from behind. The officer he charged is the one who shot him.

I wonder how many people would try to wrestle a knife charging person (possibly on drugs for all you know)to the ground.

He was threatening to kill the police, Hello! Do you stand there as he is charging with a knife, is 5 feet from you and try to talk him down?

[sasquatch]

7. Actually this is a justified shooting, the first I've heard about in a while

[Realityhack]

14. QFT n/t

[Realityhack]

17. Additionaly... they STOPED shooting when there was no longer a threat.

It is very easy to get carried away in that type of situation. We have seen it many times. These officers fired two shots which did not kill the suspect then stopped. Seems like the training worked perfectly. They also got an ambulance on scene right away.

I agree with investigating all such incidents but this seems to be quite reasonable. I wish people here would stop jumping to conclusions based on the performance of police in other locations in unrelated incidents.

[sasquatch]

19. I know, competent police officers without a bullshit mercenary mindset

:wow:

[Realityhack]

32. Well it isn't just the mercenary mindset.

And don't think I am excusing ANY misconduct here but...
Anyone in a life or death situation like that is likely to keep shooting. It is part of human psychology. The adrenalin is pumping quite hard. That is why so much time is spent in police training on checking for justification before each additional shot etc.

Given what we know from the article liked in the OP this does seem to be a justified shooting and a fairly well handled one. It does happen. There are loads of crazy cops but their are good ones thrown in very dangerous situations too.

[peacetalksforall]

26. They stopped shooint when there was no longer a threat = you mean felled and bleeding?

[Realityhack]

29. Yes. After two shots.

The officer was being charged with a knife. Once the suspect was no longer an imminent threat he stopped firing. You might be surprised to know how much training time goes into that. It is very easy for people to just keep firing. We have seen it before.

Yes the suspect was on the ground bleeding. You would perhaps prefer the officer was? That seems to be your mindset. Protect the kid with the knife at all cost including risking the officers lives. That isn't the rules they operate under and for good reason.

What did you expect them to do once they were being charged with a knife? It isn't like they sneaked around the corner and shot the kid without warning. He charged them with a knife. They fired, he went down, they stopped and got an ambulance.
An investigation was automatically triggered. It has found no misconduct or over-reaction so far but will continue.

I don't see the issue. This is not shooting someone in the back on the ground, beating them senseless, etc. etc. This appears with the information we have to be justified shooting.

[Scout]

57. are you as much of an ignorant jerk as your posts in this thread are making you seem? n/t

[SouthernVoter]

70. Umm yes

That is generally how you stop these types of threats.

[bloomington-lib]

31. The kid wanted to be shot

It was discovered that the 911 call made, warning of a male downtown waving a knife and threatening people came from his cell phone. He wanted this to happen. I'm not a fan of cops in general but the BPD is actually somewhat respectable.

[Realityhack]

33. Thanks for that info.

It did sound like that might be the case.

[EFerrari]

76. You have no way of knowing that.

In a day or so, we'll learn the kid was in a paranoid episode. Watch.

[Realityhack]

80. Bullshit.

It is very unlikely that a paranoid episode would have the kid reporting someone threatening people with a knife to the police and then charging them when the arrived.

It is immaterial either way but the signs point to setting up a suicide by cop.

[Regret My New Name]

38. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be surprised to get shot if I charged police(or anyone) with a knife

Even when I was 16, I'm pretty sure I would have came to a similar conclusion... I'm not saying it's right or anything. I think we should be able to charge anyone with one with a knife without any consequences. Obviously the last two sentences are not how I actually think. I was just making a point in an different way, because I'm sort of screwy.

[Realityhack]

41. That appears to be what this teen counted on.

Other reports indicate it was an attempted suicide by cop.

[uppityperson]

39. Sounds like a possible taser situation, glad no one got killed.

I hope he gets the health and mental health care he needs.

Hey Obama, please fund more mental health care as it is really needed.

[Realityhack]

42. I wouldn't second guess their decision without more information.

We don't even know if these particular officers where equipped with tazers and they where charged with a knife to within 5 feet (reportedly) before the suspect dropped. I don't know if a tazer would be the right call or not. Clothing would play a factor I am sure.
Anyway, I wouldn't second guess the officers call without more information.

I agree about more mental health care.

[uppityperson]

44. That's why I said "possible" as I can't either. MORE mental health care funding is needed!

Very much.

[Realityhack]

45. Sorry.

I may have come off as more aggressive than intended as others on this thread have been quite convinced that shooting was totally uncalled for. I guess that makes me extra careful about suggesting alternatives because so little is known about the details.

And we definitely need better mental health assistance. Hopefully this teen will get some along with whatever other punishment awaits him.

[uppityperson]

47. No problem, I understand what you meant and why.

I've had run ins with bad cops and have changed my attitude towards them a lot over the yrs. Sometimes they do what is called for, sometimes not. Overuse of guns and tasers happens, or inappropriate use.

Can't say here since I don't know enough, reading the article it looks like they may have done what they needed to, just wondering about tasering here as it may have been a choice. I hope they discuss that when this is investigated (as I assume all shootings are) and if they have a decent top-cop who does that sort of stuff.

[Realityhack]

48. Yep.

Same here. Seen bad cop and good. Read about horrible abuse and appropriate response. I have no illusions. I know over-use and excessive force happen frighteningly often.

It is being investigated BTW. They did the right thing there too. Immediately secured the scene and witnesses to investigate. But as you say it appears this may have been the right choice. Maybe not the perfect choice (who knows) but justified.

[Trillo]

91. See how "punishment" and "mental health" is linked?

"Hopefully this teen will get some along with whatever other punishment awaits him."

I'm so sick of manipulators claiming that mental health care is not a punishment. :rofl:

[Realityhack]

93. I didn't mean it in that way.

I meant that realistically he will probably face more than just mental health care. Not the right choice necessarily but probably realistic.

[CrazyLate]

82. Yeah

They should've tried to shoot the knife out of his hand or something. Or shoot him in the foot. It's hard to charge someone with a bullet through the big toe.

Come on, be serious. Tasers are not used in lethal force situations. They are completely inappropriate for that...they have very limited range and 2 shots, so you've got maybe half a second to make good before mister knife finds spills your guts on the floor or widens your smile at the neck line.

There are times when the police use of deadly force is completely unwarranted, but a knife armed suspect charging the cops isn't one of them.

[peacetalksforall]

46. The death justifications postions taken in this thread make this one of the scariest

threads I've read.

The position taken is that it is right to shoot him with a bullet, not a taser or some other form of defense - whether he lives or not.

Police are always right. Shoot first and never ask questions.

Now we know.

With all due sarcasm and refusal to buy that.

I can just imagine what some posters here wrote about the Oakland shooting.

[Realityhack]

50. You think this is anything like Oakland? You didn't read the article before posting

(the first time at least) then advocated the police trying to talk down a teen charging them with a knife.

Your position is a joke.

Under what circumstances do you think the police ARE justified in using deadly force? Or should we just take away their guns because some of them do horrible things?

This case is nothing like Oakland. This was a teen trying to commit suicide by cop. He was charging them with a knife which is a very dangerous weapon to try to secure from someone. This is not a baseball bat, he wasn't being held by one of them, he wasn't face down or cuffed. Chances are (because they where coming from different angles) your statements about it being two officers are irrelevant as one would not reach the other until after the teen with the knife did.
Police officers have a right to defend themselves from deadly force wither you like it or not. You have demonstrated that you assume every officer is guilty no matter what.
All of the evidence in the OP's article indicates a justified shooting and the investigation (quite appropriately) continues despite that.

One of us is making presumptions about police shootings being justified/unjustified on a blanket level without examining the facts in a particular case but it isn't me.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

67. Someone charging a police officer with a knife is going to be shot.

You don't use less than deadly force when confronted with deadly force.

David

[ManiacJoe]

68. When attacked with lethal force,

defending yourself with lethal force is always an acceptable option and usually the tactically correct option. When the lethal threat ceased, the lethal defense was stopped. Based on the small about of details in the article, the cops seem to have done everything right.

Before the attacker charged at the officer, using a taser would have been an excellent option assuming one was available.

[CrazyLate]

87. Ok, so lets flip it

When would it be justifiable to use deadly force against a suspect?

Clearly, in your mind, a situation with a suspect with a knife charging officers is not one of those cases.

Here's a rough chronology of escalation:
1) suspect pulls knife at > 21 feet range
2) suspect approaches with knife out to within 21 feet
3) suspect approaches within "swingin distance"
4) suspect swings at officer
5) suspect strikes officer with knife
6) suspect takes officer down with knife thrusts

At which point would you feel comfortable with officers using deadly force?

Keep in mind, police model taser range is 21 ft, which is considered the bare minimum of distance you need to draw and fire a weapon before a knife wielding attacker is repeatedly perforating your intestine with a foreign object. In other words, at 21 ft the officer draws his taser and fires at the charging suspect and, for whatever reason it doesn't work, there is no backup plan...the officer is screwed.

[DS1]

49. Wow. So I can have someone likely killed by the police by calling

in a threatening report on my cell while that person stands around with their hands in their pockets.

That's quite interesting

[Realityhack]

51. No but your response is.

The police approached the suspect and asked him to show his hands. He then took out a knife and charged the police officer with it.

You do understand the difference between charging an officer with a knife and standing around with your hands in your pockets right?

I suggest in the future that you read the article before jumping to conclusions.

BTW apparently the teen called it in himself (suspected attempted suicide by cop).

[Scout]

58. you need help if you think your post bears any resemblance to what happened n/t

[Realityhack]

59. Yeah DS1's post may be the furthest out there... lot's of competition though. n/t

[DS1]

61. I had only read the selected piece of the article in the OP

but you can think what you want

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

66. Good lesson read the whole article before commenting.

[Realityhack]

71. Perhapse you will read the entire article first next time.

The excerpt doesn't even get to the part where the shooting occurs. You shouldn't jump to conclusions like that.

I apologize however, unlike someone else you have revised your position. I wish others would do the same.

[petronius]

83. Yes, but you also have to convince the person to pull out a knife and run at the cops

Maybe you could tell them that the cops are actors and it's just a bit of street theater...

[ellisonz]

85. Pepper spray? Mace? See if that causes him to drop the knife?

Maybe the cops were to full of donuts to back away while doing this.

Just another police murder...nothing to see...move along white people...

[Realityhack]

89. Police murder?

Pepper spray?

The teen charged the officer with a knife not a bat. This has all the markings of a clean shoot. It is a life threatening situation for the officer, and you want him to mace the kid and 'see if that works'? What the fuck happens if it doesn't? Oh that's right... the cop get's in a hand to hand combat with a knife weilding assailant. "back away"??? the cop was charged. Let's see how far you get if I run at you with a knife.

Responding to lethal force with lethal force is not murder jackass.

[ellisonz]

90. It is when the subject is obviously mentally unbalanced...

...it's called maintaining your distance. Controlling the situation!

They obviously didn't consider their approach very well.

[Realityhack]

92. Did you even read the post?

They did keep their distance. The officer had to bee at least 20+ feet away or he would not have been able to do what he did.
Secondly, what makes you think they knew he was mentally unbalanced? At the time all they knew was that a suspect was threatening people with a knife. Then it short order before they could get any information on what was going on or talk to the suspect he charged the officer with a knife.

You have no factual basis for your assumptions.

[KansDem]

86. No video? (nt)