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.
I know people with severe mental illness. Its a terrible thing.
I don’t feel squat for these cops. 3 big well trained men didn’t have another option?
right
Do you think Jesus was also wrong to care for the weak, sick and defectives?
I actually read the article.
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...
She came into the lobby, not past a barrier. She called for them to come out to see her. They came out. She attacked. Nobody knows how she asked for help, whether it was a cry for help in a hurry or a threat to come and get me, but I lean towards the former. A whole lot of options go out the window when the attack starts.
How many police stations have you been in ? And why ?
It really doesn’t matter what you think though.
That was the answer. She’s dead. It’s over.
And they are not going to be held criminally liable, because they are not criminally liable.
They were perfectly within their rights and the law, and so would have been anyone else she charged with a knife.
She was the danger here. Not the police.
She was perfectly capable of wielding it and swinging it, and that’s all it takes to kill.
Oh. OK.
Right then. Knock yourself out.
There is nothing wrong with the law in this case.
She attacked them with deadly force, they defended themselves with deadly force.
What was unnecessary was HER actions.
If someone wants to get themselves shot by other than themselves I know no better way than to charge into a police station and point a gun at people who wear badges.
Oh I dunno, a few. Usually to make a report or get my fingerprints for a CCW. Heck I had to do that 5 times because they couldn’t manage to take my fingerprints in a manner the State would accept.
Even then the State said the fingerprints were unreadable but the law limited the number of times they could ask me to get them.
EGGSactly Batman!
I am dead set against some of the crap cops call law enforcement that ends up killing innocent people like Bang Bang Shoot'em Up No-Knock Rambo raids. I think cops who kill some innocent person in those type raids should be flogged to death.
However if you are going to charge into Police HQ and wave a gun around then if you get shot well too bad. The cops did not ask you to come there and put people in danger. And if you are suffering from some metal illness well it is not the job of the Cops to understand your pain when you are waving a gun around. That was the job of the medical professionals and apparently they did it wrong.
If you feel that YOU could end this situation exactly as went down and stand before the creator when your time comes and justify it, well, we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this.
Meaning the little people shouldn’t be involved in the legal process.
got it
People seem ready to excuse her CRIME at the drop of a hat, because she is a "little girl", and at the same time they want to hold three people criminally accountable for a JUSTIFIABLE SELF DEFENSE, because they are policemen.
Americans have gone utterly insane ;/
Then we disagree.
Meaning you don’t have a leg to stand on.
You are correct, but I miss the days when cops were better, when they would assess the threat, in their own station, and resolve the issue without having to kill a little girl. Beanbag rounds, tasers, batons, rushing her with shields, locking her in a non-public area until she calmed down, etc etc etc. And yes, I've taken on a person with a knife before. I got a cut on my arm, but I disarmed them before they did any other damage. The cut healed. No scar.
What makes you think that they did not assess the situation?
Had they approached her and she remained stationary, then that would be a time to attempt to talk with her.
Even wielding a knife, if a person remains where they are at a distance from any target, then they are not really a threat to anyone except themselves, unless of course they are an expert knife thrower (yes, such people do exist).
That would be a scenario in which words or other non lethal means could be considered.
But as soon as she moves towards them, she has made herself an imminent lethal threat, and that is all there is to it.
As per your own encounter, I am happy that you came away without serious injury, but I would like to point out that had your assailant cut you under your upper arm, or on your inner thigh, or on your neck, the outcome could have been much different.
Do not underestimate the effectiveness of a cutting edge as a killing weapon.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Don't like having your covers pulled, do you?
Will there be more riots in Ferguson as a result of this police brutality? Where is Jesse Jackson??? Don’t white lives matter too?
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