Killed over a water nozzle?

[Scanker19]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_water_nozzle_shooting

Sounds fishy.

It seems to me if they had time to observe him they could have determined that it wasn't a gun.

[theGinsue]

I normally don't try to second guess an LEO's actions in most situations like this simply because I wasn't faced with the situation and they were, but...

Something here isn't right. If the information in the article is accurate, I think the officers missed an opportunity to end this without the use of lethal force.

Whether he was holding the spray nozzle like a gun or not, if no one was clearly as risk of being shot, I don't understand why the officers in this case didn't try to make some contact with this man before firing upon him. No commands to "drop the weapon", anything.

Like I said before, something isn't right here. It reminds me of Kansas City, KS back in the early '80's. Their PD was notorious for "Stop, or I'll <boom> <boom> shoot!"

[Graves]

Another entry for "Good Idea, Bad Idea"

[cstone]

Its a tragedy for everyone involved. While there are cops who may not care about shooting people, even when it is necessary, I haven't met them. Once the first round is fired, the other officer(s) will almost always fire. Its almost impossible to determine exactly who is shooting when that first round goes off, and most people naturally conclude that they are the intended target, so they immediately return fire.

Six rounds from a 12 or 15 round magazine means that if only one officer fired his handgun, he wasn't firing randomly. If there were two officers who fired their pistols, that displays even more discipline. The shotgun going off close by just adds to the complexity of what must have gone through the officers minds in a second to a second and a half.

Just a bad day all around for everyone involved.

[Byte Stryke]

Something smells like Shit on a Durian with that.

even if opportunity was not there for a forward contact, they could have done an L Contact covering him from the rear and contacting him from a side.

not to mention... So what if someone is sitting on their back stoop with a handgun. unless I am missing something, its not illegal.
Exactly what warranted the entry?

"911, what is the nature of your emergency?"
"I am alarmed, there is a family having a picnic next door and the Man has a Spatula!"
"Stay in your Home, we are dispatching Sharpshooters and SWAT to your Location."

/sarcasm

[Elhuero]

Police are allowed to do basically anything they want to make themselves feel "safe"

not trying to bash cops, just stating a fact.

[2ndChildhood]

I guess I'd better stop hanging out in neighborhoods where I'm unfamiliar and fooling around with gun-shaped objects.

[Bitter Clinger]

Those cops fucked up. Period. Sounds like the nosy fuckin neighbors can sleep better at night too.

[KevDen2005]

Those cops fucked up. Period. Sounds like the nosy fuckin neighbors can sleep better at night too.

So you were there? Just curious as to how you know exactly what happened?

[Bitter Clinger]

So you were there? Just curious as to how you know exactly what happened?

No. I was not there, reading the small article it does say the police observed him. Why did they not wait for backup? I don't know. I am not a cop.

But it seems to me a Guy who was guilty of trying to not drink and drive lost his life for doing the right thing.

The article also states that neighbors called 911 stating they seen a Guy sitting on some steps with a gun. Ok SO FUCKING WHAT? I oftentimes am walking around my backyard and garage with drills, water nozzles, hell sometimes I even have a watergun. Should I expect to be gunned down?

IF we are getting the full story then yes the cops fucked up. But with stories like this we rarely get the full story.