California police say they feared for their safety when they gunned down a man wielding a spatula

[Hannah Bell]

MODESTO, Calif. — Police in California say officers feared for their safety when they gunned down a man who turned out to be wielding only a metal spatula when he was shot.

Modesto police Sgt. Rick Armendariz says the fatal shooting of 45-year-old Francisco Moran occurred after family members reported he was drunk, belligerent and armed with a knife.

Armendariz told The Modesto Bee that three officers entered the house to find an elderly man injured on the floor and family members yelling that Moran had a knife.

Armendariz said that after officers shot Moran with a Taser stun gun to no effect, the suspect lunged at them while reaching for a shiny metal object they later discovered was a spatula.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hnLaxlPQWs2Gh76LsKCFq1FlFalgD9I4LPV80

[defendandprotect]

1. Amazing that they'd even say that outloud -- except to one another!!

[Canuckistanian]

2. That's disgusting

The man had a Concealed Spatula Permit. And people who have CSP's are FAR less dangerous to the public.

Shame on those cops.

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. 4th day of protests in LA over cop shooting of guy with knife

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/09/lapd-shooting-2.html

[Hannah Bell]

5. or "unarmed person," according to witnesses.

[madinmaryland]

4. "moran with a knife"????

Couldn't resist.

[Nailzberg]

6. According to family members, he had a knife.

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/09/3015548/modesto-shooting-situation-evolved.html

This article from the Bee makes a lot more sense of the officers' decision.

Moran had gone into the kitchen and grabbed something from the dishrack; family members knew there was a large butcher knife in that dishrack, and told the responding officers he was armed with a knife. The officers had no way of knowing differently, since he was pulling it from his rear waistband.
Unfortunate that he died, but this guy made one too many bad choices that night.

[Hannah Bell]

8. he was on the ground tazed when he supposedly was pulling the "knife" from his waistband.

they could have just tazed him again if they were so worried.

kind of dangerous to the wearer to have a "butcherknife" in their waistband.

[Nailzberg]

13. Hey, I wasn't there. Just saying it doesn't sound as cut and dry as the first account.

[Obamanaut]

15. The article linked in post 6 suggests that the knife wielder lunged

at the police. Hard to lunge from the floor. It further suggests that the guy on the floor was not the knife wielder, and this guy was later taken to the hospital.


http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/09/3015548/modesto-shooting-situation-evolved.html


“One of Moran's relatives, an older man, tried to intervene and calm him. Armendariz said Moran pushed the man to the ground, causing an injury that immobilized him”

“The injured man was lying on the living room floor when the officers entered through the home's front door.”

“As Moran pulled the metal object out of his waistband and lunged at the officers, Lamantia and Laxton fired their guns. “


It looks (reads) like the knife guy pushed down an older guy who was on the floor when the LEOs arrived. The older guy was taken to the hospital.

[krispos42]

7. Hard to tell some kinds of spatulas from a short, curved knife.

[SwampG8r]

9. i was going to post but i decided that

in GD nowadays any post that didnt demand death for the cops would be jumped
above proves my suspicians correct
i was going to post what you did a short clinic on what is a spatula
spatulas come in many shapes including pointed
some come with an edge for cake cutting
some are serrated for heavier cutting
but spatula does not always mean pancake flipper
which btw if properly used will raise a welt like no ones business

[bigmonkey]

10. Can't see anyone calling for "death for the cops" here.

What are you talking about?

[SwampG8r]

11. an A B comment to the poster

C your way on out

[Hannah Bell]

12. penguin dust, i must have penguin dust!

[Hannah Bell]

14. so scary! i can see why they had to kill him, laying on the floor after they'd tazed him,

reaching for a spatula that could leave a welt!

scaryscaryscary

[Obamanaut]

16. While working in a prison, I saw spatulas that had been sharpened

such that they could be used to cut meat. (They were confiscated/destroyed when found in this condition)

A knife/sharpened spatula can be a hurtful tool.




http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/09/3015548/modesto-shooting-situation-evolved.html


“One of Moran's relatives, an older man, tried to intervene and calm him. Armendariz said Moran pushed the man to the ground, causing an injury that immobilized him”

“The injured man was lying on the living room floor when the officers entered through the home's front door.”

“As Moran pulled the metal object out of his waistband and lunged at the officers, Lamantia and Laxton fired their guns. “


It looks (reads) like the knife guy pushed down an older guy who was on the floor when the LEOs arrived. The older guy was taken to the hospital.

[Hannah Bell]

17. they tazed him first, per other reports.

[arbusto_baboso]

18. Cops scrambled into action.

They said the shootiong victim with the spatula flipped out, and tried to whisk them away, until they shot him over easy.

Sorry. I know it's a tragedy, but I couldn't resist the spatula humor. Gotta laugh to keep from crying.

[msanthrope]

19. I'd say they shot him 'over hard'

after trying a flash fry.

This just proves that you need to take family arguments with a grain of salt.

[MrScorpio]

20. First, they came for our spatulas... nt

[begin_within]

21. Well, the guy might have flipped