Houston officer kills double amputee in wheelchair

[Poll_Blind]

[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: none; border-radius: 0.3846em 0.3846em 0em 0em; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]Houston officer kills double amputee in wheelchair[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top: none; border-radius: 0em 0em 0.3846em 0.3846em; background-color: #f4f4f4; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]HOUSTON (AP) — A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.

Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said the man cornered the officer in his wheelchair and was making threats while trying to stab the officer with the pen. At the time, the officer did not know what the metal object was that the man was waving, Silva said.

She said the man came "within inches to a foot" of the officer and did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still.

"Fearing for his partner's safety and his own safety, he discharged his weapon," Silva told The Associated Press.

Well there you go.

PB

[sabrina 1]

1. I suppose just stepping away from the person, out of reach of the pen, was

way too intelligent an alternative to consider.

How tragic, I wonder if he was a veteran?

It's lucky for officers like this that they have never been in a classroom with kicking, screaming, temper-tantrum-throwing children. Thankfully teachers manage to survive these dangerous situations without shooting anyone.

Edited to say, it seems they were in 'close quarters' and according to them, the officer had 'no way out'. Just to provide their side of the story. Sorry but if you are so easily frightened that you cannot, at such close quarters, recognize a pen, you don't belong in a job like this.

Seems the same officer shot and killed someone else also. In that case claiming to have stopped someone from stabbing someone else to death.

[Poll_Blind]

2. In America, a cop can not just beat you, but waste you, blow you away, for just about any reason. nt

PB

[sabrina 1]

9. It's true. And it's shameful and a dangerous threat to a democracy.

I know they have a tough job, but killing people in wheelchairs who have only one arm? The man was mentally ill as are so many of those the police end up shooting. Don't they get any training at all on how to handle situations like this?

People who work in the Mental HC system deal with stuff like this all the time, and somehow manage to survive without killing people.

Something badly needs to be done about what is happening with our civilian police departments.

[RedCappedBandit]

3. Well, I mean, he had a PEN!

That shit's scary, ya know?

[slampoet]

10. Poor Bob Dole, dead as a doornail.

[HeeBGBz]

18. Well the pen is mightier than the sword. n/t

[The Magistrate]

4. Fucking Coward

Nothing else fits, Sir, and anyone attempting to defend this is a cancerous asshole.

[Starboard Tack]

6. +1000

Any takers?

[LeftyMom]

5. There's nothing quite as scary as a wheelchair bound man waving a pen in his only arm.

I'm going to have nightmares just thinking of that terrifying sight.

[PDJane]

7. Ye gods, some of the comments on that article are insane.

[WinkyDink]

8. The pen is mightier than the sword...but not the gun of a half-wit.

[Canuckistanian]

11. A one armed man cornered the officer with a wheelchair?

Wow. I would have been terrified.

So, the officer had no choice but to start blasting away...

[KathieG]

12. Yeah, because pens look so much like guns. Wow.

[veganlush]

13. "to protect and to serve"

that's what it says on some cop cars around my area. It used to be true too. It used to be that it WAS a dangerous job because they were supposed to put the public they serve ahead of themselves. Now they put THEMSELVES first, how is that brave? This reminds me of that case in Maryland I think it was where they blew away the Mayors dogs, including the one that was running AWAY. It all seem to start really changing with 9/11 and the "patriot" act.

[Starboard Tack]

19. Oh well, that makes it all hunky dory. Thanks for straightening us all out.

In three fucking years he's shot and killed two people and maybe saved his own life from a guy with a knife and a double amputee in a wheelchair waving a pen. A cop for five years and he cant recognize a pen a few feet away. A cop for five years who let's himself be cornered by a guy in a wheelchair waving a pen. Yeah, you're right. What else could the cop do under such circumstances. I hope to hell you don't believe that and if you do, I hope to hell you don't carry.

[mythology]

24. If he was so affected by the previous incident,

then he should have been put on a different duty. Desk duty or watching the evidence room. That's an excuse not a legitimate justification.

[former-republican]

15. He should be charged and prosecuted

[Odin2005]

16. Who is going to protect us from these pigs?

[former-republican]

17. .

[Iggo]

20. Yay, Cops!

They're the best!

[Catherine Vincent]

22. Unbelievable isn't it?

What the hell was wrong with this cop? I guarantee he won't be able to sleep for days for thinking about how he shot this double amputee and wishing he could go back in time. He didn't know what it was he was waving and he assumed the pen was a gun. Did it look like a gun?

Very sad.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. Well, I personally can't see how this was a good shooting

Sorry.

[Logical]

25. Cops know they can basically shoot anyone and very seldom have any punishment. Why risk your life...

when shooting someone is much easier.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

26. Devil's Advocate: Maybe The Cop Thought The Man Was Sitting On Invisible President Obama

Was it Senile Dirty Harry?