Texas police officer shoots man in back

Yeah, the title sounds bad - however, I think this is a case of a justified shooting.

Newly released dashcam footage shows a Fort Worth police officer shooting a man in the back as he walked away. The victim was left a paraplegic, and whether the shooting was justified is up for debate.

Source

Long story short, an armed robbery was reported, and when the police responded, they saw a man matching the description of the armed robber. Upon pulling up, the man began walking away. At 0:29 in the video, the man pulls a metallic object out of his pants and quickly points it at one of the officers - at which point he was shot. As you can see in the video, the moment his arm is illuminated by the flashlight, the first thing the officers see is a metallic object being pointed their way.
A few things make this video noteworthy. First, the man was shot in the back while walking away. When you're a police officer, you gotta do what you gotta do, but shooting someone in the back while they're walking away doesn't look that good. Second, the man didn't have a gun - he had a box cutter. In this situation, the responding officers only had a split second to react. Imagine you're a cop - what would you do if a potential armed robber reaches into his pocket, quickly pulls out a metallic object, and points it at you? It seems logical, sure... But there are people who are going to jump to the man's defense because of the absence of a gun. Third, he's now paralyzed, quite probably for life. And last but not least, he's black. Yes, a black man shot by police.
As I said before, from watching the video and reading the article, I fully believe this was a justified shooting. If two police officers are approaching you, you don't start walking away and then quickly pull a metallic object out of your pants and point it at them. That's just stupid. I'm curious to see what other people think though. Was this a justified shooting?

a reply to: trollz

If the man was mad and hallucinating it was a very unfortunate tragedy.

If he was sane and aware he deliberately got himself shot.

a reply to: trollz

Crazy, the guy comes across as a drone.

Good Post.

originally posted by: trollz
Yeah, the title sounds bad - however, I think this is a case of a justified shooting.

It's not justified. The cops created the situation where they then felt the need to shoot.

The cops are in control.

They can easily manage the situation differently.

They could follow the guy from a safe distance.

They could use drones to track the guy, so they can stand out of harms way.

They could tranquilize the guy, the same was we shoot tranquilizer darts into dangerous animals to subdue them safely, with no harm coming to any person nor animal.

There are countless "scenarios" that could be introduced into the situation to manage it without lethal force.

But, the cops always prefer to use lethal force, because it gets the job done "quicker", it's "efficient", and "black lives don't matter."

From what I have read and am seeing, cops are in the right here. I mean, he was shot in the back, but that's because he was reaching and pulled out something that was a weapon, and it looked like a gun to the cops. You can't fault them here for their snap judgement, especially because it is so dark.

What was going on in that guys head. It was almost like he was asking to get shot. What an idiot.

They were pretty quick to shoot the guy...

He was walking away when he saw the cops roll up and he could have been anybody at all yet the cops shot him ....wow...so if a cop comes up to you and wants to talk to you, you better do it quicksmart or you will be shot even if your back is turned....makes no difference who you are it simply makes a difference where you are...some places in the U.S are just plain scary ...

Doesn't look like the guy was pointing at the cops, he was pointing towards the building... no sound and grainy video, kind of fishy there... though it looked like the cops where telling him to pull his hands out of his pockets and raise them up. I'd say it's an unjustified shooting.

So after the shooting, one officer goes through the man's wallet while the other officer runs to his cruiser, then returning with another officer and then, when the one picking through the mans wallet is done, he stands and they all stare down at the man as if deciding who gets the boots, pants, etc..., and as some might interpret, with obvious malice as not one of the police attempt any medical intervention, all while the man lies bleeding, surrounded, yet ignored by the indifferent officers of the law as they stood pondering while precious minutes tick away against the victim's favor.

As the recording ends around 9 minutes after the shooting, there is still no sign of an ambulance, an emergency vehicle a medic or EMT, or even a band-aid.

I do feel a subliminal inference emanating from the officers', highlighting their lack of empathy for this victim or for this victim's potentially life threatening wound, which triggers my mind to imagine, alternately, that, had this victim been an officer, shot in the back, down and bleeding, I can not fathom that the victim would be laying on the pavement, a bullet in the back, for 9 minutes and counting without an investigation into the delayed response for medical aid to the now titled and bleeding "hero". Evidently the sense of urgency to help facilitate the preservation of life is extensively diminished, no longer considered a priority when outside of the "tribal" clan of LEO's.

In fact, the more I think about it,
I say no donuts for these cops.

He pulled a bladed weapon from his pocket while being targeted by firearms. No mercy from me. Stopping and compliance is and should ever be the only thing you do when a cop has arms drawn on you. Its to the point I feel we should teach this in school. You will die if you do not comply! Compliance will resolve a dispute magnitudes quicker and peacefully than being a smart ass, a wise guy, or a rebel. Just #ing comply, what the hell man!?

The only answer I can imagine is this person may have a medical history of mental illness or wanted to die??

So no robbery and a man shot.


Of course, it is justified. It is always justified.

a reply to: trollz

The police officers, an off-duty Fort Worth officer and an off-duty Tarrant County sheriff’s deputy, were responding to a report of an armed robbery at a gas station in the area on July 27, 2016.

These two guys were OFF DUTY! Were they even in a Police Cruiser when they approached the victim?

originally posted by: Grimpachi
So no robbery and a man shot.


Of course, it is justified. It is always justified.

Remember the other cop who shot the running away man in the back and then proceeded to place the firearm next to the body?

THAT was ruled justified.

Of course this will be also.

a reply to: windword

Hmmm, good catch. You are right. Also, in the video, they both appear to still be in uniform.

It could be they were offically off duty, but hadn't returned to the station to return everything. One guy was a country sherriff deputy, so two agencies, maybe one was giving the other a ride back. Happens a lot.

a reply to: AMPTAH

While I'm all against cops shooting as a first and only resort, a tranq has to be properly managed vs things like body weight or you could end up killing whatever you're shooting at.

If you shoot me with a tranq meant for a bear I'm going to die. Do it with one meant for a bunny and not much is going to happen.

originally posted by: Rookseven
a reply to: AMPTAH

While I'm all against cops shooting as a first and only resort, a tranq has to be properly managed vs things like body weight or you could end up killing whatever you're shooting at.

If you shoot me with a tranq meant for a bear I'm going to die. Do it with one meant for a bunny and not much is going to happen.

I see what you're saying. If you get shot with a tranquilizer and it's not done right, there's a chance you can die. On that note, though, if you get shot with a bullet, there's a very good chance you're going to die.

I guess I'm still not seeing how a tranq is worse than a bullet. They also have tazers, y'know.

a reply to: AMPTAH

Every possible scenario you posted shows the extreme level of ignorance that you have pertaining to dealing with situations like this.

Sure, the cops could have seen the guy, waved, and kept driving, too, but that's about as practical in doing their job as the multiple scenarios that you listed.

Your ideology is showing--if you want to have a logical, rational, intelligent conversation, please cover it back up and we can discuss.

And I'm not saying that I think I 100% agree with the officers' actions, but if you can't accept that there are numerous variable that come into play in a situation like this (including the actions of the victim prior to being shot), and just want to pin it on racist cops who don't care about "black lives" and are only concerned about quickly neutralizing the threat with a bullet, then move on somewhere else where hyperbole and asininity might contribute to a thread.

a reply to: trollz

No, this is not a justified shooting. He had not threatened anyone, and was not an immediate threat to anyone -- especially the officers.

At some point, we as a public have to admit that current policing practices put innocent lives in danger... and that this is by design. If they wanted it otherwise, it would be. And therefore, anyone and everyone is justified in fleeing cops because their lives are in danger thanks to these reckless and dangerous policing tactics.

And no, just NO, there is absolutely no justification for demanding that we follow anyone's orders unquestioningly, and especially when those orders are very likely coming from someone of subpar intelligence, steroidal rage, clinical depression, psychiatric meds, or heaven only knows what, while hiding behind a gun.

Nor are we doing our cops any favors by putting them in this position. Not for the good cops that are doing their damnedest to be the best they can be, and not for bad cops that are just digging a deeper and deeper hole for themselves. It's all well and good to stand up for the men and women who put themselves in harm's way for our good. But I sure don't see any support for the many cops who have tried to stand up and say, "Hey! We've got problems here!!!"

There is no virtue in ignoring the problems and defending the worst. Especially when it means more and more dead bodies.

a reply to: trollz
if this was justified then,
if i see a cop near my home and hes armed and walking away from me, and i feel threatened, i know exactly what im doing to that cop.

a reply to: trollz

I don't know--it's a pretty bad video, and the lack of audio really makes it that much harder to get a good look at exactly what happened.

I do think that the officers are justified in feeling that their lives were suddenly at risk from a perceived threat, and so that would justify the shooting in the eyes of the law and probably in the SOP of the police department, but I truly wish that officers were better at being able to ascertain through visual identification if something that someone is holding or pointing at them truly equates to a possible imminent threat to their lives or safety.

It's a tough issue, as that ability comes with a LOT of consistent training (which most PDs don't offer or require), so what we get are legally justified shootings, but ones that probably could have been avoided with better training.

But in a scenario like this, with a suspect pulling something metallic out of their pocket and pointing it at the officers as quickly as he did, in the dark of night in an area with no direct lighting, I don't see much else that the officers could have (should have?) done.