police shooting in my neighborhood

[JoeT]

http://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/broomfield-news/ci_20973447/man-killed-by-broomfield-police-officer-struggled-mental?source=most_emailed

short story....21 year old with mental illness, family call cops because they're afraid he's going to hurt himself with knife, points airsoft at cops, cop shoot guy.

[Sharpienads]

Dang. That's a sad story.

If someone pointed a gun at me, I'd probably shoot, too, regardless if somebody else said it was an airsoft gun.

[sniper7]

very sad the way it ended.

I would like to know how much information was communicated to the officers about the airsoft gun that was pointed at them, and any LEO's on here perspective as to what kind of information they receive vs. having what looks like a gun pointed at you.

At the end of the day, if it looks like a gun, I wouldn't take any chances and I wouldn't expect the officers to take chances either.

[Fist_gonzo]

very sad the way it ended.

I would like to know how much information was communicated to the officers about the airsoft gun that was pointed at them, and any LEO's on here perspective as to what kind of information they receive vs. having what looks like a gun pointed at you.

At the end of the day, if it looks like a gun, I wouldn't take any chances and I wouldn't expect the officers to take chances either.

I was thinking the same thing

[lpgasman]

That sucks, maybe the family should have taken the gun and hid it before the cops got theror not called them before they did. That's like a dog charging you, and the owner says, don't worry it won't bite, cops did what they had to. Sucks though.

[JM Ver. 2.0]

Sad story for sure. I read the comments on the Denver Post website. Funny stuff to be had there.

[cofi]

thats sad dispatch was told he had a plastic gun.....i would have hoped they would have tried less then lethal first

[Byte Stryke]

death by cop


NEVER Call the police for help.
Call police to to paperwork.

[Bailey Guns]

thats sad dispatch was told he had a plastic gun.....i would have hoped they would have tried less then lethal first

Two things:

1) Never trust someone who says "it's just a plastic gun".
2) You don't resort to less-lethal when someone points a gun at you.

One of the very first calls I went to as a rookie/trainee was a suicidal man with a gun. We were told by dispatch the man was armed with an old shotgun according to the man's wife.

We got there and I started working my way up to the door of the house. The man was standing in the doorway, partially obscured by the door jamb.

My training officer told me to slow down and not be in such a hurry. We were probably 150-200 feet from the door. I told the TO I thought we had plenty of cover (and range) since the guy "only" had a shotgun.

He asked me, "Are you willing to bet your life his wife knows anything about guns and actually knows the difference between a shotgun and a rifle?"

It made sense. We came within about 2 pounds of trigger pull from killing that guy. He finally surrendered and we took him to the hospital.

The gun he had was a Rem 700 .30-06.

Lesson learned...luckily not the hard way.

Yes, this is a tragedy. But not because of the police.

[rockhound]

Those airsoft do look too real if you ask me, from 20 feet you cant tell the difference on some of them

[encorehunter]

thats sad dispatch was told he had a plastic gun.....i would have hoped they would have tried less then lethal first

I hate to tell you this, but dispatch doesn't always get the right information. I'd say we are lucky if we get the right information 40-50% of the time, and never get the whole story.

[Squeeze]

Those airsoft do look too real if you ask me, from 20 feet you cant tell the difference on some of them

Not to mention, whose to say scum bags can't paint the end of a real gun orange to make someone think it's a fake gun? I recently received an officer safety bulletin at work regarding some puke-sack who took a super soaker water gun, gutted it, and inserted a short-barrel shotgun inside it...and it worked. Never take something for granted. Ever. Someone points anything at me I can reasonably construe as being a firearm...shit's about to break loose. Pic below of the gun:

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i445/TangoDownPro/Realfakegun.jpg

[rutz777]

It's the right decision, no hesitation on someone pointing a gun at you, real or fake

[cstone]

Not to mention, whose to say scum bags can't paint the end of a real gun orange to make someone think it's a fake gun? I recently received an officer safety bulletin at work regarding some puke-sack who took a super soaker water gun, gutted it, and inserted a short-barrel pump action 870 inside it...and it worked. Never take something for granted. Ever. Someone points anything at me I can reasonably construe as being a firearm...shit's about to break loose.

I grew tired of all of the safety/intel bulletins regarding the countless items that could be made into a firearm years ago. Like my FTO told me decades ago: "You point at me, I'm going to point back. You choose what you want to point with, and I will choose what I will point back with."

I think this is why I normally point with my flat hand, fingers aligned as in a hand salute [ROFL1]

[lifeon2]

Crap now I want to make a super soaker shotgun.

[Skully]

Sad that it had to end the way it did, it wont be easy for many involved to get over.

I noticed the comments on the Brooomfield news article were very passionate and the small world story is I know some of the commentors that were close to him.

I feel sorry for the family, but I also feel very sorry for that officer who has to live with it the rest of his life. Most of the Broomfield LEOs are really good people and seriously doubt he was a gung ho soldier wanting to use his weapon and shoot someone.

Just not good in any way or form.

Up until last October I spent the last five years of my career working at Laradon Hall, working with Adults with developmental disabilities who also had some severe mental health issues. Laradon offered a training every year to the Denver police department to do sensitivity training. (after that fatal shooting a decade earlier of a developmentally disabled person, anyone remember that event? Denver PD had some serious negative press.) They would come out every year for this with rookie and veteran officers. I was part of the group who volunteered to do a little orientation and open forum for the LEOs to ask questions, then we would have them tour and hang out with groups and get use to people who were in this category. Most of the Denver LEOs comments were; "This is eye opening."

It is very hard job to be a LEO.

[Sharpienads]

Crap now I want to make a super soaker shotgun.

lol. Me too!

[Ah Pook]

I'm not in the medical field but the people I have had contact with can be very volatile. Almost like flipping a switch.

http://trialx.com/curetalk/2011/02/what-is-schizoaffective-disorder-bipolar-type-symptoms-diagnosis-treatments/

Sound like the cop was dropped in a bad situation that got worse. It doesn't say what the Mother told the officer beforehand.

Condolences to the family and officer.

[theGinsue]

Those airsoft do look too real if you ask me, from 20 feet you cant tell the difference on some of them

I've walked past air soft guns at gun shows and from 2 ft away I couldn't tell that they weren't real guns. Some folks have even taken to painting the muzzle of real guns blaze orange making them look like toys. You never know what it is until you can actually inspect it.

Sad turn of events, but in the end, the LEO's did what they should have done in this situation.

ETA:

Not to mention, whose to say scum bags can't paint the end of a real gun orange to make someone think it's a fake gun? I recently received an officer safety bulletin at work regarding some puke-sack who took a super soaker water gun, gutted it, and inserted a short-barrel shotgun inside it...and it worked. Never take something for granted. Ever. Someone points anything at me I can reasonably construe as being a firearm...shit's about to break loose.
I guess I should read the whole thread before replying.

[cofi]

Not to mention, whose to say scum bags can't paint the end of a real gun orange to make someone think it's a fake gun? I recently received an officer safety bulletin at work regarding some puke-sack who took a super soaker water gun, gutted it, and inserted a short-barrel shotgun inside it...and it worked. Never take something for granted. Ever. Someone points anything at me I can reasonably construe as being a firearm...shit's about to break loose. Pic below of the gun:

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i445/TangoDownPro/Realfakegun.jpg

thats wild.....where is the trigger??

[sniper7]

Those airsoft do look too real if you ask me, from 20 feet you cant tell the difference on some of them

hell, from 5 feet you can't tell the difference between my 1 and only airsoft AR and a real one. damn parts are nearly interchangeable.

[SideShow Bob]

thats wild.....where is the trigger??

Judging by the pipe cap on the butt end, it is a " pipe gun " , to fire, just slam the slide home.

[Lex_Luthor]

That's sad, the article says that he volunteered at my church. I didn't make it this weekend, so I'll have to tune in and see if anything is brought up. Prayers to his family.