Cry of ‘Gun!’ Is Claimed in Fatal Shooting of Fellow Officer

NY Times ^ | March 14, 2011 | MICHAEL WILSON

[neverdem]

Hoplophobia means you're never charged with involuntary mamslaughter or negligent homicide.

[neverdem]

mamslaughter geesh, it’s time for new glasses.

[Slump Tester]

Yeah, and that Transit cop FINALLY got to shoot someone!

[Dr. Ursus]

Getting selected for the MTA is like hitting the lottery,
spending your last year before retiring racking out the OT
for your pension.

[Vaquero]

I wasn't there...so I cant tell from just the report, but I find that there are some people who do not know how to use their OUTDOOR VOICES.

‘POLICE OFFICER’ loud and clear will be heard by the undeaf....

(I admittedly come from a family of loud mouths...which include my late dad who was NYPD and you could hear him loud and clear from a block away if he wanted you to hear him...)

[OneWingedShark]

You know, the story (and title) are indicative of the accountability-avoidance and ‘non-thinking’ excuse .
i.e. “They yelled gun!” —> So it really wasn’t our fault because we were just reacting.

Funny thing is such a defense would be extraordinarily strained if used by a soldier in a gunfight investigation in a warzone where, by definition, their lives are in danger and reaction-time & training are paramount.

[camle]

seems to me that this was a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ situation. too many people reacted, too few people thought.

[houeto]

This is how it works for the cops. One guy intentionally shoots and kills another guy and it is called "tragic accidental death" according to the article. Also from the article, the Nassau County police commissioner stated that it is unlikely that the shooter will be charged with a crime.

Ain't THAT sumthin!!!

[camle]

btw: if I read this correctly, the shooter had to have had good aim - he shot the guy without shooting the other cop tackling him. am i the only one who thinks this stopry doesn’t add up?

[E.Allen]

He must have gone to a “Zero tolerance” school.

[neverdem]

Funny thing is such a defense would be extraordinarily strained if used by a soldier in a gunfight investigation in a warzone where, by definition, their lives are in danger and reaction-time & training are paramount.

I think you might get some arguments about that. Once units make contact, then all bets are off. It this case, the original perp was already shot and down, but it appears this johnny come lately in planclothes with a M4 slung upside down over his shoulder gets wasted after this retired NYPD sergeant freaks out upon seeing the M4, and Gentile overreacts and kills him.

I wonder how much of the militarization of the police has caused this?

[ßuddaßudd]

‘Stop! Police!’
LOL, I wonder this is still being said by LEOs...

[heylady]

Actually something similar happened many years ago in Prov, RI. An off duty officer was in a diner in a not so good part of town. Some thugs came in and started fighting with each other. Owner calls police. Unfortunately the off duty policeman, dressed in a hoodie, drew his gun to try to break up the fight. Police enter , yell to him to drop his gun. He never identified himself and didn't drop his gun. The police shot and killed him. There was not only a criminal trial but a civil trial and the officer responsible for the shooting was cleared both times.

[2harddrive]

Even IF true, since when is the sound of the word “Gun!” validly taken as a command to open fire? Dear God, just because someone has a firearm in their hand is no excuse to shoot them!

[Fido969]

Well, if it wasn't a cop shot, the other officers involved wold SWEAR:

1. The deceased pointed his gun at them.

2. Refused to drop it after being ordered to do so.

3. The officer who shot “was in fear for his life.”

Witnesses to the contrary? Just ignore those.

[livius]

“Buffs” (even retired cops) are always a problem. I have a family member in LE and believe me, these people can seriously complicate situations.

[livius]

“Gun” is a warning word that cops use when the (supposedly unarmed) suspect brings out a weapon. At that point, it’s their lives - or his. If you were a cop, how would you vote?

Unfortunately, in this case, the cop was carrying the weapon and the retired-cop police-buff screamed the warning word. How would you react?

[cvq3842]

A very, very sad situation. Let’s hope everyone learns from it, and it does not happen again.

[starlifter]

Hopefully by assessing the situation and determining if there was a threat then, if there is a threat, neutralizing it with the minimum available force.

But it's always way cool to whip out a gun and shoot.

[livius]

You don’t seem to realize how little time it takes for a bad guy to whip out a gun and shoot. Cops are trained to hear the word “gun” and turn immediately to the suspect and simply shoot. There’s no time to evaluate anything.

When the bad guy has a gun, only one person is going to go home from this encounter. And the cops want it to be them who goes home, not the bad guy who got off a couple of shots while they were “determining if there was a threat.”

You obviously don’t know the speed of a bullet.