Justifiable police shootings................

[JohnnyWalkerBlackLabel]

Another NYC shooting by NYPD has me wondering worldwide what law enforcement does in other cities when faced with a person that may or may not have a weapon on them.

Lately NYC seems like a wild wild west state with 1 suspect getting shot many times by multiple officers.

[Legend]

What a load of shit the kid got shoot because they thought he had a gun but it was a hair brush.

[Legend]

These cops must have been trained by barney fife.

[JohnnyWalkerBlackLabel]

link on the way
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=75548

November 13, 2007

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Tuesday afternoon that officers acted within department guidelines when they opened fire on a Brooklyn teen Monday night, killing him, because the officers had reason to believe deadly force would be used against them.

Khiel Coppin's family held a news conference shortly after the Police Department, calling for a thorough investigation of the shooting and claiming the NYPD rushed to judgment.

"We are of course very, very disappointed that the police commissioner has decided to rush to judgment somehow within 24 hours of this tremendous tragedy, this egregious act that decided that this is within department guidelines, no one but Houdini himself could have decided that within 24 hours,” said Coppin family attorney Paul Wooten.

Coppin, 18, was shot and killed after officers say he charged at them with what they believed was a gun around 7 p.m. Monday night in Bedford Stuyvesant.

Police were sent to Coppin's apartment on Gates Avenue, after receiving a 911 call about a domestic dispute between a teen and his mother.

During the press conference, Kelly played a portion of the 911 tape. On the recording, the teen can be heard saying, "I got a gun and I'm gonna shoot you."

During the call, Coppin repeats the claim multiple times. When asked by the 911 operator if there was a gun involved his mother said, "you heard it from his mouth."

Kelly says when the officers arrived, Coppin had a knife in each hand and was coming toward the officers, calling on them to shoot him and kill him. He later climbed out the window of his first-floor apartment, holding a black object under his sweatshirt.

Kelly says Coppin continued to approach the officers, ignoring their orders to stop. The commissioner says Coppin then reached in and pulled out the object and pointed it toward them as if it were a gun.

That's when all five officers opened fire, shooting a total of 20 rounds, hitting Coppin eight times in the torso and near his foot. He was pronounced dead at Woodhull Hospital. The black object turned out to be a hairbrush.

Kelly called the teen emotionally disturbed and said it's also a possibility it was Coppin's intention to die at the hand of the officers and that notes found in Coppin's pocket may support that theory.

“We want to do more investigation,” said the commissioner. “The notes indicate a bit of a fascination with death, and his statement, ‘kill me, kill me,’ and his mother's statement, in her written statement, that he had talked about suicide, the possibility of suicide. So that's certainly a distinct possibility.”

According to Kelly, Coppin’s mother told police that her son had picked up a tape dispenser, put it under his sweatshirt, and said that he was “prepared to die.”

Kelly said police interviewed a number of civilian witnesses who confirm the police reports of the incident.

Kelly said all five officers were given a breathalyzer test by the Internal Affairs Office immediately following the incident, as per newly instituted NYPD protocol. Their tests were negative. The officers have been reassigned.

At a vigil for the 18 year old on Tuesday night, Coppin's stepfather said when the family called police -- what they wanted was help.

"Sometimes things don't go the way we want them to, and sometimes we handle things wrong,” said his stepfather Reginald Owens. “But the most important thing is that when you are trained, when you have the authority under you of the law to go out and execute the law, you should do that, but without killing somebody. He didn't have to be killed."

Earlier in the day, some members of the Bedford Stuyvesant community took their calls for justice to the 79th Precinct.

"This is insane,” said Brooklyn City Councilman Charles Barron. “The police killed this young man in cold blood, and they need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

“It seems to be happening over and over again and somebody needs to do something about it,” said one neighbor.

“They always think they have good reason,” added another. “They always think they have good reason, then the mayor backs them up, the governor backs them up. There is no good reason to open fire on a teenager the way they did.”

The Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network and the group 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care also attended the press conference by Coppin's family at Kings County Hospital earlier in the day. Both organizations said they have lost confidence in the NYPD's ability to investigate themselves and called for an independent investigation into the case.

[justatransgirl]

Lately NYC seems like a wild wild west state with 1 suspect getting shot many times by multiple officers.

Guess you've never been to Southern California honey - the home of shooting unarmed people...

Waht do they do in other countries? Shoot 'em and cover it up afterwards, and jail anyone who speaks out...

Sigh,
TS Jamie :-)

[Jericho]

Another NYC shooting by NYPD has me wondering worldwide what law enforcement does in other cities when faced with a person that may or may not have a weapon on them.


They pull out there truncheons, look menacing and say in a stern voice, "'ere, 'ere, we'll 'ave none of that, Sonny Jim!"
And then give you a fukkin good kicking.

[tubgirl]

What a load of shit the kid got shoot because they thought he had a gun but it was a hair brush.

maybe you didn't read this part before you posted:

"Police were sent to Coppin's apartment on Gates Avenue, after receiving a 911 call about a domestic dispute between a teen and his mother.

During the press conference, Kelly played a portion of the 911 tape. On the recording, the teen can be heard saying, "I got a gun and I'm gonna shoot you."

During the call, Coppin repeats the claim multiple times. When asked by the 911 operator if there was a gun involved his mother said, "you heard it from his mouth."

Kelly says when the officers arrived, Coppin had a knife in each hand and was coming toward the officers, calling on them to shoot him and kill him. He later climbed out the window of his first-floor apartment, holding a black object under his sweatshirt.

Kelly says Coppin continued to approach the officers, ignoring their orders to stop. The commissioner says Coppin then reached in and pulled out the object and pointed it toward them as if it were a gun."

way to shoot your mouth off again. (pun acknowledged)

[Legend]

What a load of shit the kid got shoot because they thought he had a gun but it was a hair brush.

maybe you didn't read this part before you posted:

"Police were sent to Coppin's apartment on Gates Avenue, after receiving a 911 call about a domestic dispute between a teen and his mother.

During the press conference, Kelly played a portion of the 911 tape. On the recording, the teen can be heard saying, "I got a gun and I'm gonna shoot you."

During the call, Coppin repeats the claim multiple times. When asked by the 911 operator if there was a gun involved his mother said, "you heard it from his mouth."

Kelly says when the officers arrived, Coppin had a knife in each hand and was coming toward the officers, calling on them to shoot him and kill him. He later climbed out the window of his first-floor apartment, holding a black object under his sweatshirt.

Kelly says Coppin continued to approach the officers, ignoring their orders to stop. The commissioner says Coppin then reached in and pulled out the object and pointed it toward them as if it were a gun."

way to shoot your mouth off again. (pun acknowledged)

How is typing that shooting my mouth,why do you always crawl out of your cave to critique everything i say like i give a damn about you or your opinions.Do you remember that african american women that was kidnapped and abuse phyically and mentally with racial insults,did't you tried to argue that that wasn't a hate crime,there is a pattern with you and these kind of threads with you.The kid got shoot because they thought he had a fucking gun bottom line.I heard about this story way before it was posted here and heard what his family had to say so i don't give a damn what some bias article has to say.

[ingram22]

I like how people criticize cops for this type of stuff, when they have no idea what it's like in that situation.

Seems perfectly justifiable to me.

[blckhaze]

SMH. This shit is getting ridiculous. It just seems the good cops either get promoted and kept of the streets or leave town for smaller cities. The standards for the test must be quite low. either that or they dont do regular psych test to make sure these guys are still in their right minds when they step out in the streets. 8 hits outta 20 Rounds?!?! dudes off the streets that have better accuracy than that. Who the fuck trains them? I know not every cop is bad, but these types of things really make you wonder, especially with the frequency it happens here in NY.

[sugdaddie69]

Thank God for video cameras and DNA--CHICAGO

[sugdaddie69]

Thank God for video cameras and DNA--CHICAGO

[OEMEnemyNum1]

I wouldn't want to be in that situation. I'd definitely shoot if some kid pulled out a hair brush?...I mean gun.

[Mr_Choc69]

It is still open season for hunting. Sad.

[chrissynw]

Its no surprise that everytime this happens its a black person being shot either.


Also if you want to feel slightly better about all this google Jean-Charles de Menezes

Shot something like 10times pointblank in the head on the London underground last year after being chased by a police squad who believed him to be a 'terrorist'. Having dark hair and wearing a big coat being the prerequisites for that apparently. So far basically nothing has happened to the officers, they've not even been struck off...

[MacShreach]

They pull out there truncheons, look menacing and say in a stern voice, "'ere, 'ere, we'll 'ave none of that, Sonny Jim!"
And then give you a fukkin good kicking.

Oh, aye, unless you're a Brazilian electrician on your way to work ....Or Scottish and have a carrier bag in your hand....or black....or....or...

To be fair to other forces, it's really just the Met, which is desperately in need of -- what do they call it? Oh yes-- "Root and branch reform."

[MacShreach]

Its no surprise that everytime this happens its a black person being shot either.


Also if you want to feel slightly better about all this google Jean-Charles de Menezes

Shot something like 10times pointblank in the head on the London underground last year after being chased by a police squad who believed him to be a 'terrorist'. Having dark hair and wearing a big coat being the prerequisites for that apparently. So far basically nothing has happened to the officers, they've not even been struck off...

Well, it was five times, but with exploding ammunition that would be illegal for a soldier to use under the Geneva convention, and not only have the officers not been disciplined, they're back on active firearms duty-- now that's really confidence-inspiring-- their boss refuses to admit any responsibility for the murder (which is what it was) and when the case went to trial, under, incredible as you Statesiders will find this, Health and Safety laws, the police defence team did everything they could to assassinate the character of the victim. Who, after all, was unable to speak for himself and therefore was an easy target. The irony of the police targeting an innocent man both before and after his murder by their own hands apparently escaped them.

The Met was found guilty of putting the public at risk, but intends to do nothing about it.

UK residents, and anyone visiting the UK, London in particular, need to realise the following points, all of which were revealed in the recent trial and many of which were reiterated by the judge:

Police in the UK are now routinely armed; their training, as evidenced by their behaviour in the de Menenez killing, is totally inadequate; their command and control procedures don't work; no warning will be given before they shoot you several times in the head at point-blank range with hollow-point ammo; even if you are restrained, immobilised, and not attempting any resistance they will still kill you; their managers regard the execution of innocent members of the public as completely acceptable; and the police officers involved will not even get a reprimand.

Spend your holiday bucks somewhere else.

[wadeinithaca]

Seems justifiable to me. Actually, seems like the kid wanted the cops to shoot him - suicide by cop.

For all the critics, what would you have done in that situation? A similar situation happened in the town where I used to live. The cop tried to diffuse the situation by talking to the lady in question - he's dead now.

[Night Rider]

It's not bad in N. Ireland these days because of the peace agreement. But the past 30-40 years were intense because of the war between the loyalists and the IRA. The police were also trigger happy throughout the troubles, shooting several innocent people. I remember a guy being shot dead because the police mistaked a paint brush for a gun. I find that hard to believe as the guy was painting a mural.

They were crazy times, but these days it's about as normal as anywhere else in UK. But it will always be a shithole.

[tubgirl]

What a load of shit the kid got shoot because they thought he had a gun but it was a hair brush.

maybe you didn't read this part before you posted:

"Police were sent to Coppin's apartment on Gates Avenue, after receiving a 911 call about a domestic dispute between a teen and his mother.

During the press conference, Kelly played a portion of the 911 tape. On the recording, the teen can be heard saying, "I got a gun and I'm gonna shoot you."

During the call, Coppin repeats the claim multiple times. When asked by the 911 operator if there was a gun involved his mother said, "you heard it from his mouth."

Kelly says when the officers arrived, Coppin had a knife in each hand and was coming toward the officers, calling on them to shoot him and kill him. He later climbed out the window of his first-floor apartment, holding a black object under his sweatshirt.

Kelly says Coppin continued to approach the officers, ignoring their orders to stop. The commissioner says Coppin then reached in and pulled out the object and pointed it toward them as if it were a gun."

way to shoot your mouth off again. (pun acknowledged)

How is typing that shooting my mouth,why do you always crawl out of your cave to critique everything i say like i give a damn about you or your opinions.Do you remember that african american women that was kidnapped and abuse phyically and mentally with racial insults,did't you tried to argue that that wasn't a hate crime,there is a pattern with you and these kind of threads with you.The kid got shoot because they thought he had a fucking gun bottom line.I heard about this story way before it was posted here and heard what his family had to say so i don't give a damn what some bias article has to say.

i wish i could meet you in person. no, really, i do...

[Teabagger Vance]

How is typing that shooting my mouth,why do you always crawl out of your cave to critique everything i say like i give a damn about you or your opinions.Do you remember that african american women that was kidnapped and abuse phyically and mentally with racial insults,did't you tried to argue that that wasn't a hate crime,there is a pattern with you and these kind of threads with you.The kid got shoot because they thought he had a fucking gun bottom line.I heard about this story way before it was posted here and heard what his family had to say so i don't give a damn what some bias article has to say.

Actually, I'd like to correct tubgirl, if he doesn't mind. That wasn't shooting your mouth, that was talking out of your ass, which you do here on a daily basis. And as long as you continue to post your uniformed opinion here, you're going to get replies that you may find unsettling. You have three options, really. One: leave this board at your first chance. Two: change your ways. Three: accept that some members here will criticize your posts and at times, that criticism will be deservedly harsh. I don't see the first two happening, so you're going to have to live with the daily beatings. Deal with it.

If there's any pattern here, it's from you. You have such a long history of posting bullshit on this board, it's pathetic. Did you even read the post from tubgirl that you quoted? You didn't comment on any of the information he provided you. So many times, you allow your emotional response to dictate your thoughts and opinions. I suggest you try logic and reading comprehension from time to time.

Not being a resident of NYC myself, this is the first I am hearing of the incident. Based solely on the information presented in the article, I cannot object to the police officers shooting the kid. What hasn't been brought up in this thread as of yet is that the kid apparently had a death wish. It's called "suicide by cops." It's absolutely an unfortunate situation, but I think that it's ridiculous that city leaders like Brooklyn City Councilman Charles Barron are calling for prosecution to the fullest extent of the law. He needs to allow the court system and internal affairs to work that out.

And why am I not surprised to see Al Sharpton's name already being involved in all of this?

[Legend]

What a load of shit the kid got shoot because they thought he had a gun but it was a hair brush.

maybe you didn't read this part before you posted:

"Police were sent to Coppin's apartment on Gates Avenue, after receiving a 911 call about a domestic dispute between a teen and his mother.

During the press conference, Kelly played a portion of the 911 tape. On the recording, the teen can be heard saying, "I got a gun and I'm gonna shoot you."

During the call, Coppin repeats the claim multiple times. When asked by the 911 operator if there was a gun involved his mother said, "you heard it from his mouth."

Kelly says when the officers arrived, Coppin had a knife in each hand and was coming toward the officers, calling on them to shoot him and kill him. He later climbed out the window of his first-floor apartment, holding a black object under his sweatshirt.

Kelly says Coppin continued to approach the officers, ignoring their orders to stop. The commissioner says Coppin then reached in and pulled out the object and pointed it toward them as if it were a gun."

way to shoot your mouth off again. (pun acknowledged)

How is typing that shooting my mouth,why do you always crawl out of your cave to critique everything i say like i give a damn about you or your opinions.Do you remember that african american women that was kidnapped and abuse phyically and mentally with racial insults,did't you tried to argue that that wasn't a hate crime,there is a pattern with you and these kind of threads with you.The kid got shoot because they thought he had a fucking gun bottom line.I heard about this story way before it was posted here and heard what his family had to say so i don't give a damn what some bias article has to say.

i wish i could meet you in person. no, really, i do...

Your about as intimidating as a wet kitten.

[manny]

Hey,

The article states that 20 shots were fired AND a police man yelled "stop". He was shot AFTER he dropped the brush.

The point being don't do anything suspicious and don't cause a ruckus. There is NO possible way these cops can be brought down on charges. If they were, then every cop would be afraid to use their gun...which is a good thing. However, we live in a time were we are controlled by fear rather than abiding to the law.

We need to figure out how to reform gun control laws to a point were law enforcement is safe. As long as people have easy access to guns then people will have easy access to the grave.

The cops fucked up, they have to live with that. It would be nice f they could make some kind of statement or apology. Who knows maybe they did to the family.

There are a lot of factors that contribute to unfortunate situations like this. It's been like this a long time and it will take a long time to improve.

Personally I wish the cops could pay some kind of penalty but it just won't happen.

Peace

[house]

People love to jump to conclusions on this board. It's almost as if there's no point in even examing what actually happened because by default,
cops = bad
shot person = good

This was suicide by cop. The mom called the cops on her kid, the kid yelling "i've got a gun" the entire time. The kid lunges at the cops with a knife first, then acts like he's got a gun and runs towards the cops. Should the cops put away their firearms, attempt to wrestle him to the ground JUUUST IN CASE he's faking it? Because we all know there are no guns in brooklyn, especially bedford. Or maybe they should attempt to take the knife away and risk permanent injury to themselves, as long as the assailant is uninjured.

And of course as soon as this happened, the moms got a lawyer with a loud voice looking for money who apparently didn't listen to the 911 tape beforehand, saying to the cameras "these cops brutally killed this young man, his mother said he did not have a gun, etc etc".

There are hundreds of thousands of illegal firearms in nyc. There are people brought in every day with gunshot wounds and punctures by random stupid people with guns. Whose fault? The system that makes it easy to buy guys for $200 in virginia and sell it for $500 in nyc. That's it. And if you shackle cops, you're going to see alot more cops killed.

And stop bringing up sean bell. the guy had a number of firearms convictions, was a known drug dealer, between him and his friends in their car they had like 40 arrests. Oh no, but he was an angel because he was finally going to marry that ho that had 2 kids by him (nevermind he tried to solicit strippers for unsafe, no condom sex a few hours before his wedding at the strip club).

I'm not one of these "i love the army, they are heros, there is no racism in america, republicans are keeping us safe" assholes. I'm just passing by observing the truth and this time the facts are clear.

[alphanumeric]

Here's Micheal Moores take on things...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeOaTpYl8mE

[NewYorker]

Here's Micheal Moores take on things...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeOaTpYl8mE

Funny how the moment someone other than him has something to say he just starts patronizing and trying to get back to his shtick.

[tubgirl]

Your about as intimidating as a wet kitten.

it's outstanding that even though you know nothing about me, you feel compelled to make this statement. and, shocking as it may be, there's another grammatical error in your post.

and why is it that you never address the posts that call you out on your lack of intellect?

[CORVETTEDUDE]

1.) Denver has its problems with police shootings of unarmed people. Just when you think they've corrected things, someone else eats led.

2.) Michael Moore is a piece of shit, I don't care what the subject is. To me, personally, his untimely demise would be classified as"justifiable homicide", and I volunteer for the mission.

[Legend]

Your about as intimidating as a wet kitten.

it's outstanding that even though you know nothing about me, you feel compelled to make this statement. and, shocking as it may be, there's another grammatical error in your post.

and why is it that you never address the posts that call you out on your lack of intellect?

"i wish i could meet you in person. no, really, i do..."

I am compelled to make that statement because i don't take kindly to threats being made over the internet especially by some guy named tubgirl.

What's the point of me adressing anything you say when i don't value you as a person or any of your opinions,i don't like you nor do i give a crap if you dislike me or not.I'm not listening to anyone who has insulted me in the past,so you can take your bias opinion and shove it up your ass.You just keep beleiving this kid's death was justified and i'll keep believing it was wrong.

[flabbybody]

This may well be a case of suicide by cop. But no one will accept this as truth if the conclusion is based on facts gathered by NYPD. Every police shooting should be investigated by civilians, and unfortunately this is never the case in New York. The cops always feel that they are the only ones who can get to the truth and the community will never trust their findings.

[Quinn]

Coppin went out of his way to bring this upon himself. What were the police and the 911 Operator supposed to do, disregard Coppin's own statement(s)??? Don't worry though, the likes of Charles Baron and Al Sharpton can be relied upon to make it all better.

-Quinn

[MacShreach]

We need to figure out how to reform gun control laws to a point were law enforcement is safe. As long as people have easy access to guns then people will have easy access to the grave.





As someone who moved back to the UK after years in countries with more enlightened gun laws I have to warn you that gun control laws will not help. In this country, where it is impossible to own a handgun of any kind legally, next to impossible to own a rifled long-barrel weapon and extremely difficult to own even a shotgun they have been a complete, unmitigated, disastrous failure.

Since the introduction of the most draconian laws we have seen: a manifold increase in gun crime; a vast INCREASE in the numbers of illegally held weapons, according to the police themselves; and the UK now has an armed police force--the avoidance of which is the one thing that gave any acceptability to the gun control laws. In other words, gun control has failed on every parameter.

Having lived in countries where guns are readily available but gun killings are so few and far between as to make the headlines every time, I have to say that iMO the reason for gun crime has nothing to do with the availability of legal weapons--(in most large UK cities firearms are easily available illegally anyway)-- but to do with a culture of violence.

[SarahG]

Lately NYC seems like a wild wild west state with 1 suspect getting shot many times by multiple officers.

Guess you've never been to Southern California honey - the home of shooting unarmed people...

Waht do they do in other countries? Shoot 'em and cover it up afterwards, and jail anyone who speaks out...

Sigh,
TS Jamie :-)

Awesome points... I have heard such massive stories from friends about South Cal cops. Now I have many friends in law enforcement and if I had to pick, I'd deal with NYC cops any day over certain parts of CA.

But what makes you so sure that last sentence isn't also true here? You really think there has been no cover ups over bad cop shootings in the US? Cops here (moreso some departments than others) really do put alot of pressure on the general public to keep certain things buried. Ever walk a police gauntlet? (and I am totally NOT talking about the movie).

Historically in many bible belt states, the three institutions that the Klan always worked out of were the white baptist churches, the local police departments, and the VFW posts -in that order. Times have changed for the most part but that is still history in living memory. We're not as different from 3rd world nations as we'd like to claim.

[tsmandy]

[quote=justatransgirl]

Awesome points... I have heard such massive stories from friends about South Cal cops. Now I have many friends in law enforcement and if I had to pick, I'd deal with NYC cops any day over certain parts of CA.

But what makes you so sure that last sentence isn't also true here? You really think there has been no cover ups over bad cop shootings in the US? Cops here (moreso some departments than others) really do put alot of pressure on the general public to keep certain things buried. Ever walk a police gauntlet? (and I am totally NOT talking about the movie).



My introduction to political activism began when I was 15 and an 17 year old black man was shot and killed by police in a neighboring town. They claimed he had a gun, and had fired multiple shots. The weapon was traced and surpise surprise it was owned by the police commisioner. It seems that the kid had done nothing worse than drive down the wrong street on prom night, and paid for it with his life. Where the cops punished? Far from it, they were awarded police officer of the year. And unfortunately this is not an isolated incident. One of my closest friends here in Portland, his brother was shot and killed by Philly cops -he was holding a hammer-, less than a year ago here in Portland police jumped a mentally ill homeless person in the Pearl district then refused to take him to the hospital -he died in jail- they were acquitted of all wrongdoing, Amadou Diallo, remember the baseball bat?

I think it is important to keep an eye on cops, especially when they kill and maim. Whenever the state uses violence, I believe, that justification is required, and if that violence is unjustifiable, then accountability should occur.

as for the gauntlet of cops, send shivers up my spine thinking about protests in LA and NYC when I ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[alwaysforyou]

THE COPS WERE JUSTIFIED. The dispatcher heard the kid yell to his mother "I HAVE A GUN." The dispatcher then asked the mother if he had a gun she replied with "didn't you just hear what he said."

Officers arrive on scene and at this point it is the evening and dark in NYC. As they try to talk to the suspect he lunges at officers with a knife and then retreats into his bedroom. As officers regroup they find out that he is attempting to jump out his first story window. They go outside and let him jump out the window. WHY DO THEY LET HIM JUMP OUT???? No officer would dare approach a suspect who might have gun especially a suspect who is on an elevated platform such as a window. So the kid jumps down and at this point officers are positioned behind vehicles. The suspect approaches them. The officers repeatedly tell him " DON'T MOVE" GET YOUR HANDS UP" He refuses to comply and reaches for something. As he pulls it out officers continue to say "GET YOUR HANDS UP" He refuses to comply and pulls out a black object and points it at police officers. He is then shot.

HE WAS GIVEN MORE THAN ENOUGH TIMES TO COMPLY. RACE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THE POLICE OFFICERS FELT THAT THERE SAFETY WAS IN JEOPARDY AND THEY REACTED.

TOTALLY JUSTIFIED.

[jimbobw2]

Sounds like suicide by cop

[TheShyGuy]

This may well be a case of suicide by cop. But no one will accept this as truth if the conclusion is based on facts gathered by NYPD. Every police shooting should be investigated by civilians, and unfortunately this is never the case in New York. The cops always feel that they are the only ones who can get to the truth and the community will never trust their findings.

which civilians are you talking about? Someone like the guy down t he block or the guy 4 houses down? REgular civilians should do it? I don't understand how that's even possible. Maybe sharpton should take up a magnifying glass and look for clues. I wonder what he'll find...

[johnie]

This shooting is 100% JUSTIFIED. I love how the media portrays this situation. They show a picture of hiim when he was about 12 years old to infuriate the community. This was a grown man.

He had mental problems and surely needed help. However, if you scream repeatedly "I HAVE A GUN" at the top of your lungs and you approach police officers with your hands hidden you will get SHOT 100% of the time. Doesn't matter if you are white, black, Cuban or Asian.

One of his friends on the news said "He has a gun, he just didn't have it with him."

This person was failed by his mother, the community and everyone else. He was not failed by the cops.

Also, I love how everyone says that a psych doctor should have talked to him. If a psych doc was on the scene, would he be anywhere near a person who was yelling "I HAVE A GUN." The doc would be be as far away as possible from the scene.