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Attorney: Man killed at Costco was mentally ill, off meds

dirtpoorchris

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Attorney: Man killed at Costco was mentally ill, off meds



Man, supposedly, pushed or slapped an off duty police officer and gets shot to death inside Costco along with his parents both getting shot up. Supposedly the cop "suddenly became unconscious while holding his baby, and the baby came away without a scratch. Then the cop woke up and dumped bullets into his whole family." Sounds to me like he needs to be drug tested in case he passed out.

The special needs victim is a non-verbal person and has zero history of assault. Im thinking the special needs guy grunted at the guy trying to communicate with the off-duty cop assumed he was a druggy and shot him up "to protect his baby". They are reluctant to release any security camera footage (gee i wonder why? Maybe it shows what really happened?)

People said they heard "an altercation then sudden gunshots" I'm thinking the "altercation" was just the non-verbal guy grunting. I guess we wont know what really happened until they release the security cam footage but I also have a feeling they will never release it because it shows the cop murdering him and shooting his family for no good reason. The parent that is now concious claims the cop is defaming them and trying to make the special needs guy look like the attacker when it was really the cop.
 
Sounds very sad and complicated. IMO, the truth should be made public *when determined.*
 

When are our police forces going to learn how to humanely deal with mentally ill suspects? This isn't a problem that most other developed nations struggle with.
 
Phys251 said:
When are our police forces going to learn how to humanely deal with mentally ill suspects? This isn't a problem that most other developed nations struggle with.
Click to expand...

That occured to me too, but if the off-duty cop did pass out, it's also possible he was still disoriented when he regained consciousness. And then found a complete stranger holding his baby.

That's why I think it's hard to know until after a complete investigation (if that is ever released).
 
From the story.

LAPD Chief Michel Moore said authorities are aware of one Costco camera that captured the incident and urged any shoppers who recorded it on video to come forward.
 
Police literally get away with murder in this country. They can kill anyone with impunity.
 
Phys251 said:
When are our police forces going to learn how to humanely deal with mentally ill suspects? This isn't a problem that most other developed nations struggle with.
Click to expand...

Probably when the mentally ill have I'm mentally ill tattooed on their foreheads. How do you tell if someone is underage, on drugs, mentally ill, or just misunderstood, when you have at most a couple seconds to act or get dead yourself?

I don't think any LEO wake up and think "today's the day I'm going to shoot me a ****** (*pick one).
 

That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works. Police officers are simply not given enough tools or training needed to de-escalate situations with mentally unstable suspects. They're not trained how to deal with that ugly feeling in their gut when their authority is openly challenged, and too often they resort to overpowering the suspect who does so.
 

Again how do you tell when someone is mentally ill or any of the other situations in the few seconds you have to act?

Whether the LEO have adequate training or experience is a maybe, maybe not. Some do, some don't.

How do you deal with that ugly feeling in your gut? That's what keeps cops alive. The short answer is don't openly challenge. You will then not be overpowered.
 

Watch this whole thing.


No lethal force required.

And don't @ me with "BUT WE HAVE GUNZ," cause I'll come right back at you with their much stricter gun laws.
 
I wonder how his people back at the office are gonna treat him. "Hey hes the guy that shot that retarded guy and his family after he passed out."
 
dirtpoorchris said:
I wonder how his people back at the office are gonna treat him. "Hey hes the guy that shot that retarded guy and his family after he passed out."
Click to expand...

Too many departments will give a moron like this a pass... thankfully more and more are holding cops accountable and prosecuting them.
 
The part that bugs me so much about the thing is that he hit two (apparently) innocent bystanders and put them in critical condition while he was taking down the "threat". That by itself should get him kicked off the force and in prison for assault with a deadly weapon. If you're going to shoot someone in self defense, you better damn well make sure you can hit who you're aiming at and no one else.
 

Well we all know his story is gonna be "I blacked out. They were over me. I fired to save my baby" no matter what the truth is in this situation. Even though we already know thats false because if you black out while holding a baby its gonna fall 5 feet to the ground and crack its head. Onto the hard Costco floor.
 

Agreed but they were the dead guy's parents and they may have gotten in the way (intentionally or otherwise) to protect him.
 
Phys251 said:
Police officers are simply not given enough tools or training needed to de-escalate situations with mentally unstable suspects.
Click to expand...
As someone recently said, that's not how this works; that's not how any of this works. If an individual is presenting an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury, they should be met with a response that is no different from anyone else who is presenting such a threat. It is irrelevant if they are mentally ill. They are an imminent threat and must be stopped. If a person is being assaultive, they are worthy recipients of a taser or baton strikes whether they are mentally ill or not. Mental illness is not a free pass to engage in violence without response.

Note that I am not commenting on this particular incident but rather the general assertion that dealing with a mentally ill individual requires a response different from other use of force situations.
 

How? See that's the difference between our police act and how UK police respond. When our police are trained to shoot first and ask questions later, who is the real danger? Who is the one who knocks?
 
Phys251 said:
Watch this whole thing.


No lethal force required.

And don't @ me with "BUT WE HAVE GUNZ," cause I'll come right back at you with their much stricter gun laws.
Click to expand...

I would rather police not have to run away from machete-wielding maniacs. YMMV.
 
AmNat said:
I would rather police not have to run away from machete-wielding maniacs. YMMV.
Click to expand...

Everyone lived to tell the tale, and the assailant was taken into custody.
 

Don’t guess, wait for the facts.
 
AmNat said:
I would rather police not have to run away from machete-wielding maniacs. YMMV.
Click to expand...
I'm fine w/ police not killing citizens unnecessarily even if that means they need to back away sometimes.

I am willing to pay the price of cops taking some steps backward every now and then.
 
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