why did police kill this man???

Question

where i live the police shot n killed a man who was hallucinating about 3weeks ago. they said the man had a knife and thats why they did it. however the townspeople dont think it was necessary because they feel the man could've been disabled by some other means such as tasered, shot in the leg, or billy clubbed.our police ARE quick to use tasers any other time sooo. but the officer said they are not taught to disable but to shoot for the center of the mass. is this true??? what does everyone else think? was killing this man probably necessary???

Answer 1

I can't comment on whether it was necessary to kill the man as I was not there faced with a choice.

When you are trained with a hand gun, you do aim for the center of mass. This reduces the rounds necessary to hit the target thereby reducing the chance of collateral damage to innocent civilians.

Could they have used less than deadly force? Maybe. As I said, I was not there so I don't know if the man tried to use the knife.

It is always bad when someone dies.

Answer 2

The details you've provided are sketchy. The laws regarding police powers to arrest, detain, use deadly force vary from community to community, state to state (however they must ALL comply with the U.S. Constitution & federal court judgements). The police in this case may have truly determined this man's behavior was threatening their lives or the lives of others and deadly force was necessary. It may be that while this man's behavior WAS threatening (possibly life threatening), deadly force was improperly used. The police department in your community will do an internal investigation on this matter (most likely determining that deadly force was proper and necessary). If friends or family of the deceased find the investigation unacceptable, they can bring a lawsuit against the police department, and/or they can ask the Justice Department (federal) to investigate (civil rights violations, etc.).

Answer 3

ANY competent weapons trainer teaches to shoot center mass. Shooting someone in the leg is MUCH harder than you appear to think it is. If a shot to the leg is 2 inches off target, it is a clean miss. A shot to the heart that is 4 inches off is likely to puncture a lung. The BEST marksman using a hand gun is less accurate at 50 ft than a sniper at 500 yards. The sniper also has the advantage of having MUCH more time to set up the shot.

Answer 4

If a man has a knife and is a threat, he is going to get lead. I'm not going to risk myself using a baton or taser that may or may not be effective. If he is unarmed, or a distance away, sure. But knives are very deadly and I'm not taking chances.

And yes, I am trained to shot center mass. Many officers have been sued by shooting people in the legs intentionally.

Answer 5

It's hard to second guess when you aren't actually there to see how this man was acting. But I find it hard to believe that they couldn't have subdued a man armed only with a knife. It's one thing if he had a gun and was threatening to shoot people - but a knife just isn't that lethal at long range - unless there was another person close by that was under direct threat.

It's true that when the police pull their guns they are trained to shoot to kill (i.e. hit the center of the mass). It sounds nice to think they could shoot someone in the leg and stop them that way but it just isn't feasible. One of first things you learn about guns when learning how to use them is that you never point a gun at someone unless you are planning to kill them - period.

That said - it doesn't sound like the shooting was necessary - and it's too bad that the officer pulled his gun on someone with a mental illness.

Answer 6

It depends on the details of the story, but you can't blame a cop if he shoots at somebody for coming at him with a knife. And yes, they are trained to shoot to kill once they deem that using their sidearm is necessary. The reason for that is if somebody's threatening you with a weapon, a shot to the heart is the only guarantee that he won't be able to use it, and a shot to the arm or leg is a lot more likely to miss. Nevertheless, it's true that most cops have absolutely no training in recognizing and dealing with mentally ill people and getting them to calm down, and unwittingly end up escalating a confrontation instead. Cops assume that if somebody exhibits bizarre behavior and is unable to follow their orders, then he must be dangerous and is resisting arrest. So they bark a barrage of orders at the guy, close into his personal space, and end up causing an already confused and frightened individual to panic. Off the top of my head, I recall one incident when a schizophrenic baglady wandered into an affluent neighborhood and was pushing her shopping cart loaded with her junk down the street. Then some rich jerk who apparently never saw a homeless person before called the police on her. Instead of simply laughing at the guy and hanging up on him, the cops decided to walk up to her to check if the shopping cart she was using was stolen. She felt threatened by their presence and pulled out a screwdriver. She didn't actually charge or lunge at them with it, she just stood there waving it in their direction and was just trying to keep them away from her shopping cart and what, to her, were her precious possessions. The cops' reaction was to simply draw their weapons and shoot her dead on the spot. Completely unnecessary.

Answer 7

Has the autopsy come out yet? If this man was on PCP shooting the man in the leg, or clubbing him into submission might not have worked; tasers are expensive, and not all officers carry them. Police are taught to shoot for mass to avoid casualties to innocent people due to a stray bullet. If you only shoot to disarm, then it leads to all sorts of liabilities.

Answer 8

end making this a race subject. no longer announcing there is not any racial profiling via police, because of the fact there is; yet i think of this alteration into the case of an fool cop perhaps making a damaging decision of pulling the gun out interior the 1st place. i do no longer understand if it substitute into achieved on purpose or via twist of destiny, yet i could anticipate it substitute into via twist of destiny. It substitute right into a crowded practice station -- why could a cop shoot an unarmed guy on his returned on purpose. the two way, the cop ought to serve time in penal complex. additionally, Oscar furnish substitute into no longer a criminal. He had a 4 12 months previous daughter and labored at a food market.

Answer 9

They are trained with this in mind.
You do not draw you gun unless you plan on using it and you do not use it unless you plan on killing.
A gun is only meant to kill not wound.

How much time did they have to set up? Did they have a stun gun and what did the nut do just be for they fired? Did be run at them or look as he was going to?

What would you have done if you were thinking I just want to see my kids tonight.

Answer 10

bet u live in America?
a race that likes to kill - kill first, ask questions later - it don't seem to matter whether they Friends or foe as long as they can kill! [perhaps the police were related to them daft pilots that cant tell British from Arab] i know we got a lot living here but for god sake get some glasses!

then they go hide behind the presidents skirts " don't let the big bad Englishmen get me mama -i did a baaaad thing"

goddamn cowards not got the guts to come over here and explain themselves - sorry rant over and subject slightly changed [though related]