Cops kill man playing with BB gun at Walmart

[sniper7]

It will be interesting to see the facts come out on this one, obviously there will be plenty of camera angles and probably witnesses. If a bystander was shot and killed that adds some serious doubt as to the actions of the officers. If the guy didn't comply and pointed the BB gun at the officers then they will probably be covered.

tough spot to be in. Especially since the toys of today look extremely real. Definitely doesn't it make it any easier on the cops.

[MED]

There are two things I would like to say. If I see somebody with a firearm, they are either walking with it or using it. If a guy is walking around with a firearm, he is likely just open carry; keep alert as always and go about your business. A lot of people and the police in this case are paranoid.

The second thing I would like to say relates to a personal experience and a little more sensitive so I hope I word this correctly. A really good friend of mine is black, and one disagreement we had was about police and how they respond. So, we were driving along in her brother's truck and the lights came on behind us. She got off the road in a dark area, other cruisers came up, she only cracked the window and was very evasive. Next thing I know there were five cruisers there. She was stopped for an expired tag and now we were both out of the car because the stop was suspicious. When we were driving away, I got the "see what happens when you are black." My answer was, "see what happens when you don't cooperate." It seems like there is just an unwillingness to cooperate, and it results in a lot of stupid escalations

It all comes down to this: COOPERATE! Unless you just want to see the SHTF, do as you are asked and clean up any legal issues later. This whole thing sounds like a pretty stupid loss of life. Stupid guy for not doing as he was told and stupid cops for not reading the situation better. It sounds like an all around stupid event and now there are three kids without a dad along with a bystander's death.

Edit: I agree a lot with Bailey on this. I don't see the point in carrying long guns in an urban environment. All this movement is going to do is result in yet another ban so that when there is actually a need for it at some point, it will be illegal. Personally, I have no desire to be noticed and I prefer to just blend into my surroundings.

[Great-Kazoo]

It will be interesting to see the facts come out on this one, obviously there will be plenty of camera angles and probably witnesses. If a bystander was shot and killed that adds some serious doubt as to the actions of the officers. If the guy didn't comply and pointed the BB gun at the officers then they will probably be covered.

tough spot to be in. Especially since the toys of today look extremely real. Definitely doesn't it make it any easier on the cops.

She dropped from a medical condition, other than lead poisoning

[Lex_Luthor]

That's a sweet BB gun. I want one.

[Zundfolge]

...if this doesn't convince you openly carrying a long gun in an urban area is a bad idea, nothing will.

While I generally agree that there's no real good reason to carry a long gun in an urban area, there is a HUGE difference between carrying a rifle and brandishing one ... it sounds like this guy was brandishing, not simply carrying.

[sniper7]

She dropped from a medical condition, other than lead poisoning

Good news for the cops, still probably bad news for the department/city and the $$ that will get paid out for it.

[SideShow Bob]

Good news for the cops, still probably bad news for the department/city and the $$ that will get paid out for it.

Also Wally World getting sued for having this BB gun on the shelf out of the manufacturers packaging where customers could get a ahold of it and get killed as a result.
All the BB guns that I have seen at Wally World were in the manufacturers packaging, and it is no easy task to remove.
And the few that I have been to that have firearms departments with display models, they are secured to the shelf and out of reach.
Now, if this individual intentionally remove said BB gun from the packaging or managed to remove a display model, walk around the store talking to his wife on a cell phone with no muzzle descipline, and not obeying LE commands, well what can I say.......

[Bailey Guns]

While I generally agree that there's no real good reason to carry a long gun in an urban area, there is a HUGE difference between carrying a rifle and brandishing one ... it sounds like this guy was brandishing, not simply carrying.

I'm talking about the higher potential for an incident happening. I think that's definitely present, especially when you (as the person carrying the long gun openly) don't know how people are going to react and what they're going to say to the police upon seeing you.

One man's "open carry" is another's "brandishing".

[OneGuy67]

Why does everyone assume a lawsuit will automatically cause the agency/city is going to pay out? Most lawsuits are dismissed with summary judgment.

[Irving]

Why does everyone assume a lawsuit will automatically cause the agency/city is going to pay out? Most lawsuits are dismissed with summary judgment.

This is a good point. People sue insurance companies all the time, but they don't always win.