Posted on 12/01/2021 5:09:06 AM PST by Leaning Right
As I see it, three things are in play here. One is that the guy was in a slow-moving scooter. (Even though as you said, he could have been faking.) The scooter thing goes against the cop.
Scooter guy was shot in the back. That also goes against the cop.
And three, the guy not only showed a knife, he was threatening folks with it. He was capable of hurting a bystander. That goes in the cop’s favor.
So as I noted earlier, I think it will all boil down to the “reasonable person” doctrine. Did that cop behave as a reasonable person would have?
Probably unnecessary use of force. If the guy in the scooter with the knife could realistically get to someone fast enough to inflict death of grave bodily harm, the shots in the back might be justified for saving the life of another. If the guy in the scooter, who is sixty-something, is really handicapped, then some non-lethal force (taser) should have been exercised first. JMO.
Gus, of “Breaking Bad fame”, can tell you a little about guys in wheelchairs.
Righteous shoot.
Why only 9 shots?
That was all there were in the magazine...
Shooting a suspect in the back is not always cut and dry as most people think and against the cops. That being said this is one time the officer involved used far too much force IF the guy in the scooter was immobile and unable to get up and walk. But if he was near a store employee or a citizen with the knife and within striking distance and threatening it was a righteous shoot. I don’t know the entire details so this is a call for the department and local prosecutors.
Getting shot at wouldn't motivate me to stop running!
Nope. Usually has the opposite effect - making the person run even faster!
Very bad shoot...
All he had to do was tip the scooter over or shoot out a tire...
He chose ... poorly.
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