Cop shoots man laying on ground with hands in the air

[Jumper_Dad]

I read one report that said call came out from dispatch of a "possible suicidal man with a gun in the road."

 

As always let's wait for the facts...even the report of what dispatch told them could be wrong.

[halfback20]

Violence is out of control. On both sides of the fence.

 

No it isn't. Hundreds of thousands of police officers do their job every day without shooting anyone. One or two screwing up isn't an indictment of all of them.

[halfback20]

I read one report that said call came out from dispatch of a "possible suicidal man with a gun in the road."

 

As always let's wait for the facts...even the report of what dispatch told them could be wrong.

 

Head of the Police Union says he thought the autistic kid was armed and about to kill the counselor. He tried to shoot the kid to stop him and missed, hitting the counselor.

[Jumper_Dad]

Head of the Police Union says he thought the autistic kid was armed and about to kill the counselor. He tried to shoot the kid to stop him and missed, hitting the counselor.

 

That would explain shot to the leg instead of center mass.

[TexasRanger]

Head of the Police Union says he thought the autistic kid was armed and about to kill the counselor. He tried to shoot the kid to stop him and missed, hitting the counselor.

 

Need more video, the kid had to be on top of the guy or beside him to miss the kid and hit the guy. The shot must have been tough to miss a kid that big.

[mcpapa]

Let's hope the "I don't know" was misreported.

[JDEaston]

That would explain shot to the leg instead of center mass.

 

I was wondering the same thing. My first thought after reading that the man was shot in the leg rather than center mass along with the officer's alleged quote of "I don't know" when asked why he shot him, was that the officer was nervous and may have accidentally discharged his weapon.

 

I still don't know what really happened, as do none of us. But I really don't think the officer intentionally meant to harm the man. Unfortunately no matter how this incident plays out, with police being hunted they are most certainly on edge, particularly when responding to calls where dispatch tells them there is a man with a gun. Due to that, I could see some accidental shootings from officers that may not be as seasoned or calm as others. They already have a job that's basically impossible to please everyone, now add the fact that they are being hunted to it and it could cause an otherwise capable beat officer to make a mistake that he/she may have otherwise not made.

[halfback20]

Need more video, the kid had to be on top of the guy or beside him to miss the kid and hit the guy. The shot must have been tough to miss a kid that big.

 

No idea. Just posting what he said.

[oldgrappler]

Need more video, the kid had to be on top of the guy or beside him to miss the kid and hit the guy. The shot must have been tough to miss a kid that big.

 

Not really. It depends on the direction from which the shot was fired. The guy lying on the ground was directly in the line of fire if the officer was on the opposite side of the kid.

 

Again, we can't really figure this one out until all the facts are made available.

 

It does seem to be a tragic mistake.

[rockmom]

This is a situation where I think it shows that dealing with people who have mental illnesses is a skill. And there are some very basic things that all people can learn in order to handle situations better. I am upset that this officer was being told the boy had a toy truck and was not armed, and was told that the boy was autistic, and was looking to shoot him. Thank God he missed. Maybe even more disturbing is if somehow he missed all that he was being told by the caregiver, and thought he was dealing with a suicidal person, he attempted to shoot a suicidal person.

[halfback20]

This is a situation where I think it shows that dealing with people who have mental illnesses is a skill. And there are some very basic things that all people can learn in order to handle situations better. I am upset that this officer was being told the boy had a toy truck and was not armed, and was told that the boy was autistic, and was looking to shoot him. Thank God he missed. Maybe even more disturbing is if somehow he missed all that he was being told by the caregiver, and thought he was dealing with a suicidal person, he attempted to shoot a suicidal person.

 

If his story is true, he thought the kid was armed and going to hurt the caregiver. He wasn't shooting him because he was suicidal.

[rockmom]

If his story is true, he thought the kid was armed and going to hurt the caregiver. He wasn't shooting him because he was suicidal.

 

The call was about a potentially suicidal person. So he had an idea he wasn't goin to be dealing with someone in their "right" mind. I'm not thinking he shot maliciously. But, it seems that he 1) wasn't equipped to deal with that type of situatio 2) doesn't yet possess the skills of that kind assessment .

 

A friend of mine is a behavior therapist and works with children and adults like the one I'm this incident daily. His stories are harrowing. And the worst stories are about the way the people have been treated by others because people like us, "normal" people don't have any idea how to handle interacting with them, or are scared of them.

[Hellcats]

The video played on NBC this morning leaves no doubt neither were a threat. The therapist was on the ground pleading with the officer to not shoot, because the young man had a truck.

 

No shots should have been fired. I hate the world is going to lose a behavioral therapist who is willing to risk his life for his patients: he is getting ready to win a nice lump sum and probably will start an early retirement.

[halfback20]

The call was about a potentially suicidal person. So he had an idea he wasn't goin to be dealing with someone in their "right" mind. I'm not thinking he shot maliciously. But, it seems that he 1) wasn't equipped to deal with that type of situatio 2) doesn't yet possess the skills of that kind assessment .

 

A friend of mine is a behavior therapist and works with children and adults like the one I'm this incident daily. His stories are harrowing. And the worst stories are about the way the people have been treated by others because people like us, "normal" people don't have any idea how to handle interacting with them, or are scared of them.

 

Ok. I was commenting on your last sentence. He was apparently several yards away, and possibly thought the kid was going to harm the counselor. If that story is true, he didn't shoot at him because he was suicidal.

[halfback20]

Ok. I was commenting on your last sentence. He was apparently several yards away, and possibly thought the kid was going to harm the counselor. If that story is true, he didn't shoot at him because he was suicidal.

 

I should add, I'm not entirely certain I buy this story, I'm only mentioning it because that's what the other side is saying.