LAPD Officers Shoot Man Five Times in Broad Daylight

[soniqstylz]

A video posted to Facebook Sunday night shows several LAPD cops struggling with a man before eventually shooting him on the street in downtown L.A. The man, still unidentified, was reportedly homeless.

 

According to Officer Jack Richter, police were responding to a call regarding an altercation between two people on Sunday morning.

 

As several of the officers wrestled the man to the street, a woman approaches from behind and grabs a baton one cop appears to have dropped. He runs up to the woman shouting, "You have my stick! You have my stick!" before two officers slam her to the ground.

 

Still struggling to subdue the first man, it looks as though officers begin to taser him. One of the officers is then heard repeatedly shouting, "he's going for my gun!" before five shots are fired.

 

The original video was reportedly uploaded to Facebook by a man named Anthony Blackburn. As of this posting, it has been viewed upwards of 100,000 times. It has not yet been confirmed whether the shooting was fatal.

 

Update: According to reports, the man was taken to a hospital; he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.

 

 

http://newsfeed.gawker.com/graphic-video-lapd-officers-shoot-man-five-times-in-br-1688818269

 

The video of the shooting is at the link.  NSFW (language, and well, dude getting shot).

[timster]

from the video, it's clear that the homeless man attacked the officers.

[chrisj1968]

all over a tent. a man is dead all over a tent....

from the video, it's clear that the homeless man attacked the officers.

 

6-7 officers against one man? no way... murder outright

[The Evil Overlord]

all over a tent. a man is dead all over a tent....

 

6-7 officers against one man? no way... murder outright

I'm sure someone will be along to defend those officers in a moment

from the video, it's clear that the homeless man attacked the officers.

agreed, but the response was excessive, 6 on one?

[123456789A]

Don't grab a police man's gun. That's just asking for trouble.

[The Evil Overlord]

Don't grab a police man's gun. That's just asking for trouble.

This I agree with

[soniqstylz]

Don't grab a police man's gun. That's just asking for trouble.

 

It's the Uncle Jimbo Rule:  Just yell "he's going for my gun" (doesn't matter if you have 4 - 5 people there to help you hold him down or someone else has a taser or if he's actually not going for the gun at all), and you're free to kill.

[Nagisan]

I like how the cameraman starts calling the (black) cop who supposedly shot the man a sellout. Why? Because it wasn't a white cop that shot him so it couldn't have possibly been racist (not saying it was racism just pointing out how the civilians didn't scream racism when then cop in question wasn't white)?

[farmeunit]

Don't grab a police man's gun. That's just asking for trouble.

Except the cop has his gun when he stands up.  Then he pulls it out and checks it.

[techbeck]

Love how people can say for certain whether or not the guy was actually going for the gun or not.  Because in that video, you cannot tell.

[Rippleman]

Except the cop has his gun when he stands up.  Then he pulls it out and checks it.

 

It was an unknown to the other officers, being an unknow end result from a KNOWN attempt, mathematically it would be highly likely he had said gun. In the end, this action lead a chain reaction in milliseconds that lead to his own death.

[Shiranui]

How is America any different from your average 3rd world backwater?

[DocM]

1) don't fight with cops

2) Tasers don't always stop people

3) a standard volley is 2-3 shots, aka double or triple tap, because a lot of departments still use not-so-powerful loads

4) as few as 2 cops firing in rapid response to the gun grab statement would produce at least 5 shots

5) would he be any less dead with 1-2 high velocity .40/.45's vs 5 9mm's?

[siah1214]

Don't fight with police officers and don't try to take their guns and you won't get shot. Why is this hard to comprehend? 

[123456789A]

Love how people can say for certain whether or not the guy was actually going for the gun or not.  Because in that video, you cannot tell.

 

Since we also couldn't see the actual bullets being discharged from the officer's weapon, we can't rule out the possibility that the homeless guy spontaneously exploded.

[Memphis]

This one is too ambiguous to be sure on.

[farmeunit]

Either he has the gun, or he doesn't. Saying "He's going for my gun", doesn't give them the right to shoot. Saying "He has my gun", does. If you're the cop and you see him grabbing gun, then you can easily put you hand on it since you're the guy on top.

Also, I thought holsters were made to pull the weapon straight out so no one could grab from an angle?

[Rippleman]

Either he has the gun, or he doesn't. Saying "He's going for my gun", doesn't give them the right to shoot. Saying "He has my gun", does. If you're the cop and you see him grabbing gun, then you can easily put you hand on it since you're the guy on top.

Also, I thought holsters were made to pull the weapon straight out so no one could grab from an angle?

 

 

If it turns out HE DOES NOT have the gun, then its THAT officers direct fault and HE is the cause of this fatality. The other officers are innocent since they are working (within milliseconds) with what information that had based on what they consider to be a credible source. 

[Memphis]

Either he has the gun, or he doesn't. Saying "He's going for my gun", doesn't give them the right to shoot. Saying "He has my gun", does. If you're the cop and you see him grabbing gun, then you can easily put you hand on it since you're the guy on top.

Also, I thought holsters were made to pull the weapon straight out so no one could grab from an angle?

I have one of those kind of holsters and they semi work. If you forget that its that kind of holster and it tweaks just right you may not get your own gun out very fast. I would imagine many officers don't have this holster design.

[firey]

I don't see this as bad in any way.  If someone was going for a gun I use to protect myself.. I wouldn't care how many people are helping me.. anyone with a gun is a threat and I'd do whatever I had to do in order to eliminate the threat.

This isn't a case of racism, police brutality, etc.   This is a case of someone resisting arrest, potentially becoming armed, and that person needed to be stopped one way or another.

[farmeunit]

Potentially becoming armed? Wouldn't that literally be anyone? You're either armed, or you aren't.

If he's reaching for a gun, restrain the arm. One cop on each limb. Problem solved.

[DocM]

Potentially becoming armed? Wouldn't that literally be anyone? You're either armed, or you aren't.

If he's reaching for a gun, restrain the arm. One cop on each limb. Problem solved.

Not that simple. TV and movie based tactics get you or your partner(s) dead.

[The Evil Overlord]

I don't see this as bad in any way. If someone was going for a gun I use to protect myself.. I wouldn't care how many people are helping me.. anyone with a gun is a threat and I'd do whatever I had to do in order to eliminate the threat.

This isn't a case of racism, police brutality, etc. This is a case of someone resisting arrest, potentially becoming armed, and that person needed to be stopped one way or another.

OK, but 6 guns pointing at him wouldn't have had the same effect?

I would assume I'd be out gunned, further prolonging the standoff would result in a shooting in which I would lose, regardless of whether I get a shot off or not, also don't police officers have training on disarming overpowered subjects?

In it's morbidity, I found the video interesting, these particular officers seemed to either not have had training in detaining or at least subduing subjects without the use of arms, (the guy was floored) or chose to ignore it, descending into a chaotic situation.

(I was left thinking. Was the event avoidable, or could have been handled in a better way)

[Skiver Veteran]

I love the sensationalism of "in broad daylight" - yes, because normally people only get shot in the dark

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

You can clearly hear the officer shout 'let go of the gun! gun!" before shooting him.
If the homeless guy went for his weapon and actually drew it and aimed it at the officers, then the cop that fired off 5 shots had every right to do it. 
However 1 well aimed headshot would of done the trick. Wasted 4 bullets