I wish the news had pictures of how many cops were involved. That was the dangerous situation. What did they think would happen when they were shooting him with pepper balls and setting off flash grenades? What were they trying to save him from? Himself? and their solution was to shoot him.
Is death the proper punishment for not getting out of his truck?
I have little kids, sometimes they do bad things and I have to choose how to respond and often punishments are necessary. When I respond to these situations I do my best to not create a power struggle and let my child "save face." I don't call anyone extra over to tease him, I handle it as quietly and calmly as possible. He still gets his consequence but is able to save his dignity. When too many people respond to a situation or too much force is used it escalates the situation and makes the person feel there is no way out.
(Before I post this can I save a few people some dumb comments and point out this is a METAPHOR. Metaphors are comparisons that show how two things that are not alike in most ways are similar in one important way. The important way I felt these were similar was that things go better when the "authorities" allow someone to save face and that when attacked it is human nature to defend ourselves and resist, not submit.)
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19 comments:
You know what? If somebody has a gun, and they have threatened people, then I completely justify the actions taken by the police. I know that you people who might have known him say he was kind and "needed a hug", but I would not take the risk of giving him a hug and getting shot in the face.
Face, it, this man was asking to die.
He was asking to die??? SO WHAT?! If your brother was so depressed that he wanted to die, would you pull the trigger for him?
Brilliant comment, "Stu".
These cops completely mishandled the situation.
Stu is right. You dont pull the trigger, or try to help pull the trigger. But at the end of the day the Police need to protect you, me and themselves. I am sorry that this man died, but better him then me. Don't attack the Police because of your grief. Mourn your friend, but be grateful that the Police were there to ensure he is the only one being mourned.
GLB: I'm sorry. Did the police shoot him as he ran out of his truck with a loaded pistol in his hand? Oh, that's right. HE WAS SHOT WHILE HE SAT IN HIS TRUCK! No one was in immediate danger. The standoff had been going on for 12 hours! Oh, but I'm sure there were school children and people heading to the park for Family Home Evening walking right by this man's truck. Give me a break.
Your trying to use your grief to mask your ignorance. I am sure that the reason he is dead is that he turned the gun onto someone else. Should the Police have to die to prove that they are trying to help? The man was a firefighter, I'm sure he has seen these situations before, or at least in his interations professionally with the Police he would have known what to do in this case. He chose to act in a manner that cost him his life, that is sad. But he made the choice.
GLB: Nice try. I didn't know him or anyone involved, so no, "grief" is not clouding my judgement. Good one, though.
It's already been reported that he pointed a gun at police throughout the standoff. So if that's reason to kill him, why didn't they do so the first time he pointed a weapon at them? Why wait 12 hours? Maybe because he was completely surrounded and none of the officers were close enough to feel that they were truly in danger of being shot and killed by this man.
We have the right to carry guns for hunting and self-defense, and when Brian took his gun out in public, it was for neither. Using a gun in public as a threat (whether to someone else or yourself) is a ploy. I'm sorry, teasting the SWAT team for 12 hours is not a GAME. Someone is going to get hurt, and unfortunately, as a public servant, Brian should have known better. This was very poor judgement on Brian's part and he paid the consequences. I'm sorry that the police even had to make this decision, but it was Brian's fault that they did.
im suprised the national guard, marines, army, etc didnt show up
i wonder how much this is going to cost the tax payers
all the overtime, the cost of feeding them etc
the reason he blockaded hiself in his truck is he feared for his life
he was afraid he would be beaten down like a dog or killed
his fears were correct
a scared and caged animal will always defend itself
a scared and caged animal will always defend itself
Sadie Love: If that is the case, why aren't you or other witnesses speaking out to the media??? None of "us" would argue that unlawful force was used if he did in fact exit his truck and began shooting.
If anyone caught the news tonight, I think it was on channel 2, there was a neighbor that states he heard Mr. Wood scream several times, "Stop tasing me, stop tasing me". Now, correct me if I am wrong, but the Taser is a pretty incapacitating non-lethal option the police have. If he was Tased as the neighbor states, with all that police presence, one would think they would have been able to detain him while he was being tased.
Dear "glb", I'd like to officially inform you that you're an idiot. Don't play the "logic" card. The last time I checked, police officers are supposed to be trained that this country's criminal law rests on innocent until proven guilty. So, to "logically" deduce that this man would be a danger to them and others based upon his obvious choice to #1 remove himself from the company of others #2 call the police on himself #3 remain on his own property...the list goes on. These officers did aggravate the situation, leading to the tragic climax. It's laughable that they claim it's a police policy to not allow close family/friends to diffuse the situation, when the police chief says we "generally" follow that policy. What the hell kind of policy is it if you only "generally" follow it? Do they also have a policy of "we only generally don't try to shoot people who aren't putting others in danger?" Give me a freakin' break. Granted Brian had some issues, but since when does one adrenaline-charged and impatient officer get license to be judge, jury and executioner? And people like you support that behavior? He comes from a great family and I'm sure he was a good man. We can fault him for being weak enough to fire a weapon at an undeserving garbage can, but we most definitely cannot condone the bone-headed decisions of law enforcement that night.
David,
If you read the post that sadielove posted its says that he was not in his truck when he was shot which has been confirmed by all parties involved, sadielove also never said anything about getting out of the truck and starting shooting they said that he was not in his truck which is true he got out earlier in the night and at a little after 9pm is when the shots were fired I read all of these comments that have quotes of officers saying that they did not want to leave the scene maybe that was because the officer that said that knew Brian and was worried about the situation and worried about Brian
Please stop using the cut and paste option that is how things get taken out of context!
Also who excatly counted the 300 police officers because as far as I know after talking to a few of those EMS workers that were there for the overtime and free pizza and cookies the number 300 is a little high try rounding down next time your story will still be printed.
I think that the show of force was excessive. I also believe that the officers on scene had total control of the situation and that they could have made the decision to have things turn out differently.
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