Officer safety, donchaknow…
HOUSTON — A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.
Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said the man cornered the officer in his wheelchair and was making threats while trying to stab the officer with the pen. At the time, the officer did not know what the metal object was that the man was waving, Silva said.
She said the man came “within inches to a foot” of the officer and did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still.
“Fearing for his partner’s safety and his own safety, he discharged his weapon,” Silva told The Associated Press.
Police did not immediately release the name of the man who was killed. They had been called to the home after a caretaker there called and reported that the man in wheelchair was causing a disturbance.
The owner of the group home, John Garcia, told the Houston Chronicle that the man had a history of mental illness and had been living at the house about 18 months. Garcia said the man had told him that he lost a leg above the knee and all of one arm when he was hit by a train.
“He sometimes would go off a bit, but you just ignore it,” Garcia told the newspaper.
Silva identified the officer as Matthew Jacob Marin, a five-year veteran of the department. He was immediately placed on three-day administrative leave, which is standard in all shootings involving officers.
“It was close quarters in the area of the house,” Silva said. “The officer was forced into an area where he had no way to get out.”
http://news.yahoo.com/houston-officer-kills-double-amputee-wheelchair-222540280.html
COP is shorthand for Chickenshit On Patrol…
There is a big building in DC full of Fat, White, 2 armed, 2 legged, non-crippled bastards robbing us all with no more than a pen, every day. Could this be the solution?
just kick the chair over..My GOD what a sham
One of the most cowardly acts I’ve heard of in decades! This cop should be tried for murder. But first he should be psychoanalyzed. He sounds like a nut with a badge to me.
Ya know if I was a kid or had the mentality of one I might stop asking Mr Claus for gifts after he put my Dad in jail, tased grandma, pulled out Moms tampon to search for drugs and killed my dog every Christmas.
What’s it going to take for them to stop believing in Safety Claus? He see me when I’m sleeping and knows when I’m awake. Fuck that I’m getting the fuck outta Whoville and going Grinch.
It seems like they use these “officer safety” provisions to simply shoot and kill because they want to shoot and kill someone or something. Any excuse will do.
In this situation one should know that shooting is not the solution. If a concealed carry license holder shot someone who turned out to be threatening him with a pen he would go to prison. No mundane would ever not face criminal penalties for claiming his “safety” was threatened in such an instance.
So the cop got “the drop” on a cripple? Holy cow!
It takes real courage to face down a one armed man in a wheelchair, specially one armed with a felt pen. You can’t just run away from someone like that. Imagine just how good he must have been with that chair to outmaneuver a cop and pin him in the corner of the rec room before attacking him with the felt pen. Talk about a threat!
Hey, they shoot rabid dogs don’t they? What’s the problem?
Officer safety…. gotta remember the most important thing in the world… officer safety…
Officer Safety. And this ashtray. That’s all I need, Officer Safety and this ashtray. And this chair. I need this chair, this ashtray and Officer Safety. That’s all I need.
Just not oil cans. They hate oil cans.
Pay to the orfer of Iron Balls McGinty one dollar and nine cents!
Nice to see people quoting The Jerk.
..it is true, you never hear them say, ‘I feared for the safety of the public…” or “I feared for the safety of the citizen…”
What I don’t understand is why they don’t shoot all the bystanders too? They could be a threat. If not, you can just say they were. Your gun has plenty of ammo, and you have backup clips, so why not go to town? It’s not like anyone will seriously prosecute you. Any investigation will be done by your own people with predictable results. Why stop with just one guy in a wheelchair? Hell, call your buddies in and have a massacre. Kill everyone with six blocks and claim officer safety…or just say they were all resisting arrest.
Hey, this guy was armed with a PEN, and a PEN is mightier than a SWORD, so in reality that poor cop was in serious danger!
This hero probably watch The Fugitive when younger. He never did trust one-armed people.
This might have been one of those times where a tazer actually made sense. But alas the guy was not driving a car and refusing to sign a ticket so the tazer was not used.
It never ceases to amaze me how cowardly these “heroes” are. A real hero takes risks. It seems that modern law-enforcers are among the most risk-averse people you’ll ever find. Their number one priority is: officer safety. Hardly heroic, that.
Show some balls, guys.
Meanwhile, singer Fionna Apple is released on $10,000 bail for being found in possession of an ounce of hash and an ounce of herb.
See? There is Justice in the world.
I smell sarcasm… but im not sure. Are you saying that Fionna should have been held in a cage because she simply possessed cannabis flowers and its resin? Again, no victims, except maybe the user.