Police fatally shoot Colorado man in his own home, moments after he killed an intruder

[jpak]

Source: USA Today

A Colorado man — who had just killed a home intruder moments before — was fatally shot by police after he was mistaken for a burglar.

According to police in Aurora, Colo., officers responded to a call on Monday from a woman who said a man was breaking into her house.

Described by police as a "very chaotic and violent scene," officers heard gunshots fired from inside the home before encountering an armed man.

The man was shot and taken to the hospital where he later died of his injuries.

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Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/07/31/police-fatally-shoot-colorado-man-who-killed-home-intruder/870416002/

[ProudLib72]

1. I lived in Aurora for about six years

My house was broken into. At the time I wanted to have a gun to shoot burglars. Glad I didn't have a gun at the time...

[aeromanKC]

2. Guns kill

No gun, no dead guy.

[christx30]

24. Did you miss the part where the naked intruder

kicked down the door and started choking the 11-year old, and the family was unable to use physical strength to stop him? The dad shooting the criminal was the absolutely right thing. The people in the wrong were the criminal, and the police. The criminal caused the problem, and the cops made it worse.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

3. As long as the cops made it home without so much as a scratch or threat of a scratch.

That’s all that matters.

Pew pew pew. Shoot ‘me all, let god sort them out.

[laserhaas]

5. Pshaw

[RockRaven]

4. All of the "good guy with a gun" boosters never talk about how cops are supposed to tell who is who

Report of a break-in... hear gunshots as they arrive... see a guy with a gun... in the context of of being trained into a state of hyper-vigilance/paranoia in part because of the ubiquity of guns/gun violence.

What could go wrong?

[Xipe Totec]

6. New Police Motto: To Perforate and Slaughter nt

[CloudWatcher]

7. Killed: Richard "Gary" Black Jr., Bronze Star recipient

More details: https://abcnews.go.com/US/police-fatally-shoot-resident-shot-home-intruder/story?id=56945256

According to the lawyer, Black left the Army and became a federal agent. Prior to that, he was awarded a Bronze Star, with the first oak leaf cluster, an Army Combination Medal and a Purple Heart. Rathod said Black received all commendations for his service in the First Infantry Division simultaneously while at an Army hospital during the Vietnam War.

The police are undertrained and out of control.

[dalton99a]

8. +1

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. There's a lot of detail in that from the family's lawyer that makes the police look reckless

Rathod told ABC News "a naked man kicked down the door to the house, entered the house, and was found choking Black Jr.'s 11-year-old grandson," strangling the boy in the bathtub. That boy's father, Black's stepson, went in and began wrestling with the naked man. Both he and Black were trying to save the boy.

"Mr. Black goes and gets his sidearm and shoots the intruder and saves his grandson," Rathod said. "Mr. Black walks out of the bathroom to see other individuals who had also come in the home. Black's wife had called the police and ran outside. She specifically told the police what her husband was wearing and there was a naked man attacking her grandson. Mr. Black walks out and is shot by police."

[Beaverhausen]

23. that is murder

those cops need to lose their jobs at the bare minimum.

[markses66]

9. Our well-trained constabulary

Great fuckin' job, fellas.

[padah513]

10. Off topic, but not really, and hypothetical

Imagine there's a shooting at a school. You're a teacher in the school and you just engaged a shooter, firing your weapon. The police have entered the school and are moving in the direction of the gunfire. They turn the corner and see you with your weapon extended, but don't see the shooter you are firing at. What do you think is going to happen next?

[LisaL]

11. Yea, for sure, would be a dangerous situation for a teacher.

[christx30]

14. One idea is that the designated defense teacher

wear some kind of identification, like an orange vest, that can be easily seen. It's no where near 100% fool proof. I don't even think i's 30% fool proof. But that's one of the ideas they had.
But everyone knows that in the event of a school shooting, the bad guy gets a red marker above their head, and anyone good gets a blue one. Just like video games.

[bettyellen]

26. So then the criminals buy the vest.

[Jedi Guy]

12. Jesus Christ..

Whatever happened to "Freeze and drop the weapon"? From the article it sounds like the cops didn't see him shoot the other guy, but arrived afterward. They should have been aware of the possibility that the homeowner was armed. If they'd told him to drop the gun I'm sure he would have.

I'm usually open to giving cops the benefit of the doubt, but this was plainly avoidable, and a very stupid and reckless reaction on the part of the officers. The cop(s) who did the shooting clearly have no business being in law enforcement.

[LisaL]

13. It does sound like it was a case of "shoot first, ask questions later."

[Nitram]

18. Jedi Guy, the number of cases where the cops shoot without a warning are adding up.

As we know from the videos. And the cops always support their own regardless the circumstances. As do the courts. I no longer give them the benefit of the doubt. They are going to have to earn that. We need to return to Obama's policy of re-training police to de-escalate and hold fire long enough to determine what is going on and who is who. There is nothing courageous about a cop shooting because they're afraid their life is in danger. They must be held to a higher standard because they are sworn to protect and serve.

[Jedi Guy]

22. I look at each shooting on a case-by-case basis.

In incidents like this one, there's not really a benefit of the doubt to give. Based on the available information, the cops were unforgivably stupid and reckless. There's really not any other way to put it.

I just don't automatically assume the cop is in the wrong every time there's a shooting. That's what I mean when I say I try to give them the benefit of the doubt.

[Nitram]

28. I used to give them the benefit of the doubt. I've just reached a point where I can no longer

do that. The system is too heavily weighted in their favor, and since video came along it is clear they've been cheating and getting away with it for decades. A major change in police culture and training is needed across the nation. One thing that highlighted it for me was the Afghanistan vet who was fired for trying to negotiate with a guy with a gun instead of shooting him. Another cop came along and shot him right in the middle of the negotiation.

[Jedi Guy]

29. I can understand that outlook, even if I don't share it.

I worked with cops for a little over a year when I was a police dispatcher, and I became friends with quite a few of those officers. They were good people doing a difficult job. I rode along with several of them and saw the job firsthand. I'm sure that influences my perspective.

Hell, one of them, Officer Payne (I kid you not) walked away from a six-figure salary because he wanted to help people. I was with him on a call that could've gone sideways and wound up on the news, but he kept his cool and no one was hurt.

I don't think most police officers go around looking to shoot people. I definitely don't think they go out with the goal of killing some brown people. I do think people lose sight of how many police interactions end up positively, or at least with no one being seriously hurt.

That's my perspective based on my experiences, and I choose to give them the benefit of the doubt when there's room for it. Your mileage may vary.

[IronLionZion]

16. That's the price of freedom

if you can't take a bullet to protect your 2nd amendment rights, self-deport.



I'm sure this happens often. How are police supposed to know who is a good guy with a gun?

[Nitram]

17. So much for the "good guy with a gun" theory.

It was "just a theory."

[inwiththenew]

19. Happening with increasing frequency

And will continue to happen because there are typically no consequences for this. At this point if you choose to arm yourself you should probably deal with the invader(s) yourself and then once the smoke has cleared call the police to write it up because as it stands now it's probably a toss up between who is a bigger threat to you: the invader or trigger happy cops.

I think it was last week in Mississippi that the police showed up at the wrong house and shot the homeowner in the head.

[AlexSFCA]

27. blaming the victim?

[Javaman]

20. live by the gun, die by the gun. nt

[leftynyc]

25. He saved his grandson's life

by shooting the intruder who was strangling him. Didn't you even read the article? The ONLY ones in the wrong were the criminal and the cops.

[demigoddess]

21. No cop who kills gets charged. Lately a cop was killed by another cop, hit with his car,

they charged the guys they were chasing for the killing. Defendant is black of course.