St. Louis: White Missouri cop kills armed black 18-year-old

[whell]

Uh oh. Here we go again. I'm sure the left will (mistakenly) add this to their list of grievances.

http://news.yahoo.com/police-officer...084531706.html

[finnbow]

I think the cop should have stuck a daisy in the kid's gun barrel, just like the Vietnam protestors once did.

[noonereal]

Originally Posted by whell

St. Louis: White Missouri cop kills armed black 18-year-old

you must be thrilled

merry Christmas!

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by noonereal

you must be thrilled

merry Christmas!

To me, it just drives home the point that cops in such areas can be confronted with armed and/or violent people at any time, yet we somehow expect them to make perfect split-second decisions at all times (with the benefit on hindsight, of course).

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by finnbow

I think the cop should have stuck a daisy in the kid's gun barrel, just like the Vietnam protestors once did.

And I think comments like that are inappropriate.

In this case it does seem that the policeman acted in the only way he could but someone died. Even a "thug" (and, for once, this guy seems to fit the description) leaves behind people who loved him and who are now suffering from shock, grief and a sense of loss.

John

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by finnbow

To me, it just drives home the point that cops in such areas can be confronted with armed and/or violent people at any time, yet we somehow expect them to make perfect split-second decisions at all times (with the benefit on hindsight, of course).

No.

John

[whell]

Originally Posted by noonereal

you must be thrilled

About what?

[merrylander]

You all assume that the kid was actually armed and the weapon they found was not a simple plant. Cops have been known to carry the odd weapon for just such purposes.

Ask yourself, you get confronted by a cop so you pull a gun? Sure that is exactly what anyone would do. Except if you are going to pull it you had damn well better use it and use it fast.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by merrylander

You all assume that the kid was actually armed and the weapon they found was not a simple plant. Cops have been known to carry the odd weapon for just such purposes.

Ask yourself, you get confronted by a cop so you pull a gun? Sure that is exactly what anyone would do. Except if you are going to pull it you had damn well better use it and use it fast.

I agree that a "drop piece" is possible. It happens a lot but this kid looks like he was serious trouble and had a pretty nasty rap sheet that he accumulated in a rather short space of time. (One wonders why he wasn't behind bars.)

It also appears from the surveillance video that one of the group (the dead one?) was standing lookout in front of the convenience store and moved off when the police cruiser hit the lot. Were he and his accomplices about to hit the store?

Berkeley is not Ferguson. Most of the police and most of the elected city officials are black. The black mayor of Berkeley has said that, after reviewing the tape (or a tape), he's satisfied that the police officer acted appropriately.

The thing is this shooting has become the fifth in a "cluster" of other shootings in the St. Louis area. Several of the first four are highly questionable so it's tempting to view this latest one with a high degree of suspicion.

John

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by merrylander

You all assume that the kid was actually armed and the weapon they found was not a simple plant. Cops have been known to carry the odd weapon for just such purposes.

Ask yourself, you get confronted by a cop so you pull a gun? Sure that is exactly what anyone would do. Except if you are going to pull it you had damn well better use it and use it fast.

Wow...