Posted on 09/21/2017 2:39:49 PM PDT by Ennis85
A deaf man has been shot and killed by Oklahoma City police officers as he approached them holding a metal pipe. The two officers did not hear neighbours shouting "he can't hear you", before opening fire, police captain Bo Mathews said. Magdiel Sanchez, 35, was fatally shot on Tuesday evening as police were investigating a hit and run. The shooting is being investigated by city homicide detectives to determine if it was legally justified. "In those situations, very volatile situations, you have a weapon out, you can get what they call tunnel vision," Cpt Mathews said, adding that Sanchez was about 15 ft (4.5m) away when both officers fired their weapons simultaneously.
Eight-year veteran Sgt Christopher Barnes fired his handgun at the same exact moment Lt Matthew Lindsey fired a Taser, witnesses told police. "You can really lock in to just the person that has the weapon that'd be the threat against you," Cpt Mathews added, explaining why officers did not respond to the shouts of about a half dozen bystanders screaming that Sanchez was deaf.
The 2ft (0.6m) pipe that Sanchez was holding as he sat on his porch was initially described to officers as a stick. Neighbours say that Sanchez, who was non-verbal, would use the pipe and his hands to communicate and also to protect against stray dogs near his home where he lived with his father. Sanchez's father, who drove the hit and run vehicle, later confirmed that his son was deaf. Police say the victim had no known criminal history. Sgt Barnes, who fired his handgun, has been placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation. The first officer on scene, Lt Lindsey, will remain on active duty. Neither officer was wearing a body camera. This is not the first shooting to draw attention to Oklahoma
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
GEEZ! Can’t the cops aim for a thigh or something???
It seems for the first 50 years or so of my life, this kind of thing never, or almost never, happened. Now it happens frequently. Some years ago, I read that many police depts were trying to recruit officers with IQs of just 100. I wonder if this has something to do with this. Are we hiring dumb police officers these days?
He must have been a curious plumber.
I hope that was sarcasm!
I suspect sometime in the very near future, innocent law abiding citizens are going to start Shooting Thus with Badges for this type of thing, rightly so.
.
>> “Are we hiring dumb police officers these days?” <<
Does being a police officer strike you as something a mentally gifted person would seek?
.
Regardless of what happened here, you cannot use deadly force to wound, in general. Works great in movies - no so in real life. That’s a general rule. YMMV
Tunnel vision...
What were they on scene for, a hit and run? Would they not be stopping at the site of the accident to assist the victim and obtain a description of the perp and vehicle? When all of a sudden a guy with a pipe comes walking towards them, and instead of backing away, the one cop decided he needed to bust cap in the dude. The other officer obviously assessed the situation and chose the non-lethal option.
The city will pay out the nose for this mistake.
“he can’t hear you”
So what. Was he blind, too?
I don't know what standards are for police hiring, but 100 IQ is supposed to be average intelligence.
How dare you try to equate yesterdays Peace Officers with todays Law Enforcement Officers, they are diametrically opposed.
but your assertion is Correct, a “Peace Officer” never would have shot or killed an unarmed and non threatening person. But a “Law Enforcement Officer” well those are the folks my Grandfather told us he was fighting in WW2 in Germany.
I’ve also heard this. Or, rather, I’ve heard that candidates with high IQs are weeded out. Of course the nonstop push for affirmative action doesn’t help...
Now that cell phones and social media have changed the game there is often information besides *just* the police report.
Many cops - and many authoritarians and/or people with State power over others have acted this way since ancient Sumer, I’d bet, just now it can’t be swept under the rug.
Don’t worry, there will probably be someone along saying ‘but he *could* have had a gun and/or ‘claiming that the person shot had an arrest warrant, was gay, didn’t respond to police requests or some such mitigating factor existed or might have existed. I have seen very few threads where somebody didn’t give the police ‘benefit of the doubt’.
I was wondering that myself.
as he sat on his porch
No, not sarcasm. If you have an answer then do tell.
IQ is racist, I kid you not. 100 is only average for white people.
I have read that it is more difficult in reality, under high-stress situations, to aim precisely (than it is in the movies). Plus, I believe there are very important veins (arteries? I'm not a doctor) that, if punctured, can lead a person to bleed out pretty quickly. I may be wrong, though.
But I think there's no great place to get shot. Perhaps a foot. :) (And now I am thinking about the movie Godfather!).
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