Let me put my hand on my handgun under my shirt and see how fast I can pull it out and shoot you without having to pull it up and aim. Every shot will go into an 8x10 sheet of paper on your chest if you're within 15-20 feet of me. Police can do it even faster and more accurately when they have to and they practice far more than I do. If they're two-handing it and pointing it at you -- you're done. People are beyond stupid.
Maybe he didn’t understand English. Oh well...
Apparently you know different police than I do. I can shoot rings around most of the Barneys at the range and I’m not really that good. A lot of them don’t seem to understand firearms very well.
He was probably holding his pants up. Itchy trigger finger.
Dumbass dead guy was probably holding is pants up and could not raise his hand tucked under his shirt without his pants hanging over his ass falling down...
If he didn’t have any kids yet he could be a darwin candidate.
None of what is alleged is justification to kill a man. The fact that the second officer did not fire is pretty good evidence that she was too quick on the trigger. With so many recent incidents of police misconduct, I don’t even believe the story as presented is true.
I agree with the other poster that he was likely trying to keep his pants up and avoid dropping his pants in front of 2 women police officers.
If you or I did this shooting, we would be a guest of the state for the next 20 years. She will get a commendation, 3 paid days off, and will be back on the job looking to kill the next person that makes her scared or disobeys an order.
So they’re shooting people over there now not because of any actual, immediate threat but because some cop got scared and thought the guy might present a threat in the future?
And you think this is a good precedent?
I guess its not really a precedent - I hear they’ve been routinely slotting family dogs for the same reason for quite some time.
The brutality and arrogance that people in the US seem willing to put up with from the police never ceases to amaze me. When I lived in Cali, the Modesto police shot a 15 year old kid in the back in a stolen car who was driving away from a traffic. His “crime” was bumping into the police car before taking off.
If that or countless other incidents had happened in the relatively sedate UK where I live, there would be blood, fire and ashes in the streets for a few days, the cops involved would find themselves sitting in the cells. In Greece they’d probably be hanging anything with a badge on from the lamp posts.
Your 8 x 10 piece of paper rang my bell. At the range I put 47 out of 49 9mm shots through the paper at 50 feet. I was asked why I didn’t use an actual target.
I held the paper before my chest (center mass) and the question was answered without a word.
No boasting, though, I was the one MOST surprised, but my own questions were answered.
I pray I never have to do it for real.
Depends on the department. Police around here seem to only fire their guns for annual qualification, and their marksmanship is pretty bad. I know this because they use our range for their quals.
Not enough info to determine the righteousness of this shooting. But....
“she was in fear for her safety” It seems to me that too officers operate with too much fear. They are afraid of dogs, unarmed bums, innocent store patrons, children, almost everyone. They seem to be preoccupied with fear. Maybe they are in the wrong line of work. These types of cops need to get some balls! .........oops!
“Shoot first, ask questions later” seems to be their motto.
OK, folks. Here is the way it is!
Police in many jurisdictions are being trained more intensively, based on results of studies of deaths in shoot-outs and other conflicts. It has been learned that in order to survive, police have to be trained to act almost automatically. Those who fuss around and winder what to do end up dead.
A poster at the Essex County Police Academy in New Jersey lists “Ten Fatal Errors That Have Killed Experienced Law enforcement Officers.” Number 6 on the list is “Failure to watch hands of suspect.” Police are now trained to watch hands.
This means that if you are ever stopped by the police, for any reason, make sure that your hands are in the clear. If in a car, keep your hands on the upper part of the steering wheel. You could even put then on the sill of the driver’s-side window! Keep them visible.
If asked for license of ID, say: “It’s in my wallet in my back pocket.” This way at least the office knows what your reaching for.
I had a student who was stopped and asked for his driver’s license. This kid liked to keep his wallet under his seat, so in response, he reached in that direction. The next sound he heard was the officer’s pistols being cocked, which is not a nice thing to realize is happening just behind you left ear.
Look at it from the police viewpoint. Not only are they trained with their own survival in mind, but some may be new and nervous. Others may be old enough to know a buddy who was killed through inattention. Don’t do anything which could cause an accidental misinterpretation of your intentions!
Nope. You’re not convincing to me.
As the story is written, she was not justified in killing him.
“There are approximately 740,000 sworn law enforcement officers now serving in the United States.”
http://www.leoaffairs.info/faces/faces_oct_2003c.htm
Do the math: 0.00972972972972973 percent chance of being killed. About 1 in 10,000 chance. Much more likely to be killed DRIVING to the scene.
I think the “training” is flawed.
He might be holding up his pants, he might be hiding drugs, he might be a relative of Napoleon, he might have a gun. I don't know what he has in his shirt, but I can't take the chance, I MUST KILL HIM NOW.
Sounds like MURDER to me, but I'll wait for the facts to come out.
So, follow orders or else be subject to police execution? Just what country do you think you live in?
Also, cops are some of the worst shots there are. Your worship of them is noted.
Police orders disobeyed.
If the police officer is telling the truth, she shot him because he would not show his hands and kept one hand in his shirt like he was nursing a weapon as he turned around to face her. She didn’t have much choice in that instance IF she’s being truthful.
This is a horrible story but there is a big difference between an officer walking up to an unarmed person and shooting them FOR NO REASON and this case.
The man acted suspiciously from the start. Walking away from a situation like that kicked it off. Refusing to stop when ordered escalated it.
After doing all this, turning around and APPROACHING the officer, who has a gun drawn, who is ordering you to stop, WITH YOUR HAND HIDDEN UNDER YOUR SHIRT is suicide by cop.
As I expected, the story is changing. Eye witnesses are disputing the police version of events.
from this story:
“Suddenly, Lara turned around to face the officers and was shot fatally by McGowan, Ruvio said, his hands still suspended in the air.
Stunned at the scene, Ruvio yelled to McGowan that she had killed an innocent person, and McGowan responded that “he had drawn out a gun.”
McGowan then proceeded to tear Lara’s shirt open and take off his shoes, said Ruvio. No weapon was found.
Ruvio brought out her phone to take a video of the scene, she said, but an officer seized it from her, telling her she was not to record anything.”
If the police have nothing to hide, why seize the video?