Posted on 01/26/2015 9:36:02 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
The Longview Police Department placed three officers on leave after a 17-year-old girl was shot and killed in the lobby of the station last week, the Marshall News Messenger reported.
According to officials, Kristiana Coignard entered the Texas police station on Thursday evening brandishing a weapon. Police spokeswoman Kristie Brian said Coignard used a phone in the lobby to call police dispatch and asked to see an officer.
When officers arrived in the lobby, she "came at the officers" with a weapon, according to Brian. Police did not confirm what type of weapon Coignard had, but Longview Mayor Jay Dean said that she was carrying a knife, according to the Marshall News Messenger.
Justice of the Peace James Mathis said Coignard was shot "multiple times," according to the Marshall News Messenger.
Police have not released many details about the incident. It remains unclear why Coignard entered the police station and what occurred before she was shot.
The 17-year-old was living with her aunt, Heather Robertson, who told ThinkProgress that her niece had been struggling with mental illness.
“I think it was a cry for help," Robertson said about Coignard's actions last week. "I think they could have done something. They are grown men. I think there is something they are not telling us."
Robertson said her niece has struggled with depression and bipolar disorder since her mother died when she was four years old. Coignard has been hospitalized twice after trying to commit suicide. Robertson told ThinkProgress that Coignard "was only violent with herself."
The three officers involved in the incident were placed on leave, and the Texas Rangers are investigating the shooting.
Don’t cops carry batons. How hard is it for three cops to take down a girl with a knife, when you can whack her and disarm her with a baton.
Ya think? Was ThinkProgress there on the scene before Robertson "took one for the team"?
The mental health profession is dominated by liberals, too many of them without a clue.
I got in a lot of psych courses in college, watching the instructors was like a trip to the zoo.
Cops are no longer trained to disarm for the very reason that cops get injured and then raise retirements and pension expenses. Further, the legal system is stacked in favor of the cops and require the family to prove wrongful death. That is very difficult to do when the person is armed.
Follow the money and find the reason.
Maybe she saw that leftist video that said bring your parents weapons to school
Suicide by cops works every time (until cops are disarmed).
Worked with correctional officers for over 20 years and they routinely disarmed shank carrying inmates without killing them. They (inmates) were sometimes severely messed up by said officers after such incidents but they weren’t dead......
The report does not state she had a gun.
The story says she had a knife not a gun.
“The report does not state she had a gun.”
Pheew, just a knife. That makes it a-okay to charge at the officers.
Yeah,,, but those prison guards probably never have to face down someone like the girl in the pic in this thread. She would take over a cellblock.
And then what? Try to treat her mental problems? They've had 13 years to treat her. She's had 13 years to get better. She's tried to off herself twice already, yet she's allowed to roam free among society. You'd be singing a different tune if, instead of taking a knife (or whatever) into a police station, she killed one of your loved ones. Sorry if that seems cold.
So what happens when you go to disarm the person running at you with a knife, and you miss?
And she doesn’t?
And the knife plunges into your leg slicing your femoral artery?
What happens then?
Life ain’t the movies.
By that logic after the 2nd attempt, the cops shoulda set a Bonnie and Clyde ambush for her. Blown her away. NO sense trying to treat the mental health problems of a girl who lost her mom at age 4.
Just wack her like you were Tony Soprano. Bright.
Yeahhhhh,, she looks like a real ninja. Right outta Kill Bill”. No real street cop from even 20 years ago woulda shot her.
The spokesperson didn’t say charge at the officers. It says came at. I want to see video.
No, she should be in some kind of facility where she can’t hurt herself or others. Bright.
My daddy always told me, “Son, never walk into a police station and brandish a gun.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.