Police, some armed with AR-15 rifles, fired 61 shots in killing man with BB gun at Texas truck stop

Only 61 shots?..well that changes everything doesn't it..relax everyone..hmm maybee not.
I really want to know about the fawking fistbumps..that a procedural thing?

So all the other side of this argument has is "what if"...
And we are the ones not living in reality.
Stop with the what ifs and deal with the facts, cops shoot a guy 60 times for lifting a pellet gun at them.
Of course it wasn't a smart move but killing some one cause they are stupid seems rather barbaric to me.

Sixty is a little overkill, isn't it?


Edit... Sixty-one*

a reply to: smurfy


Ah,,,perhaps reading the OP instead of arguing out of ingnorance.....that could be a good start.

MG

originally posted by: Sremmos80
So all the other side of this argument has is "what if"...
And we are the ones not living in reality.
Stop with the what ifs and deal with the facts, cops shoot a guy 60 times for lifting a pellet gun at them.
Of course it wasn't a smart move but killing some one cause they are stupid seems rather barbaric to me.

That's the thing, just how much of a lift was there, that's why I was replying to another poster. You can see the man's shadow on the roof girder, and he doesn't move much at all, and certainly not jumping about. I would be interested in how people interpret the little movements in the shadow.

"Garza was well-known to cops, having been arrested nearly 30 times in the past. He’d been committed to a state hospital in 2010 after a suicide attempt in which a rifle went off inside his grandparents' Laredo home, Baeza said."

After reading this, I thought suicide by cop. Not all too certain.

a reply to: missed_gear

hat could easily a threat to me, my family my kids…but am I to explain to my wife…

But if a civilian shot the same guy sixty times he'd be in jail for life…

Try not to believe in the fear machine so much. You aren't going to die today in a mass shooting spree, if ever.

Or be struck by lighting, eaten by a shark, tiger, whatever.

When your time comes, try to man up and take it like a man. You'll be netter off, believe me.

originally posted by: missed_gear
a reply to: smurfy


Ah,,,perhaps reading the OP instead of arguing out of ingnorance.....that could be a good start.

MG

I have read it, there is not much new other being arrested many times. So what's your beef? there's always someone in, 'do your research mode' usually they are the ones who are not up to scratch.

a reply to: intrptr

Police officers are not civilians, they live in the US but the duty of service is far greather than yours, like it or not...agreed? They are a "sworn peace officer" Which also means killing bad guys...not a job I want. Do you?

MG

a reply to: smurfy


Let's see...ahhh...perhaps the police had no other option? Oh my! the store owner said it was a fake gun! His judgment is better than the police in situ? I would not bet ny life on that "judgement" would you? It looks like a gun, they shot him and should have...that is life.

My beef. Everytime poilice must shoot, it's wrong. Which is BS.

MG

a reply to: missed_gear

They are a "sworn peace officer"

"Peace" officer, lol.

Sadly nowadays that term, like Civil Servant is misused to justify murder by the state.

originally posted by: missed_gear
a reply to: smurfy


Let's see...ahhh...perhaps the police had no other option? Oh my! the store owner said it was a fake gun! His judgment is better than the police in situ? I would not bet ny life on that "judgement" would you? It looks like a gun, they shot him and should have...that is life.

My beef. Everytime poilice must shoot, it's wrong. Which is BS.

MG

As I thought, not up to scratch! you want to go into a, 'Let's see' speculation, what's that got to do with reading the OP or otherwise? So first off, a witness, the man who's in charge of the truck stop has gone on video to state that the police were told about the BBgun, which is in direct contradiction thus far, as to what the investigator is saying, so someone is lying. Second, the witness also states that the man was sleeping on a sofa, wearing earphones and when he eventually did get up, some time after that is when the police started firing, So someone is lying.
Thirdly, it appears to be some time before the police arrived while the man was present at the truck stop.
This witness also mentions the high power rifles being carried by some police, that is acknowledged now by the investigator. I don't know that the police chief ever mentioned that in the police statement.
However I'm not necessarily going to believe what the investigator is saying is all true. You can if you want, but at least you know a little more on the subject now.

a reply to: AlphaHawk

61 or 80 it makes no difference, this is overkill no matter what!

1.) Actually Police are in fact a civilian. en.wikipedia.org...
Now many Police might like to distance themselves from such a distinction but the fact is, cry as they might, who and what is considered a civilian is determined by the military.

2.) Why "What if" makes little difference.
If we wish to apply the "What if" defense in a case where at least 60 shots were fired by 6 people on one target armed with a BB gun, in a public area; then what defense would we have not to make allowances for firing 60 shots into say a large pick up truck on a public road for speeding?
After all going by this logic if a BB gun is as deadly as a .45 then surly a 1/2 ton truck is as deadly as a cannonball at 72 miles per hour.
This is why discretion is the key point here. They had by all accounts 5 minutes of conversation with the man armed with the BB gun, and not one of the 6 cops had the sense to find the taser?

originally posted by: intrptr

Try not to believe in the fear machine so much. You aren't going to die today in a mass shooting spree, if ever.

You just reminded me with that sentence, and begs the question, do the American cops now have a 'cop-out' for a shooting spree like the one THEY did in Laredo. It seems they do under this, 'Probable cause' scenario..to be syndrome.
I mean the video witness says people in the building were ducking and diving with the onslaught, what if some of them were killed? We know now, or at least I now know, that a police suspect, the target of police bullets can be charged with the murder of someone totally uninvolved who has been killed by police bullets in that incident. That's already happened, transfer that to a fecking brigade of police with high powered military weapons like in this case..Pffff.

There is something about this that is just wrong on such a basic level. No matter how you look at it, the police were wrong. They do have the right to protect themselves. But to what extent do they have the right to protect themselves from a situation they create? If the man had a fake gun, the police were in no real danger. They are supposed to use deadly force to defend themselves when they are in imminent danger and stop using force when the danger has passed. At some point along the way, during a 60+ round volley, someone must have known the guy with all the holes in him was no threat to anyone. And its no secret that police will show up en masse and turn a bad situation into a disaster in no time. It seems like the only play in their book is make a bigger show of force. If that doesn't work, make an even bigger show of force. If that doesn't work, start shooting and don't stop until the news teams show up. Its like the San Angeles police in the movie Demolition Man. "Use a firm tone of voice and instruct the lunatic to put his gun down and raise his hands." "The lunatic responded with a scornful remark." "Approach the lunatic and repeat the command in an even firmer tone of voice and add the words, OR ELSE." And the police get their butts kicked...

Fear can kiss my ass.

a reply to: intrptr

Forgive me, because I know nothing about firearms (this one WarminIndy doesn't know about).

But are the AR-15s automatic weapons and you can shoot multiple rounds in a second? With a BB gun, you shoot once and then repump, is that right?

Just trying to get an idea here because I don't know how weapons work, never shot any (well, when I was 12, my dad told me to shoot a Magnum 47 at a can on the ground, I shot the leaves in the tree instead). But since then I haven't shot any kind of gun, but have seen people shoot a BB gun.

Was this a SWAT team?

originally posted by: WarminIndy
a reply to: intrptr

Forgive me, because I know nothing about firearms (this one WarminIndy doesn't know about).

But are the AR-15s automatic weapons and you can shoot multiple rounds in a second?

The AR-15 is basically a civilian model M-16. They are not in fact full auto nor do they have the 3 round burst function as the M-16 does. They will fire as quickly as you can pull the trigger with each pull firing one shot.

originally posted by: Punisher75

originally posted by: WarminIndy
a reply to: intrptr

Forgive me, because I know nothing about firearms (this one WarminIndy doesn't know about).

But are the AR-15s automatic weapons and you can shoot multiple rounds in a second?

The AR-15 is basically a civilian model M-16. They are not in fact full auto nor do they have the 3 round burst function as the M-16 does. They will fire as quickly as you can pull the trigger with each pull firing one shot.

OK, thank you. Seems a little excessive to me, but you know the old saying "never bring a knife to a gunfight", or is that backwards?