These incidents are very common, because police are rarely given any training (or adequate training) for dealing with people who are severely mentally ill or suicidal. I wouldn't be surprised if, in the moment when the police shot this man to death, they actually were at risk of being harmed - suicide by cop isn't exactly uncommon among men. I do wonder, however, whether the earlier stages of the police intervention might have been managed in such a way that this man could not have posed a risk to anyone other than himself.
Why are police departments "training" to confront suicidal people? I would think that communicating with the person, maybe outside of the house or in a safe area would make more sense. Stake out around the perimeter and make sure the person doesn't leave, in case of them harming others? Bring a psychologist or something to try to talk the person down?
I know that for the times I've felt suicidal, having a direct confrontation made things even worse. If I had a gun and was waving it around, couldn't they shoot my foot or arm so that I might be disarmed instead of aiming to kill? Police officers learn to shoot their weapons, so they should be able to choose a way to not kill someone.
I don't disagree with you on the point that the police should have found alternate ways to defuse the situation peacefully, but police are specifically trained not to try to use their firearms to shoot for non-vital areas, for a couple of reasons. It's easier to miss when you're aiming for an extremity rather than the center of mass, which could result in ricochet or hitting an unintended target. And given so many police departments' terrible track record with tasers and the like, I don't think anyone wants cops to start thinking of their guns as "nonlethal" weapons. Basic gun safety says not to point a firearm at anything you don't intend to destroy. I think what we want here is to teach police to rely less on their guns, not more.
But to reiterate, you're right, they should've locked down the area and brought in a psychologist or otherwise found a way to resolve the situation safely for all concerned, rather than pulling guns.
Shooting to wound is . . . difficult at best. A gun is not a wounding weapon; it is a killing weapon. Gunshot wounds (as opposed to gunshot deaths) are either the result of an incredible amount of training to hit precisely, or user error of some sort.
And police training is to shoot for center body mass for just that reason. You're more likely to hit the target, and far less likely to have the bullet go somewhere else.
(Note that my personal feelings about the police are not anywhere near as kind as this comment makes them look; this is more about the fact that I think far too few people truly realize and treat guns like the lethal weapons they are. Guns are not for wounding. They are for killing. Anyone who does not accept that fact has no damned business owning one. And for the record, I extend this philosophy to bows and swords as well.)
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very sad for his family.
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I know that for the times I've felt suicidal, having a direct confrontation made things even worse. If I had a gun and was waving it around, couldn't they shoot my foot or arm so that I might be disarmed instead of aiming to kill? Police officers learn to shoot their weapons, so they should be able to choose a way to not kill someone.
This entire thing sickens me.
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But to reiterate, you're right, they should've locked down the area and brought in a psychologist or otherwise found a way to resolve the situation safely for all concerned, rather than pulling guns.
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And police training is to shoot for center body mass for just that reason. You're more likely to hit the target, and far less likely to have the bullet go somewhere else.
(Note that my personal feelings about the police are not anywhere near as kind as this comment makes them look; this is more about the fact that I think far too few people truly realize and treat guns like the lethal weapons they are. Guns are not for wounding. They are for killing. Anyone who does not accept that fact has no damned business owning one. And for the record, I extend this philosophy to bows and swords as well.)
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