Posted on 04/24/2018 2:17:25 AM PDT by MarvinStinson
A Toronto police officer who refused to shoot the man suspected of plowing a van into crowds of pedestrians on Monday, killing 10 people, was praised for restraint in the face of a suspect who claimed to have a gun.
Video footage showed the police officer staring down the suspect at gunpoint in the middle of a street, while the man pointed what appeared to be a gun and shouted "Kill me." The video showed the suspect repeatedly pulling an object from his side and aiming at police.
The arrest was praised as a welcome example of police restraint in the midst of chaos, coming just minutes after a white rental van plowed into a lunchtime crowd in north Toronto, killing 10 people and injuring 15.
As the suspect shouted "Kill me," the officer replied, "No, get down." When the suspect said, "I have a gun in my pocket," the officer responded: "I don't care. Get down."
"It's quite apparent that the suspect was trying to be executed. He was really looking for 'suicide-by-cop,'" Gary Clement, retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police superintendent with 34 years experience of policing.
The Toronto Police Service declined to name the officer involved in the stand-off, but Clement said he appeared to be a "very seasoned and mature officer."
Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said, "They are taught to use as little force as possible in any given situation," he said.
The non-violent end to the standoff won plaudits on social media.
"Wow, at how these Canadian cops brought in this suspected killer," said Twitter user Stuart A. Thompson.
Police in the United States have been criticized for being too quick to pull the trigger after a series of high-profile police shootings and deaths of suspects during arrest.
(Excerpt) Read more at aol.com ...
What a story, and you’re right, just having the pistol eliminated the need for warning. What was the final tally vs. the price of a shotshell? Criminals who bring a gun to a break-in are a whole different breed than the usual B&E kids down the block. Did you at least hit the perp?
Have we gone numb ( perhaps wrong word) to these events? More killed than in NYC on Halloween but looks like less coverage this morning. Maybe because not in the U S so not hurt Trump?
Not seem to be. Muslim?
Have we gone numb ( perhaps wrong word) to these events? More killed than in NYC on Halloween but looks like less coverage this morning. Maybe because not in the U S so not hurt Trump?
Not seem to be. Muslim?
No one started a new topic on this this morning noting 10 dead.
My sad prediction: There will be scores of dead cops in Canada in coming years. They have just telegraphed to all of the miscreants that they won’t shoot first.
What’s with those three nitwits wandering by in the background like they’re window shopping on Fifth Avenue?
He arrested the perp and no one else got hurt. Good outcome for the police.
If he, or someone else, had been harmed, then it would have been a bad choice.
Wasn’t there some stupid cop who got shot because she refused to shoot a perp because he was black or something?
“Or did the officer recognize that it was not a weapon?”
I think so.
What was the killer pointing at the cop?
A cellphone, or so it’s been reported.
Wow. Now that’s zero situationally awareness! Amazing this clueless trio made it into adulthood.
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