FBI: Man killed by bomb after bank robbery (Oops!)

PennLive.com ^ | 8.29.03

[RedBloodedAmerican]

I think so, too. They should have pulled it off him. His hands were cuffed. Did they think the detonator was voice activated?

[ChuckHam]

I don't think there was a thing the troopers could have done for him. For all they knew the bomb would have gone off if they tried to remove it themselves. It's just ashamed though that the bomb squad took too long to get there.

[dudley64]

It's easy to say that the police botched this one, but before you jump to that conclusion, I would ask if you've ever heard of "suicide by cop"? The police had no idea that this poor guy might have been telling the truth, and they rightly kept a safe distance from him, for a myriad of reasons. First, consider that bombs are often booby-trapped. The man told the police that he was told it was a sophisticated design, which would add to my hesitance to be the hero (most likely a dead hero). Secondly, what if this guy was just trying to lure the police to him to kill himself and take a few of them out with him? Would you like to be the one to go tell the cops wives and children that their dad (or mom) screwed up and got blown up? Thirdly, 99 times out of 100, this would have turned out to be a fake bomb. Waiting for the bomb squad to check it out was the RIGHT thing to do. Anyone with any police experience will agree with me, and yes, of course I'm a cop, and have 18 years experience.