Shooting victim had expired visa

BBC News ^ | July 25, 2005 | Staff

[tessalu]

The Brazilian has shown every person what NOT to do when they see a policeman, and he tells them to stop. This is a good lesson for everyone.

[FostersExport]

When I talk of something being relevant, I mean would it be grounds for suspecting the dead guy to be a terrorist? Clearly not, as they didn’t know who he was, let alone his visa status.

Ok, if he overstayed his visa he was a naughty boy, but it’s not grounds for being shot. His visa status’s only real relevance is as motive for him running from the police, as most will wonder what on Earth prompted him to do that.

When the investigation focuses on whether the police were right to shoot, I doubt they’ll give much thought to the guy’s visa status.

[The Sons of Liberty]

If it had been me, I'd have emptied the clip and then pistol-whipped him!

[AliVeritas]

I agreed with you on that, especially in light of the article excerpt on illegial visas and crackdowns on expired visas. Everything's freepy.

[ohioWfan]

There are two things you are doing which are skewing your conclusion and making it inaccurate.

You continue to insist that this situation is related to British gun laws, and you refuse to factor in that this was in a subway that had been bombed by terrorists.

The man was running away, dressed suspiciously where bombings had just occurred. If this had been NYC or DC under the same circumstances, the man would be dead.

It was HIS fault, sadly..........not the fault of British restrictions on firearms.

[dennisw]

Relatives of Mr Menezes are considering suing over the Stockwell Tube shooting, saying police will have "to pay".

Show me us the money!!!!

[cokecan]

the officers who opened fire were experienced firearms officers - from SO19, the Mets firearms unit - not regular police officers dragged into a role they were unfamiliar with.

british police firearms officers only attend armed incidents, thats all they do day in day out. they don't look for lost children, they don't attend traffic accidents and they don't arrest shoplifters.

in that way i would suggest that they are more experienced at such actions than US 'regular' cops, as a regular cop might draw his firearm once in a blue moon while the british specialist officer might do so every two days.

the rules of engagement state that you may open fire if you believe that yourself or another person is in danger, the direction of travel is irrelevant. the officers shot the man not because he was running away from them, but because he was running towards the train.

the method of disablement they used - mulitple shots to the head at very close range - is the method devised seperately by israeli and sri lankan police/army as the most effective at subduing suspect suicide bombers to the degree required to prevent them from detonating a bomb.

[dennisw]

These Brazilians you have over there (UK) seem as if they could care less about your fight with Islamic terror. Could care less that 70 Londoners were killed (many more maimed) during the recent Muslim terror attack. Could care less about how tense London is and how this illegal alien brought this all upon himself by not obeying police commands to halt. Now do you still wonder why Brazil is a 3rd world shithole?

BTW we in the USA have a tremendous problem with illegal alien Brazilians. They are jamming over the Mexico border along with the Mexicans and Central Americans

[pointsal]

Guess he should have chosen to be searched

while still living.

[Ghengis]

No, he shouldn’t have fled, but maybe he wouldn’t have even given thought to being a terrorist suspect himself, seeing as he was from South America. The police did what they felt they had to, but it’s still a sad mistake.

I don't see it as a police mistake at all. He was an illegal immigrant and fled from police in an area that had been victimized with multiple terrorist strikes just days before.

As far as I'm concerned, the mistake was all on the part of the fleeing illegal immigrant.

[MadIvan]

This fellow did absolutely everything wrong. The police did absolutely everything right. It's strange when such a situation is still a tragedy.

Regards, Ivan

[dennisw]

This illegal alien Brazilain sure picked the wrong day to jump a London turnstile!!!

[Oztrich Boy]

They screwed up,.

Not they didn't. They were mistaken about the target, but that doesn't make their ecision wrong.

[Oztrich Boy]

?Five cops tackled him, had him on the ground, and then they blow his head off. Admittedly we don't have all the facts, but that seems to be the most disturbing part in all this.

You would feel at ease sitting on to of a suicide bomber?

[monday]

"Bid for that bullet proof vest on Ebay.co.uk..."

Wear that and you will get gunned down for sure. Bomb vests and bullet proof vests look surprisingly alike. If you want to be perfectly safe, wear a wife beater and cycling shorts, especially if you have a dark complexion. This isn't rocket science you know. Common sense really.

[pau1f0rd]

I heard wires were hanging out

Apparently he was wearing his electrician's belt under his coat. It just wasn't his day.

[marty60]

Was it argentina or Brazil where terrorists blew up the Israeli Embassy, and another location? What gives anyone the idea, that South America is some sort of peace loving haven. Anyone heard of Carlos THE JACKEL?

[Oztrich Boy]

And I don't think an American cop would shoot a guy simply because he comes out of a building they are watching and runs toward the subway, even if we did just have a subway bombing.

maybe not - but just knock over his beer and see what happens.

[monday]

"This would not have happened in the US. American cops have a lot more experience dealing with guns. The rules of engagement preclude shooting someone just because he's running away.

This is the kind of thing that happens when you have a society that isn't familiar with the use of firearms."

This is incorrect. If US police had reason to believe that he was wired with explosives and was an imminent danger to everyone around him, they would have shot to kill aiming for the head just as the British police did.

The shoot to kill orders for bombers that British authorities issued specified that suspected bombers be shot in the head, running away or not. It was not a procedural mistake. It was quite intentional that he was shot dead in the head.

[Oztrich Boy]

note to self, Make sure Visa is not expired. For everything else, there's Mastercard