Lawfully Licensed Gun Owner Killed by Police

[Hound]

Not giving my opinion to much here. It is obviously hostile to how just about all of us feel on here and is coming from a place of pain but the situation brings out a problem when ANY good guy pays for doing ?the right thing?. That could have been ANY of us, regardless of color. I have wondered about this exact thing happening if I had been him. To be clear; not going after the cops, its a tragic thing for both sides. Just want to see what/how the forum thinks and reacts to the situation:

https://www.theroot.com/police-point...mpl-1830653183


Alabama police have begun efforts to shift blame to the innocent man they shot following gunshots at an Alabama shopping mall.

Emantic ?EJ? Bradford, 21, was killed by a police officer who was responding to an active shooter situation on Thursday evening. After calling the officer ?heroic,? the police realized they had killed the wrong person and said it was ?unlikely? Bradford was involved.
From the Associated Press:

The Monday morning statement says ?We can say with certainty Mr. Bradford brandished a gun during the seconds following the gunshots, which instantly heightened the sense of threat to approaching police officers responding to the chaotic scene.?

It?s almost maddening to write these things out now: The ?good guy with a gun? narrative is bullshit. Racism is rampant in lawmaking and policing spheres. None of our appeals to constitutional rights ever actually include black people. Or maybe being in a mall with an active shooter isn?t a good enough reason to try and protect yourself?
It?s hard not to feel jaded because I?m not even sure who I?m writing to. There are people who understand this and people who are willfully ignorant, even if not maliciously so. If the idea of a ?good guy with a gun? seems plausible to you as an argument against stricter gun control, you haven?t just been in a bubble; you?ve been actively ignoring a reality where black people are killed when they are unarmed or armed. Even when a black person fits into a?let?s be honest?rare narrative of a gunman being stopped by another armed civilian, he is then shot for it.
People against gun control need to let go of this wet dream of heroically stopping the bad guys and being showered with praise and kisses?because the cops continue to show that they aren?t equipped to live in a society where anyone might be armed, and frankly, they abuse the possibility and use it to justify murder. Our ?normal? is one where anyone could get shot at any time, and we just have to react. If they?re so scared all the time, maybe we need to de-escalate as a society and stop trying to pretend an environment where guns are so accessible isn?t a preternaturally hostile one.

[Hound]

The editor replaced my quotation marks with question marks. I was not trying to question if it was the right thing.

[Sawin]

Situational awareness is an incredibly hard thing to assure when lives are on the line or your life is believed to be in danger... It is a primary contributor to why I will only ever be on "defense" and protect my own life and family as a last resort. I will not expose my firearm or pursue any threat... It's just not worth the risks; and I wish to emphasize the plural nature of that word.... risks, because there are many.

This is a tragedy for all parties and I hope it proves valuable in some way. It's just very hard to see how at this point in time.

[Irving]

There is definitely a gap in the conversation about self defense with a gun. It usually only extends to some ideal situation where the police don't get there in time and that's why you carry in the first place. Very little conversation about what you do in the presence of the police and how in reality you'd better hope the police are late or else there is a great chance you'll end up dead.

In before "police are only jumpy because of the us vs them narrative driven by liberals."

[Gman]

If the police don't announce their arrival, you may not even be aware of their presence. It's a tough call.

[Bailey Guns]

Apparently there's bodycam footage and other security camera footage. I think rather than speculate on what Bradford may have done with his gun, or not done with it, once police arrived, I'll just wait for more information. At this point it seems very tragic.

I have always recommended, for this very reason, that unless your life or the life of someone you really care about is in danger, run away if you can. Engage in an armed confrontation only as a last resort. There is so much that can go wrong and this is a perfect example. Any time you present your gun the Law of Unintended Consequences might just jump up and bite you in the ass.

I've never heard of that website, TheRoot...but, wow... I couldn't even follow the linked story...seems like the author was far more interested in calling the cops racists than presenting facts.

[Great-Kazoo]

If the police don't announce their arrival, you may not even be aware of their presence. It's a tough call.

OR, you're off duty gun drawn engaging the (legit) bad guy. When another off duty or retired cop drops you in a mistaken identity situation. Even though the 1st off duty cop has numerous people telling late to scene guy the one he's after, is the good guy.

[MrPrena]

"Dont shoot! Pistol holstered!"

[spqrzilla]

I think NYPD is pretty notorious for shooting their own undercover or off duty colleagues.

[BushMasterBoy]

The deceased. Was a soldier at one time.

emantin-bradford-jr-us-army-soldier-cap.jpg