Why do I see the need to stop him? Because if the cop was sent there and clears like this: “Just a man with a knife whittling some wood” and this guy walks down the street and starts whittling someones face, guess who gets in trouble?
That’s the problem today, people see someone walking down the street with an open knife, carving on something, they think he may be a bit nutty. I can’t remember, in my 25 years, someone doing this. Or just walking down the street with an open knife.
If I was walking down the sidewalk, unarmed and not a cop, and saw a guy walking towards me carving on some wood, I’d give him a wide berth. Especially in the city I live in where they bring in mentals from all over the state to be near the mental health facility here.
I don’t think this cop instigated a confrontation, but I do believe that he should have taken more time. I don’t even hear the victim making any comments, all I hear is the cop telling him to drop the knife and then bang, bang, bang.
The only other voice I hear is the woman asking him why he shot. Even she had more sense than this officer.
I’m glad to see that this dept. says the shooting was not justified. The victim may have been drunk and walking away. If the officer wanted to stop him he could have walked up behind him and used a taser, or simply spun the guy to the ground, if he was afraid the guy was dangerous.