I know its hard being a cop. I know cops. But I'm afraid this one doesn't smell right.
First off, the Press is fellating the police department. ASK SOME POINTED QUESTIONS! YOU ARE THE PRESS! ITS YOUR JOB!
But no. Instead they spent THIS entire column making excuses. Wow, GREAT job, Huff Post. As always.
The officer was confronted with a hostage situation. First off, you always try to talk the guy down. Well, that didn't work. Instead, the perpetrator pointed a gun at him while using a hostage as a human shield.
No good options there. You have to defend yourself as the cop. However, I might insist you wait for the guy to shoot first, as before he shoots, its still just a threat. But then again, it wasn't me he was aiming at!
The officer fired his weapon - that's understandable.
What's confusing is that he seems to have TOTALLY disregarded the hostage! I'm sorry, but the hostage here is HIS FIRST AND ONLY CONCERN. And YES, that means he puts himself second. Don't like that? THEN DON'T BE A POLICEMAN.
Its a TOUGH job and that's why. Lives are on the line, including yours.
Now the cop shot. EIGHT TIMES. That's a lot of shooting people. Now he was a good shot. He hit the perpetrator SEVEN TIMES. Problem is he hit the INNOCENT HOSTAGE, once in the head. And killed her.
SO WHAT'S THE POINT OF A COP IN THAT SITUATION? Killing both people? If the perpetrator killed the hostage, he himself would almost certainly be caught (he was a low-level thug with a long record on parole!) and dealt with appropriately, perhaps given the death penalty. But if the Perp is left alone, he may not harm the hostage, and he may eventually surrender, turn himself in, etc.. Remember. If the cop simply leaves or backs up, or whatnot and REMOVES HIMSELF from the equation, the guy could take the hostage inside and it turns into a standoff. Then you have him. WHY you ask?
BECAUSE HE WILL RUN OUT OF FOOD! He can't stay in there forever! He has no means of escape and killing hostages only gets him the death penalty. Unless he has a death wish, HE'S SCREWED.
So if the cop can get a REALLY CLEAN SHOT, with VERY LOW chance of hitting the hostage, that may be a good idea, BUT you have to consider that if you just back away and get him in the house, HE'S SCREWED, EVENTUALLY. So why take that chance?
And the cop shoots EIGHT TIMES? How about twice and assess? Pop, pop. Ok, is the perp still standing? Is he hit? Is he a threat? Can the hostage clear the line of fire (can she get away)?
No, no, no, no?
Ok. Shoot again, Pop. Assess. Same questions. No on all? Shoot again.
THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. The guy shot EIGHT TIMES INSTEAD. That's Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop. That's panic shooting. Cops are NOT supposed to panic fire. Why? Because innocent people are killed that way. Its reckless.
Remember, its HARD to stay on target the more times you shoot BECAUSE OF THE RECOIL OF THE GUN. A 9 mm has LESS recoil than most guns, but it sill kicks in your hand. SO THE MORE YOU SHOOT, THE LESS YOUR ACCURACY.
BUT THE PRESS DIDN'T TELL YOU THAT. ASSHOLES.
The cops KNOW THIS AS WELL. So any cop will tell you, when accuracy counts, DO NOT rapid fire. One or two shots at most. Remember, HE HIT HIM SEVEN TIMES. So he wasn't missing. All he had to do was pause for a second after the first, second, third, etc..
Unless he hit the victim with the first shot (she was hit in the head).
In that case, she's dead.
And he has no reason not to unload on the perp at that point. Although, AGAIN, once the man is no longer a threat, YOU STOP SHOOTING. Period. He's a perp, not a shooting target. The point of shooting him IS NOT. TO. KILL. HIM. Its to eliminate the threat he poses to lives. Once that's done, he's given to the courts to assess the crime. Period.
Instead there are two bodies and it turns out the bad guy DID NOT SHOOT ONCE.
The bad guy had better judgement than the cop. Yeah. He did. He was threatening, trying to get the cop to back off. He was scared. The cop got scared (understandably), AND OPENED FIRE.
Hello?!?!? THERE IS A HOSTAGE IN THE LINE OF FIRE.
The military has a saying; DO NOT FIRE UNTIL FIRED UPON. They play "escalation" games; our enemies will make threatening moves towards us. But if we fire first, WE STARTED THE ENGAGEMENT. And the enemy is retaliating. So you ALWAYS wait for the enemy to fire; because he almost never does. I mean almost NEVER. Because he knows what he's starting.
That, like it or not, is what happened here. Only the good guy was supposed to wait for that first shot. AND EVEN THEN, he should hesitate before firing! Why? BECAUSE THE HOSTAGE'S LIFE COMES FIRST. The cop acted as though the hostage WASN'T EVEN THERE. EIGHT TIMES.
The bad guy was in the driver's seat. And he knew it. That's why he was so threatening. He had the advantage. He had a shield.
By the way, the bad guy had a pistol. Not a bazooka. Not a machine gun. The cop had a bullet-proof vest on. Pistols aren't ultra-deadly people. Unless you're shot at close range in the chest or head, you'll probably survive a pistol shot. They're not laser beams. They're not high-powered hunting rifles. The cop had a vest on. The bad guy didn't. And the bad guy, LIKE MOST BAD GUYS, didn't realize his pistol was NOT a laser beam. He's also probably not a crack shot. The odds of him shooting the cop in the head at that range? Not great. He had one hand on the pistol. This ain't the movies.
Cops, UNFAIRLY, must control their fear, put themselves at risk, and make choices ON BEHALF OF THE HOSTAGE.
We have entered into this era of the cops coming first, second, and last. Uh, THAT'S NOT "serving and protecting." That's saving their own ass and leaving yours out to twist in the wind. I know someone has a right so protect their own life. I support that right.
But shooting eights times, in this case, was a STUPID decision, and the policeman should've known better. Fire him, at a bare minimum. Remember, THIS WAS NOT A SHOOTOUT. The bad guy NEVER FIRED HIS GUN. There are people who can have a gun pointed at them and not panic. THOSE people can be cops. The people who panic and unload half their magazine? NOT COP-ELIGIBLE. PERIOD.
The authorities USED TO attempt to figure out which one you were. Not anymore.
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