Texas cop shoots 93 year old woman to death- justified?

A 93-year-old woman wielding a revolver was shot to death by police in the rural Texas town of Hearne, authorities said.
Neighbors said Pearlie Golden was a sweet woman known to most people of this predominantly black community as "Miss Sully."
The nonagenarian was shot five times, several witnesses told KBTX-TV.
The fatal confrontation began when Golden’s nephew called cops after he took the elderly woman’s car keys because she no longer has a driver’s license.
She grabbed a gun and threatened her nephew, KBTX-TV reported. When cops arrived around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Golden was outside the home waving the gun around.
..........

Officer Stephen Stem asked the 93-year-old to “put down the weapon and then ultimately fired his own sidearm, wounding Miss Golden” who later died at a local hospital
..........

Stem has previously shot and killed a suspect, the news station reported. Just six months after he started with the department, Stem shot and killed Tederalle Satchell, 28, who reportedly was shooting a gun from his car in an apartment complex parking lot.
A grand jury cleared the then-rookie officer of wrongdoing. He’s been on the job less than two years.

Link to article

Seems to me that this shooting may have actually been justified. She was waiving a gun around, even if she was 93 years old. Doesn't make it look good that the cop had previously shot and killed someone less than 2 years ago, but I don't think I can blame him in this situation. What do you all think?

He gave her a verbal warning. Even if she was too senile to understand the warning, the fact is, the unpredictability of the situation gave the cop justification to ensure his own safety. In any case, any time you're waving a gun around near a cop and you get shot, its justified.

It's too bad, but don't let her age fool you.... Who knows ...maybe she had Alzheimer's or another mental illness that makes her aggressive and violent...( realizing not all mental illness does that, but some do...) and she was waving the gun around ...!

a reply to: jburg6

She almost dead even if this event didn't happen anyway.

a reply to: jburg6
I think shooting her could have been justified but not shooting to kill.
This pig shot and killed before, he needs to be investigated and then maybe a mental evaluation.
Ive seen snipers disarm people with one shot and nobody had to die.
This crap is just getting ridiculously outta control.

Peace

a reply to: jburg6

She pulled a gun and threatened someone. She was waving it around, endangering any in the area. She didn't drop it when told to by the police. If those are are all facts, as the story states, this was justified. being old doesn't give one a pass to break the law, any more than being a teenager does.

Wow
WTF America????
Another day another unbelievable headline..
You really do seem to be turning into a police state, slowly but surely.

What ever happened to stun-guns and pepper spray?

I think these have vanished ... obviously.

a reply to: jburg6
Have you not seen Kung Pao - Enter the Fist...?
These are precisely the kinds of situations that call for the small/tiny net dropping from the sky.
Sorry for the lady...but - as you - I kinda see this as 'justified'...

The police state is here now.....
The comments which support this idiot with a license to kill really piss me off.....the cops aren't the only people in America who are dumbed down, and emotionally bankrupt....
If this was the very best the cop could do there is no hope for the country....

a reply to: jburg6

I probably would have let him walk on the last one too.

This should be an expected outcome when you call the cops. I wonder how the nephew feels now.

One of the cases where I, Who is a predominately vocal critique of the police, this is once again about mental health.

At the point a person is willing to threaten a family member with a gun, to do something potentially dangerous. I have to say its a case of it being a tragedy.

I can't imagine the cops in this one instance didn't do what they thought was right, If any issue to be raised its a training one.

Though I can't imagine what you can do about a women with a Revolver, Its a weapon that as the saying goes, "god made men, colt made them equal" .

In that case, who ever wields a gun takes on an enormous responsibility, it should not be done lightly and on a whim.

My knee jerk is to bash the cops, LOOK at my post history and threads, I am more than willing to crucify for excessive force.

I also like how quick the media jumps on race, remember, divide and conquer.

Irresponsible gun ownership makes every Gun rights advocate look bad.

There is no age limit on potential murderers. That being said... This is just too sad for words. She may very well have been suffering from some sort of dementia and wouldn't hesitate for too long before killing someone. Accidentally or not. I always try to picture my mother or other loved ones in this situation and while I would not want the police to shoot my mother, I can not expect them to keep talking long enough for her to fatally shoot one of them.

Would I be angry? Absolutely. I would be very angry about a lot of things, but then I would have to take a step back. Dimentia is so unpredictable and so hard to handle. That is why a lot of folks need to be housed where they can be watched 24/7. They can be a severe danger to themselves and others.

I am not sure that is what the issue was here however and I do not like it that the cop has already been investigated before in his very short career. I am only ASSuming that at her age her mental faculties were more than likely deteriorating.

It would be nice if there were easy solutions for occurrences such as these, but sadly there isn't. We can't really expect an officer to sacrifice themselves simply because this was an elderly woman.

I sincerely feel for this family and the nephew who must now live with the fact that his call made for her protection abruptly ended in her death.

I think the cops have been out of control lately... but in this case, I would have probably done the same. I am glad that I don't have to make those kids of decisions every day, as I would probably lose a lot of sleep.


ETA- That I just noticed the officer fired 5 rounds. That sounds like a bit of overkill to me. I am wondering now, why he couldn't just shoot her in the leg/arm before he practically emptied the clip???

edit on 5/8/2014 by Kangaruex4Ewe because: (no reason given)

a reply to: Kangaruex4Ewe
My father, at the age of 80, had a stroke while driving... He survived...and didn't know/understand that he was impaired. He tried to talk as he always had...and would forget that he didn't have the same control over that facility anymore...and would grow very frustrated.
He was not allowed to drive anymore (obviously), but on one or more occasions tried to...with near-disastrous results (driving through the closed garage door, etc...).
Nothing EVIL about it...but...I know, he could have killed himself, my mother, and other-innocents...
... ...What's the answer in such a situation?
No-one likes it - but - if someone doesn't make the difficult choices, they may be sorrier than if the did.

The cop was justified for certain, if this lady was incoherent and waving a gun around, and refusing to put it down. Though 5 shots seems like overkill. 1 shot should have taken her down pretty easy. Why so many?

a reply to: WanDash

I am sorry you had to go through that. It's a very hard thing to deal with. I know. I had an uncle that wouldn't hurt a soul, he woke up one day completely lost in his own mind. The family tried to care for him but he grew very violent with almost every one that he came into contact with. It broke their hearts, but they were not able to care for him without help after a while. They tried. He even had to be moved to 2 different homes because they could not handle him. It's a sad way to spend your remaining years for sure. It's heartbreaking.

a reply to: Unrealised

The cops are too scared for their lifes and people keep letting them use that as an excuse to shoot people.

Cops that are scared do not need to be cops!!!

Yes i understand she had a gun in her hand and was waving it around, big deal.

IMO cops should have to wait to be fired at till they can shoot, they know what they singed up for, if you don't want to put your life on the line for your fellow man then don't be a cop.
She deserved to have her actions dealt with due process, not some snot nose trigger happy kid

a reply to: stirling

If this was the very best the cop could do there is no hope for the country.... - See more at: www.abovetopsecret.com...

I think this speaks volumes.
Yes she had a gun and was waiving it around, so by the letter of the law he was justified.
But was the most peaceful outcome? Is that not the job of the peace officer? To end the situations peacefully??

a reply to: candlestick

She almost dead even if this event didn't happen anyway.

Wow! What a seriously disgusting thing to say....
and you got stars for that comment. Unbelievable