107-year-old man killed in gunfight with SWAT team

[Hum]

PINE BLUFFS, Ark. ? A man who police said was 107 years old was killed in a confrontation with SWAT officers Saturday night.

Police were called to a home in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where suspect Monroe Isadore was.

?When they arrived, they were able to determine that an aggravated assault had occurred against two people at the residence,? Lt. David E. Price, a Pine Bluff police spokesman, said in a statement.

The two victims were led out of the house.

It was not clear what role the suspect had in the aggravated assaults or what they were.

When officers approached a bedroom where Isadore was hiding, he fired through the door, authorities said.

None of the police officers was hit by the gunfire. They retreated to a safer area and called for additional help, including SWAT officers who started negotiations with the suspect.

SWAT officers slipped a camera into the room where Isadore was holed up and saw he was armed with a handgun, Price said.

After unsuccessful negotiations, officers slipped gas into the room through a window, he said, and Isadore fired rounds at them.

The officers broke the bedroom door and hurled in a distraction device, and Isadore fired at them again, according to the spokesman?s statement.

Officers returned fire, killing him.

source

[Arachno 1D]

 

How Does A 107-Year-Old Die In A Police Shootout? Details Emerge

By Bill Chappell on September 9th, 2013

Monroe Isadore, the 107-year-old man who died in a shootout with a SWAT team Saturday in Arkansas, had been asked to move out of the house he was living in and into an apartment. That detail comes from Isadore?s roommate, who says the centenarian was very angry.

Pauline Lewis tells local TV news THV 11 that she had invited Isadore to live in her Pine Bluff, Ark., home in August. On Saturday, she and Isadore?s daughter had intended to help him move into an apartment. But he locked himself in his room with a pistol, and Lewis says she had to call the police.

?He was very angry. He got hostile. He was gonna kill somebody,? Lewis tells THV 11. ?Monroe was in the room and he had the gun pointed out ? said, ?If you wanna live, you better? ? knock on wood ? ?get away from this door.? ?

After officers arrived, ?Laurie Barlow told police she had ?come by the house to pick up [isadore] to take him to his new home they had just got through cleaning up,? ? according to KATV News. The report suggests Barlow is Isadore?s granddaughter; however, that information isn?t clarified.

Another detail from KATV suggests Isadore may have been disoriented:

?According to the report, Isadore locked himself in his room and refused to come out, and that?s when his granddaughter finally got him to open the door he pointed a gun and her and stated, ?You better stop breaking into my house.? ?

Police arrived around 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Three hours later, after a SWAT team stormed his room, Isadore was dead. Lewis and the police say that Isadore was the first to open fire. Attempts to negotiate with him and to flush him out with tear gas had been unsuccessful.

?I think they didn?t have a choice but to shoot him,? Lewis tells THV 11. The news station reports that Lewis described the incident during an interview from Little Rock, where she?s visiting family ?while friends cleaned bullets and broken glass out of her house.?

Neighbors say they heard a barrage of gunfire ? perhaps as many as 30 shots. The ruckus drew the attention of a nearby Baptist church congregation.

?They were having services at the church (Old St. James Missionary Baptist Church, located a block away), and they must have stopped the services because they all came out and came to the corner,?

Lewis says Isadore had recently purchased the gun, for self-protection.

The Pine Bluff Police Department says it will hold a news conference about the incident later today. We?ll update this post as necessary.

Source

 

Seems a pointless death to me as they could simply have waited the situation out instead of breaching the home

[theyarecomingforyou]

This sort of thing makes Judge Dredd look like a factual documentary on the US criminal justice system.

[ramonsjc]

We are all going to exit this world. 107 years old? Might as well go out in a hail of gunfire!

[myxomatosis]

It's better to burn out than to slowly fade away! Old badass mofo lol

[Arachno 1D]

He probably couldn't hit a barn door from the inside given his age

[AJerman]

Source

 

Seems a pointless death to me as they could simply have waited the situation out instead of breaching the home

You haven't noticed the disturbing strong trend towards just killing people rather than attempting to negotiate peacefully recently? Seems like police understand that putting someone through trial costs time and money and isn't guaranteed, but killing someone is fast and easy.

[Hum]

I don't know what you could be so ###### off about at 107 ...

[adrynalyne]

This sort of thing makes Judge Dredd look like a factual documentary on the US criminal justice system.

Because firing bullets and threatening others is something to take lightly.

 

Bullets don't discriminate by age or sex.

[ILikeTobacco]

He probably couldn't hit a barn door from the inside given his age

How do you figure? He managed to fire through the door in the house where the officers were approaching from just fine and that is significantly smaller than a barn door.

[ILikeTobacco]

You haven't noticed the disturbing strong trend towards just killing people rather than attempting to negotiate peacefully recently? Seems like police understand that putting someone through trial costs time and money and isn't guaranteed, but killing someone is fast and easy.

You have noticed the disturbing strong trend towards the media only reporting on shocking things recently? Nothing shocking about negotiating a peaceful solution. They happen just as much as before but you wouldn't hear about them in national news.

[adrynalyne]

You haven't noticed the disturbing strong trend towards just killing people rather than attempting to negotiate peacefully recently? Seems like police understand that putting someone through trial costs time and money and isn't guaranteed, but killing someone is fast and easy.

 

 

Another detail from KATV suggests Isadore may have been disoriented:

?According to the report, Isadore locked himself in his room and refused to come out, and

that?s when his granddaughter finally got him to open the door he pointed a gun and her and stated, ?You better stop breaking into my house.? ?

Police arrived around 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Three hours later, after a SWAT team stormed his room, Isadore was dead. Lewis and the police say that Isadore was the first to open fire. Attempts to negotiate with him and to flush him out with tear gas had been unsuccessful.

 

Doesn't sound like an execution to me, but an inevitable outcome.  He showed his willingness to open fire which made him a threat.

[Hum]

^ Yeah, but could he see to hit anything .... :p

[adrynalyne]

^ Yeah, but could he see to hit anything .... :p

It only takes one bullet to hit the mark.

 

Odds of hitting something increase as you keep pulling the trigger.

[_neutrino Veteran]

perhaps he was just done living and wanted to go out in an action packed way?

[AJerman]

Another detail from KATV suggests Isadore may have been disoriented:

?According to the report, Isadore locked himself in his room and refused to come out, and

that?s when his granddaughter finally got him to open the door he pointed a gun and her and stated, ?You better stop breaking into my house.? ?

Police arrived around 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Three hours later, after a SWAT team stormed his room, Isadore was dead. Lewis and the police say that Isadore was the first to open fire. Attempts to negotiate with him and to flush him out with tear gas had been unsuccessful.

 

Doesn't sound like an execution to me, but an inevitable outcome.  He showed his willingness to open fire which made him a threat.

I don't buy that. A SWAT team and police force combined couldn't subdue a 107 year old man with a handgun without killing him? As highly trained as our SWAT teams and police forces are now, I just don't believe that. He obviously isn't entirely in his right mind, judging from the article. I understand he was certainly the aggressor of the situation, but it seems to be a more common outcome now.

[ILikeTobacco]

I don't buy that. A SWAT team and police force combined couldn't subdue a 107 year old man with a handgun without killing him? As highly trained as our SWAT teams and police forces are now, I just don't believe that. He obviously isn't entirely in his right mind, judging from the article. I understand he was certainly the aggressor of the situation, but it seems to be a more common outcome now.

Nobody said they couldn't subdue him. They just couldn't do it safely. You expect police officers and swat team members to give up their life to safely tie down a 107 year old? Sure they could just run at him and hope only a few of them end up dead, at least the 107 year is still alive then. /s

[adrynalyne]

I don't buy that. A SWAT team and police force combined couldn't subdue a 107 year old man with a handgun without killing him? As highly trained as our SWAT teams and police forces are now, I just don't believe that. He obviously isn't entirely in his right mind, judging from the article. I understand he was certainly the aggressor of the situation, but it seems to be a more common outcome now.

Age doesn't affect the effectiveness of pulling a trigger.

 

As Tobacco said, they probably could have, but not safely. 

 

I think that most police officers rather choose the option that keeps them alive at the end of the day.

[AJerman]

Nobody said they couldn't subdue him. They just couldn't do it safely. You expect police officers and swat team members to give up their life to safely tie down a 107 year old? Sure they could just run at him and hope only a few of them end up dead, at least the 107 year is still alive then. /s

No, I suppose I wouldn't expect it from them, but it certainly wouldn't be outside of the job description. I certainly didn't say to just run at him and hope for the best, that would be fairly stupid.

[ILikeTobacco]

No, I suppose I wouldn't expect it from them, but it certainly wouldn't be outside of the job description. I certainly didn't say to just run at him and hope for the best, that would be fairly stupid.

But that's what you are asking for. The man was firing a gun and gas wasn't working. The only option left is either take him out or attempt to dog pile him while he continues shooting bullets at you. It is actually outside the job description. The police have no duty to protect and keep an individual alive. The only have the duty to protect society as a whole. That is what the Surpreme Court ruled. This man was firing bullets without regard for anyone's life and one stray bullet out the window and someone could die. By taking him out, they did their duty and probably the only thing they could do given the situation.

[adrynalyne]

No, I suppose I wouldn't expect it from them, but it certainly wouldn't be outside of the job description. I certainly didn't say to just run at him and hope for the best, that would be fairly stupid.

I guess we would need a member of SWAT to post their employment agreement, but I bet that is not in the description.

[theyarecomingforyou]

Because firing bullets and threatening others is something to take lightly.

Of course not but his death was a result of a SWAT team storming the property. He had fired at police officers as they approached the room but other than that he posed no immediate danger to the public. Anger is a short-term emotion and it appears that he was confused and acting out of character, so putting him under more pressure was never going to lead to a positive outcome. This was a delicate situation that was approached with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

[adrynalyne]

Of course not but his death was a result of a SWAT team storming the property. He had fired at police officers as they approached the room but other than that he posed no immediate danger to the public. Anger is a short-term emotion and it appears that he was confused and acting out of character, so putting him under more pressure was never going to lead to a positive outcome. This was a delicate situation that was approached with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

I guess you didn't read the part where he was waving the gun at a family member too.

 

Remember, he showed willingness to pull the trigger...

[theyarecomingforyou]

I think that most police officers rather choose the option that keeps them alive at the end of the day.

It's one thing to make a tactical decision based on public safety but it's another entirely to choose to storm a property and kill anybody that resists. Police officers shouldn't be allowed to shoot people dead simply because it reduces their personal risk. There were no hostages, there were no civilians caught up in this situation. This was a botched police operation.

[Arachno 1D]

The family were out of the house,the only person in the house apart from SWAT was the gentleman in question.They had the option to contain the offender and wait till cooler heads prevailed.There was no urgency to remove him as the only reports of gunshots were towards the SWAT officers in or immediately around the building, its not like he was at the window firing into the crowd.