red_harrington
Well-known member
???
No I'm not
No I'm not
Black man killed by police in Minnesota - new revelation
- Thread starter Jedi boro
- Start date
Jedi boro
Well-known member
New twist to this story
The suburban Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot a 20-year-old unarmed Black man during a traffic stop Sunday apparently meant to fire a Taser but instead made an “accidental discharge” from her gun, the police chief said Monday. Less than 24 hours after a female officer in the Brooklyn Center Police Department shot and killed Daunte Wright, Police Chief Tim Gannon played an unedited clip of police body camera video showing the fatal incident for the media. The video, which was played at a news conference, shows two officers approach the vehicle — one on each side. The third officer approaches later as the two attempt to handcuff Wright and he struggles. The third officer threatens that Wright that she will taze him before firing. Immediately thereafter she is her saying, “Holy s---, I shot him,” apparently realizing that she had fired her service weapon instead of her Taser. Gannon described it as an “accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Wright.”
WP
The suburban Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot a 20-year-old unarmed Black man during a traffic stop Sunday apparently meant to fire a Taser but instead made an “accidental discharge” from her gun, the police chief said Monday. Less than 24 hours after a female officer in the Brooklyn Center Police Department shot and killed Daunte Wright, Police Chief Tim Gannon played an unedited clip of police body camera video showing the fatal incident for the media. The video, which was played at a news conference, shows two officers approach the vehicle — one on each side. The third officer approaches later as the two attempt to handcuff Wright and he struggles. The third officer threatens that Wright that she will taze him before firing. Immediately thereafter she is her saying, “Holy s---, I shot him,” apparently realizing that she had fired her service weapon instead of her Taser. Gannon described it as an “accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Wright.”
WP
ThePrisoner
Well-known member
And I thought Robocop and Judge Dredd were fiction. That is not policing.
Laughing
Well-known member
I saw that this evening, think it makes it worse in all honesty. Why did the officers feel the need to draw weapons at all, were their lives or bystanders lives in danger. I can't see how. Then there is the question about inadequate training.
A complete **** show. A man is dead who shouldn't be.
FatCat
Well-known member
I heard vague details about the mix up between the taser and the gun. Is anybody experienced in that area is that a mistake that could be easily made? when I heard it I thought it sounded unlikely as I imagined they are different in weight,size,feel etc - has anybody used either?
Chris_Boro
Well-known member
It might be a mistake that could be made if you're a rookie police officer, not so much if you've been a police officer for 25 years.
Chris_Boro
Well-known member
There shouldn't exist the need to lower your chances of being shot by the police.
It always strikes me that trained US police officers can get away with shooting someone because they acted out of fear/implus/reaction/adrenaline or error in any given situation, but an untrained civilian has to remain perfectly calm and collected while making all the right body movements to show zero threat often while being yelled at with a gun pointed at them.
People react differently to stressful situations, some will freeze/shut down and others will become aggressive. The onus is on the trained police officers to be the calming influence in any situation, not the civilian.
For many in the US, especially if you're black, being pulled over by the police is a life threatening situation which is a ridiculous position to be in and the only way to change this is if the police drastically change the way they conduct themselves.
weemoby
Well-known member
Well said.
They are similar in that they have a pistol grip but beyond that they are completely different....
The biggest difference is they are usually bright yellow or orange in colour so that people can tell the difference.
she has clearly drawn the weapon from her belt and not visually identified it before discharging.... the fact she is shouting Taser, Taser, Taser (as per the training) confirms she genuinely believed she was using a taser
clearly an accident.... but its cost this bloke his life
Chris_Boro
Well-known member
No, the biggest difference is a plastic taser weighs a 1/4 of the weight of a standard issue loaded metal glock.
A police officer of 26 year should know that blindfolded.
The grip is also very different, it's brightly coloured and flashes when unholstered. Additionally the taser should be located on the non dominant side of the officers belt.
I'm finding it very hard come to the accident conclusion, this is gross negligence at best.
smogontherhine
Active member
Does anyone actually know any background or details here like (i) was this man known to police, (ii) was he a known criminal, (iii) was he known to have an illegal firearm, (iv) what kind of interaction did he have with the police when he was shot, (iv) was he complying with orders.... or was he just a law-abiding citizen going about his daily business. Clearly these would all alter how the police behaved with him.
Anyone ?
Anyone ?
Laughing
Well-known member
The term accident suggests no responsability. Whilst it probably wasn't a deliberate act, it was grossly negligent.
The issue here is largely to do with how police officers conduct themselves when performing a basic stop. Why do you need to draw your weapon. Yes remove the clasp and have your hand by the weapon, but why the need to draw the weapon and threaten someones life.
The figures yearly for officers killed n the line of duty ranges over fairly wide numbers but averages to about 150 per year. There are nearly 700,000 full time serving police officers. That gives a police officers about a 0,02% chance of dying at the hands of a perpetrator. This number, whilst it bounces around there is no evidence it is increasing.
Is this enough of a risk to sanction a police officer drawing his weapon when there is no immeadiate threat.
To put that in perspective an adult black male in the USA has an 0.006% chance of being shot dead by a police officer. 10% of them are unarmed. This number is rising year on year.
There needs to be a radical rethink on the police stop procedures.
Jedi boro
Well-known member
That was my thoughts as well as non lethal weapons tend to be brightly even fluorescent in colour almost toy like in appearance to differentiate them from lethal weapons.
Laughing
Well-known member
She should certainly be investigated and, if negligent, be tried for this. I don't have much hope here though.
Jedi boro
Well-known member
This is a really good point that hasn’t been highlighted because as you say the side you reach for determined your next actions or intent.
Her adrenaline was up... she (or anyone else in that situation would never notice the weight difference (think about people moving huge weights when involved in life and death situations )
the grip is not different... its a standard pistol grip design
Its a different colour... yes I said that
The taser should be on the non dominant size.... yes however in a high stress situation your body and brain will default to the dominant hand to defend yourself so its more than possible she has defaulted to the right.
In addition to the above I know some uk officers that have moved the taser to the left chest... so they can still use the right hand...my brother being one of them
Sorry I have little sympathy for her. If she was that incompetent that she didn't know the difference between a tazer and a gun she shouldn't be carrying them so shouldn't be doing the job.
Responsibility comes with carrying a firearm.
I'm not suggesting she did it on purpose...... but doing what she did she must suffer the consequences.
FatCat
Well-known member
Yes I guess so - I presume she felt so threatened or on edge that she acted instinctively, however I’m sure that would have been covered in the training. We are all human at the end of the day - I do have some sympathy for her current situation but I guess you are right and the book stops with her.