BREAKING: Video Finally Released of Cops Shooting Man with a Toy Gun in Wal-Mart

xeniagazette.com...

Special prosecuting attorney Mark Piepmeier had this to say:

"They’re basically told, you gotta get in there now, and you’ve got to confront,” Piepmeier said, citing facts about how quickly active shooter situations can escalate. “This is how these officers are taught to react to these situations, and it’s something, to me, you need to take into account. Were the police facing such a situation here? No. Did they know that? No. They were told they’ve got a guy in here with a rifle, he’s loading the rifle and he’s pointing it at people."

...

"All I can say about this case is it’s a tragedy. It’s a tragedy for the Crawford family. It’s a tragedy for the family of Angela Williams, who died because of all the stress and commotion from this. It’s also a tragedy for the police officers who have to live the rest of their lives knowing that even though they had a justified use of force, they took the life of someone that didn’t need to die."

This is just too sad, if shoot first is procedure then we need to change police procedure.

originally posted by: muse7
Isn't Ohio an open carry state? He could have been carrying around an AR-15 or an AK-47 and he still shouldn't have been shot. He had a right to carry the gun in Wal-Mart

It's just weird that this doesn't happen to all of the other people that decide to walk around with real guns in wal mart or targets

A rifle slung on your shoulder or a pistol on your hip in a holster is open carrying. This guy was a total idiot just walking around waving it. Who just grabs a rifle off a shelf then proceeds to act like he did? I agree the cops messed up, but this guy was stupid and that ultimately is what got him killed in the first place.
Firepiston

a reply to: muse7

From the OP source:

There are many problems with this case, but one glaring problem is that open carry is fully legal in this jurisdiction, so the notion of officers approaching and simply shooting someone that is carrying something that resembles a rifle is very troubling for all open carry supporters.

Hopefully this man gets justice. It's highly unlikely given his killers are law enforcement but at least there's this:

Although the grand jury has failed in its duty to hold these officers responsible for their actions, it was announced today that the Department of Justice will be undertaking an independent investigation of the incident.

originally posted by: FirePiston

originally posted by: muse7
Isn't Ohio an open carry state? He could have been carrying around an AR-15 or an AK-47 and he still shouldn't have been shot. He had a right to carry the gun in Wal-Mart

It's just weird that this doesn't happen to all of the other people that decide to walk around with real guns in wal mart or targets

A rifle slung on your shoulder or a pistol on your hip in a holster is open carrying. This guy was a total idiot just walking around waving it. Who just grabs a rifle off a shelf then proceeds to act like he did? I agree the cops messed up, but this guy was stupid and that ultimately is what got him killed in the first place.
Firepiston

Does anyone know if the rifle that this guy was carrying around had an orange tip?

The guy never pointed it at anyone or made any threatening gestures towards anyone. The guy was on his phone pointing it at the shelves FFS

I think what got him killed wasn't his own stupidity because, frankly this could have happened to a small child.

I think it was something else.

originally posted by: FirePiston Who just grabs a rifle off a shelf then proceeds to act like he did?

Anybody in a Walmart, talking on the phone, mistakenly thinking they are in America. I've seen good-ole-boys wandering around Walgreens playing Cowboys and Indians while drunk without anybody batting an eye. I see kids run around all the time in stores waving toy guns around. I've seen videos where blonde girls go in to a Walmart with real guns, just trying to stir up crap.

But I've never seen a young black man do it. Now I know why.

I blame walmart as well. Those guns come in a box and someone had to have opened it and set it on the shelf, it should not have been out like that.

And I bet the marine that called 911 thought it would be funny to watch the cops come and scare the hell out of the guy but it didnt turn out like he thought it would.

I shouldn't have watched that video.
Now I feel sick.

a reply to: FirePiston

A rifle slung on your shoulder or a pistol on your hip in a holster is open carrying. This guy was a total idiot just walking around waving it. Who just grabs a rifle off a shelf then proceeds to act like he did? I agree the cops messed up, but this guy was stupid and that ultimately is what got him killed in the first place.

It was a TOY.

So what if he was waving it around - does it make him anymore likely to shoot somebody? He was also on the phone!

I'm sorry but what kind of armed robber or mass shooter casually waves their weapon around whilst having a normal conversation on the phone!

And how could he possibly have holstered the gun or slung it over his back when it wasn't his property - he may as well have just taken it off of the rail in front of him when he was shot.

a reply to: muse7

airsoft guns and TOY guns get orange tips NOT bbguns as bbguns can screw you up royaly if your not safe(the whole take your eye out kid and whatnot) so bbguns are not required by law to have orange tips so it likely did not have an orange tip.

only weird thing that i saw him do was seemingly toss the rifle into the air and catch it repeatedly and near end of video before audio syncs it seems hes pointing the bb gun at what looks like cat food(think hes in the pet food isle) but from watching the whole video what we saw on video did not show him pointing it at other people least that were visible in the video

edit to clarify airsoft guns get orange tips also because they LOOK like real guns but fire plastic,where as bb guns can looks like real rifles and fire metal projectiles so the rules are different and in SOME states u can take small game with air rifles so they fall more into the fire arms catergory as compared to airsoft guns

originally posted by: muse7

Does anyone know if the rifle that this guy was carrying around had an orange tip?

From what I can find it doesn't look like the gun had an orange tip. According to this SOURCE the model the victim had was a Crosman MK-177 Tactical Air Rifle. Here is that item on the Walmart site: MK-177 Tactical Air Rifle

Instead of responding with emotion and "cops are all murderers" like most of you here, I'll analyze what we see in the video.

Guy picks up an already-open airgun off of the shelf and walks around the perimeter of the store for awhile until stopping in one section and acting strangely. I'm not implying that this part has ANYTHING to do with the shooting but it appears as though he was trying to shoplift the air rifle.

He loiters in the section for so long with "a gun" that people become concerned and they call the police. Police know nothing other than "man with a gun acting strangely." They don't know it's an airgun.

They approach and yell at him, his first instinct is to raise the rifle as he turns toward police... so he gets shot. Watch closely and you see the muzzle coming up as he turns toward the police. That motion will get you shot EVERY SINGLE TIME. Cops don't wait around to see if you'll actually pull the trigger and they don't wait around to see what type and caliber of gun you're pointing at them. If you move like you're going to point a gun at an armed police officer, you will be shot. Period.

The cop will be cleared in this shooting.

a reply to: DodgyDawg

I agree 100%. Cop overreacted, typical shoot first no questions will be asked because my fellow legalized murderers will protect me attitude.

originally posted by: Yeahkeepwatchingme
a reply to: DodgyDawg

I agree 100%. Cop overreacted, typical shoot first no questions will be asked because my fellow legalized murderers will protect me attitude.

How do you come to that conclusion when there was a rifle coming up toward the cop?

I think you all conveniently forget that the cop didn't have all the details at the time of the shooting. He saw a man with a VERY NON-AIRGUN LOOKING rifle whose first response to his shout was to turn his way and raise the rifle.

This is as dumb ... as dumb can possibly get. This is what happens when constitutional rights (no, screw that ... natural rights) are about to be stripped from everyone.

Everyone involved needs to be fired immediately (supervisors, dispatchers, 911 operators ... everybody). The guy that called this in ... and the cops who pulled the trigger ... they need to go to prison. That is all.

originally posted by: Answer
whose first response to his shout was to turn his way and raise the rifle.

Obviously
Didn't watch the video

a reply to: Answer

I think if this was your family member who was shot you'd think differently. They killed someone. Enough is enough. Just because he has a badge and fellow murderers to protect him does not mean he shouldn't spend the rest of his life in a prison. Hopefully he'll meet some people he helped put there.

I think Walmart should be sued for negligence why is this damn thing not in a case??

Mk177

a reply to: SLAYER69

I don't even want to watch the video.

I think if the police officer has children, they should watch the video.

"Your fine upstanding father murders people. Look, he took a father away from his children. Children like you. You think it's fair your daddy is free when he murdered someone?"

Enough with the scum running the show.

originally posted by: Snarl
This is as dumb ... as dumb can possibly get. This is what happens when constitutional rights (no, screw that ... natural rights) are about to be stripped from everyone.

Everyone involved needs to be fired immediately (supervisors, dispatchers, 911 operators ... everybody). The guy that called this in ... and the cops who pulled the trigger ... they need to go to prison. That is all.

Ok, it's incredibly dumb.

So what would you have done in this situation? Do you wait for the guy to point the gun at you and go "pow pow" before you say "It's just an unloaded air rifle? Oh you silly boy, you got me!"

Every single person here saying that the cop overreacted would have done the same thing in that situation, with the information he had, and with the threat he faced. Stop monday-morning quarterbacking the situation when HINDSIGHT is 100% on your side.

originally posted by: SLAYER69

originally posted by: Answer
whose first response to his shout was to turn his way and raise the rifle.

Obviously
Didn't watch the video

Obviously YOU didn't watch the video. Do you not see the muzzle coming up right after the police yell at him? If you don't you're blind.