Woman Fatally Shot by Police at Cosco Handing Out Pizza Samples.

Seems to me the problem is US cops who can't aim. The woman was obviously out of control and wielding a knife so she had to be stopped.

Can I suggest you send the US cops over to the UK where they can be trained on gun restraint and aiming! The recent UK terrorists who killed the soldier were armed with knifes and machetes, were covered in blood, approached the police who shot them......without killing them. That way they can be interrogated and then they spend life in prison as bum chums for other inmates.....hopefully.

Originally posted by intrepid
No win situation for the cops here on ATS. The source says:

Scott reportedly became upset when she ran out of pizza, reported Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Carey. Witnesses said she was waving a knife and scissors, threatening employees.

They used a stun gun first then a firearm. If they hadn't and an innocent was stabbed in the neck and died those here critical of the cops would then be saying they weren't doing their job.

Threatening and actions are two separate things. Unless the scissors were bloody and their was a dead stock boy on the ground when the police arrived I have no idea why someone would end up dead in this situation.

reply to post by GenRadek

Then we can all hear about police brutality again. No different. So what was the alternate? Crazy woman swinging sharp objects, threatening people. What can you do? You cannot just wait around. Someone will get hurt. Take away the gun, the taser, baton, mace, what is left?

Shooting was justified. Period.

I bet you could take every single person and find one point in their life when it would be justifiable to kill them with those parameters set out. Absolutely everyone.

We used to justify putting crazy people in insane asylums. There were deplorable conditions and the inmates were pretty much tortured. Now we just justify shooting them in big box stores.

We've evolved surely.

The suspect approached the LEOs while waving at least one potentially deadly weapon.

The use of deadly force appears to be justified.

What's the problem again ?

Read the article and comments to it. Some of the comments were "supposedly" from those who were there and they all seem to say the same thing: there were many cops there and before the cops arrived everything was peaceful. Cops show up and yell for her to drop the knife (which she was using to cut pizza) and then 4 shots quickly after the command. Whether they were actually there is hard to say (their Facebook pages shows they live in the area) but it does make things more confusing when taking into account the police report.

Hopefully they have the store videos. Places such as Costos usually have many cameras and hopefully they don't disappear or end up lost.

Originally posted by H1ght3chHippie
The suspect approached the LEOs while waving at least one potentially deadly weapon.

The use of deadly force appears to be justified.

What's the problem again ?

The "weapon" was the knife she was using to cut pizza.

The question that should be asked is whether or not she wears hearing aids or has any medical conditions.

How long after asking to drop the knife did they taser her?

How long after tasering her did they decide to shoot her?

How did they manage to shoot each other?

Those are the questions I'd like to know the answers to.

Originally posted by Jefferton
I guess you shouldn't wave a potential weapon around threatening people.


Come on guys..

This is pathetic.
Two men couldn't disarm and restrain an unstable woman? That's PATHETIC!

These people are not even barely adequate as cops. If they want to see some real policing, they should come over to the UK where police officers are trained to end a situation without any deaths.

Too many American cops have a hero complex, they seem so detached from the idea of ending another persons life. If it's this easy for a cop to shoot and kill a woman with a knife who is clearly mentally unstable then the cop should be removed from their position immediately.

Killing another Human should NEVER be this easy, I don't care if you're in a uniform or not.

The cop who shot her should be facing a manslaughter charge.

Jesus, couldn't they have shot her in the leg or something? Maybe she was having an episode of some sort and was not fully in control of her faculties...

I haven't fired a gun in years, and if you put one in my hands today, I swear to god on a stack of bibles I could take out a person without killing them, easily. She would be crawling on the ground and I would walk up and put my boot on her wrist until she let's go of the weapon.

But, I can't pass judgement since I wasnt there... Maybe she was coming at them, weapon raised and the distance between them was closing too fast and when the taser failed she was 4-5 feet away from reaching someone's neck and there simply wasn't time to try a less lethal option. They have to put their lives first and I get that. I guess I would not have let her get that close, if that's what happened... But not everyone is as incredible as I am, so yeah I guess that would make sense...hmmm.

I guess there mustve been some sort of video footage, since most stores are peppered with them because of shoplifters and armed robbers and employee theft.

reply to post by Rocker2013

Killing another Human should NEVER be this easy, I don't care if you're in a uniform or not.

You're absolutely correct. It should be as difficult as using a machete in public with no concern whatsoever for being stopped by someone with a firearm. That'll stop 'em.

You probably wont die from a stab wound, but you will from a gunshot. Anyone else see that disparity?

The lack of real world knowledge and experience of posters here is mind boggling.
Shoot to wound, or shoot an arm? Clearly no one suggesting this Hollywood crap has every had to draw and fire on a person. That's movie BS doesn't work.
In high stress situations, the first thing to go is fine motor skills. That is what LE is taught to aim and shot for center mass, along with everyday citizens as well.

Hollywood has really dumbed down the masses.

At least they tried the taser first (no mention of using their training with martial arts and the baton to subdue the woman tho). There was a situation in my area about a year ago where the police where called to make a "well check" on a woman in her mid 50s who was "depressed". They got the key to her appt from the landlord and tried to enter....she told them "No! dont come in" and grabbed a steak knife in the kitchen and brandished it to discourage them from entering. Not discouraged - they shot her dead. No attempt to leave and call in a psychologist or something. Dont comply and (threaten or even "diss" us) you die.

What's WITH American cops?????????
In the past year i have read numerous accounts on ATS of American citizens executed by cops,apparently on a whim.
Is it a case of such instances being faithfully reported on a site like ATS,so it seems to be becoming a trend for American cops?Or,weighed up-the entire US population x entire US police force=???

??? being the amount of citizens wrongfully killed by cops.It's a massive country,with a massive population,and large police force-how could one go about calculating the true amount of wrongful killings? Not nitpicking,just wondering about this.To get a true picture.Because this is not good.No use having a capable police force,if you're as likely to be shot for standing on your lawn/in a supermarket,as a criminal caught in the act of burglary,eg.

reply to post by Raxoxane

Maybe these trigger happy (or just "scared" like little school children) cops should spend more time at the range getting their gun off on paper targets (as well as enrolling in a training program for less lethal tactics) and then they might be a little less likely to shoot first and ask questions later.

Originally posted by RevelationGeneration
reply to post by flyswatter

 

Nonsense its just as easy to take someone out with a leg shot in certain circumstances. Common sense says cops don't always have to KILL the person. After all they are not soldiers but are public servants.

edit on 1-6-2013 by RevelationGeneration because: (no reason given)

You and I dont know all of the circumstances, so who are we to say any different? I was making a statement about their training and what they are told to do, which has been the case for many years. You want to play around with trying to shoot a person in the leg during something like this? You go right ahead. Leave the policing to people who arent going to play Trickshooter McGraw during a life or death situation.

Originally posted by leftofplumb
reply to post by MongusePro

 

All right already, so she was wielding a knife and scissors, so the cops kill her. Great stuff. If they felt it was absolutely necessary to shoot the woman, why not shoot her in a place that would bring her down but would not kill her. The police are completely out of control and it sickens me.

So you'd rather a cop empty a full magazine trying to shoot her in the leg? Oh, never mind the potential collateral damage from the rounds that miss. Never mind the ricochet of bullets off of the concrete floor in Costco. Lets just put everyone else in even MORE danger by going Rambo.

From reading the responses to the OP for the first couple of pages I will say this: A lot of members seem to think the shooting of this woman was justified. We must understand that in a society where there exists a large portion of the populace who condone the actions of the police as described in the OP, then these events will happen, again and again. Unless there is outright condemnation from all, then law enforcement in the US will continue to exhibit brutal acts of unnecessary violence.

And no, that woman did not have to be killed.

reply to post by flyswatter


Law enforcement officers, out in public, practicing a 'shoot to kill' policy is absolutely disgraceful, doesn't matter what country you're in. If you think it's acceptable, then you must believe that it's ok to live in a society where things like being mentally or emotionally unstable, drunk, or generally disoriented can get you shot dead by a police officer who couldn't be bothered to get his hands dirty?

Originally posted by AmmonSeth

Originally posted by intrepid
No win situation for the cops here on ATS. The source says:

Scott reportedly became upset when she ran out of pizza, reported Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Carey. Witnesses said she was waving a knife and scissors, threatening employees.

They used a stun gun first then a firearm. If they hadn't and an innocent was stabbed in the neck and died those here critical of the cops would then be saying they weren't doing their job.

Could've just tackled and restrained her?

Or if really necessary use a blunt defence weapon (I.E baton or night-stick)

Or hell, even ram her with the car :')

All of which wouldnt have resulted in a needless pointless typical american death.

Take guns away from police, They clearly dont understand the severity of taking another humans life,
Even when such a human is threatening other people, there are more appropriate ways to deal with it than a gunshot....

And all the civilians that have killed people with guns let's disarm them also because they don't understand the severity of taking a life.

It's a no win situation that the suspect was responsible for. More information needs to come out before you can say anything other than she caused the problem.

That and their are a lot of people here that are convinced TV is real when it comes to shooting a suspect.

People are just going ape shyt, all over, cops included. Haven't you noticed? Things are getting stranger every day. What was once up, is now down. Stay the hell out of all of the big box stores, the food is crap anyway.

reply to post by flyswatter

So you'd rather a copy empty a full magazine trying to shoot her in the leg? Oh, never mind the potential collateral damage from the rounds that miss.

One did manage to fire 5 times and put collateral damage on the other deputy. About the same result.