You think shooting a senile old man seven times for carrying a crucifix is appropriate?
Did the cop know it was just a crucifix or was that found out *after* the shoot?
Show me where, in the job requirements, that cops must be psychic and omniscient, please.
No, not as presented. I’m not saying the cops are right. What I am trying to do is get you into the mindset of your typical cop. You have a “man with a gun” call. Do you really wanna just walk up to the person? Probably not. Not a great way to make it to retirement. Besides there’s a lot left out in this story. Did the cops tell the guy to show them his hands? how many times? How far away was the guy? 30 feet? 20 feet? Less? How dark was it? Was it cloudy? Was there a moon? Were there street lights? What was the guys overall demeanor? Passive? Aggressive? Confused? Angry? Doesn’t mention any of that. This could well be a “bad shoot”. I don’t rule it out But at this point I simply do not know enough about the situation to come to a conclusion. And frankly, neither do you. Anything at this point would be a “knee jerk” reaction at best. At the very least it is a tragedy. What is needed is to figure out whether it’s an unfortunate set of circumstances or a crime. And I would like also like to make sure that the press reporting it is doing so honestly and truthfully, without any agendas-on either side of the equation.
CC
Must have missed the part where it was established that the cops knew it was a crucifix. Perhaps you can enlighten us?
Back when I was young, that is exactly what a policeman where I lived would have done.He would driven his car to close to where the guy was standing and talked to him man to man.But back then, a policeman was another member of the community. His job was to keep the peace. He respected us as human beings and we respected him as a human being. His family co-mingled with the other families in the community. He refereed an offered his advice in family disputes. He counselled, in various ways, the youth of the community when they strayed from the path of true and right and got them back on the right path. Many spent their entire careers with having to draw their gun in the line of duty. They were obeyed because they were respected. And they returned the respect. But that was then and this is now.
I’m not seeing where the cop knew it was a crucifix?
If the crucifix was in his pocket and not visible what would you do? You have a call of a a man with a gun to begin with. He is failing to follow commands and the officers have no knowledge he has early stage dementia. All the fixings for a disaster.