BREAKING: LAPD shooting homeless man

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originally posted by: Mikeyy
Sounds like during the scuffle the Homeless guy took one of the officers guns. So Yeah at that point they have to shoot him.

Also that lady deserved to be arrested also, that was just retarded.

Why do people get so up in arms about these dummies that have run in's with the law? They are stupid, it's why it happens to them.

The homeless guy had total control over how far this was going to go. he decided to test out Darwin's theories and paid the price.

If you have 4 cops tacking and fighting with you, then you are doing something very wrong, and need to just stop, and let it get settled when everybody calms down.

My guess is the guy may have had mental issues.. Maybe the correct question to ask would be why cant 4-6 grown ass men handle a skinny homeless dude without getting in a situation where they have to shoot him? Cops are trained now to loudly make statements for the camera and "he's got my gun" is a common catch all like "stop resisting" I wont judge this because i honestly dont know if the homeless guy got the gun or not... BUT I still stand by my first statement!

originally posted by: Anyafaj

originally posted by: Sremmos80
a reply to: Anyafaj

That does shed some light on things, gives some context on why he may have acted in the way he did.

Don't worry for some, that makes it worse. Now he's even lower than low and definitely deserved what he got. Watch.

So far, it's just you who has that attitude. Why so little faith in the members here?

This is an example of how screwed up the mental health care system in the US is. This guy needed help, but was on the streets. And there are more just like him out there. It looks like the cops didn't have a choice at the end of this, if he grabbed a gun, but since cops aren't trained in how to deal with someone having a mental breakdown, these types of things happen. It's just sad.

At what point do we as a society, decide to have the mental health care discussion?

The homeless dude didn't look old and frail and his voice when he calls out was strong and dominant.

I hear the cop say he's got a gun, then the black policeman shoots him.

Now, It looked pretty chaotic, the way it happened and the sounds of the voices makes me thing everyone was working off adrenalin and was in the moment. It didn't sound like they intentionally said he had a gun just to have an excuse shoot him, looks like an unfortunate series of events but I hope the police dont get blamed - unless something comes out in the backstory.

The police also acted pretty responsible afterwards, granted they had a camera on them but no one seemed to be provoking the crowd.

After listening to it again, really loud.

I think I hear the cops say ''dropped my gun, dropped my gun''

I can only guess the dude put his hands on it (either not knowing it was a gun or whatever) and the police immediately took him out.

The cop shot at east four rounds well spaced out.....
I don't believe the amount of rounds was justified that's for sure....why do they always seem to have to put excess rounds out like that? ( may have been able to save the guy if they didn't outright murder him with multiple shots....)
Many times they've simply kept on shooting till the slide locked back.....
Multiple cops all blasting away......
It is the American way I guess... but it doesn't make a lot of sense.....

a reply to: stirling

From what I read, I thought three officers fired their weapons. That would be two of the three only firing one shot, and one firing two. (not that that isn't excessive, but it's a different scenario that what you posted.)

a reply to: roth1

Have you ever been in a situation where someone has the adrenaline levels of fighting for their life pumping through their body? I can only assume this man who was shot, had that level of adrenaline pumping. I can assure you, it allows for super-human strength. I have personally seen a person lift multiple people double their size in such a situation. It is incredible what the human body is capable of when it feels cornered.

It is indeed scary at best to realize that what you have been taught (in my education/experience - Non-Violent Crisis Intervention/CPI) goes right out the window and you do what you can/have to, to keep the person immobilized. The reason for that is to try and keep a) yourself safe b) others safe and c) the individual safe. I am not a cop. I never carry weapons and therefore would likely always just resort to removing myself and others from the hostile environment and give distance to the threat, if possible...sometimes it isn't. I can also guarantee that one encounter the police have with a potentially violent person is always totally different than the next. They are only human too, they will make mistakes.

Police are the "last resort" for public safety in these types of situations, like what we just all saw on the video. They carry tasers, batons and guns for a reason. Self defense and the defense of the unarmed public (this is not where someone should respond to this reply and start ranting about gun control - stay on topic and keep your rantings to the appropriate threads, please).

The fact that there were 4+ officers AND he still somehow got (presumably) his hand on the officers gun, is quite scary. You can even hear the clicking of a taser before this happens, which means this guy was HIGH AS HELL, at the very least on adrenaline if he wasn't responding to significant electric shock.

I'm not going to NOT fault the police. They made mistakes, obviously, otherwise this man would not have been shot dead while laying down. But unfortunately, this man also made a mistake, possibly many, and whether that was obvious to him or not, is besides the point.

Mental illness or not, if anyone un-holsters a cops gun, be prepared to have whats is coming to you. No one should ever expect a cop or their partners to back down in that instance, and if they do, they fail to be an officer up-holding the law.

I feel for everyone involved, the dead man, the cops, the witnesses. They have all experienced a significant amount of trauma, all on different levels. I can only hope that something good will come of all this. Whether that be better training, policies or overall mental healthcare for...everyone.

I feel that these reoccurring situations are simply a symptom of a broken society. I hope cooler heads can prevail. We need to heal. We cannot keep picking at this wound.

No matter what angle you look at on this case, guilty or not - This situation wouldnt have arrised if the one man wouldnt have been jumped on by a group of thugs.

One homeless man Vs 4+ heavy weght, armed men.

Your police are a #ing joke.

originally posted by: n00bUK
No matter what angle you look at on this case, guilty or not - This situation wouldnt have arrised if the one man wouldnt have been jumped on by a group of thugs.

One homeless man Vs 4+ heavy weght, armed men.

Your police are a #ing joke.

Actually, if you really look at it, none of these incidents would have happened if someone hadn't called the cops to begin with. Some person, called the police to file a complaint about a robbery.

Did you see the guy fighting with the cops? If there were just two of them, they would have had their ass handed to them. he was flailing wildly.

Have you ever been in a situation where someone has the adrenaline levels of fighting for their life pumping through their body? I can only assume this man who was shot, had that level of adrenaline pumping.

a reply to: Sparkymedic

Way to many times. 100's a mater of fact.

One person per limb and trained to restrain someone.

Come on get real.

They were busy beating him if you watched.

Not trying to restrain him.

He is tiring to grab my gun.

That is just something they say before they shoot.

Just like saying quit resisting before they beat you up.

I been there, i have seen it to many times for you to tell me that one isn't true.

a reply to: Sremmos80

I clearly heard it too. One officer says "drop the gun, drop the gun" around the time u hear a tazer. Then you hear the officer say "He's got a gun", then gunfire and he's dead.

originally posted by: ker2010

originally posted by: Mikeyy
Sounds like during the scuffle the Homeless guy took one of the officers guns. So Yeah at that point they have to shoot him.

Also that lady deserved to be arrested also, that was just retarded.

Why do people get so up in arms about these dummies that have run in's with the law? They are stupid, it's why it happens to them.

The homeless guy had total control over how far this was going to go. he decided to test out Darwin's theories and paid the price.

If you have 4 cops tacking and fighting with you, then you are doing something very wrong, and need to just stop, and let it get settled when everybody calms down.

My guess is the guy may have had mental issues.. Maybe the correct question to ask would be why cant 4-6 grown ass men handle a skinny homeless dude without getting in a situation where they have to shoot him? Cops are trained now to loudly make statements for the camera and "he's got my gun" is a common catch all like "stop resisting" I wont judge this because i honestly dont know if the homeless guy got the gun or not... BUT I still stand by my first statement!

Yes, the guy had mental issues. He was just released from a mental hospital where he'd been for the last ten years.

An area resident, who identified himself as Booker T. Washington, said police had come by repeatedly to ask Africa to take down his tent. People are allowed to sleep on the streets from 9 p.m to 6 a.m., but they are supposed to remove their tents in the daytime under a court agreement.

“This man got shot over a tent,” Washington said.

Ina Murphy, who lives in an apartment nearby, said Africa had arrived in the area about four or five months ago. He told her he had recently been released after spending 10 years in a mental facility, Murphy said.

Source

originally posted by: network dude

originally posted by: Anyafaj

originally posted by: Sremmos80
a reply to: Anyafaj

That does shed some light on things, gives some context on why he may have acted in the way he did.

Don't worry for some, that makes it worse. Now he's even lower than low and definitely deserved what he got. Watch.

So far, it's just you who has that attitude. Why so little faith in the members here?

This is an example of how screwed up the mental health care system in the US is. This guy needed help, but was on the streets. And there are more just like him out there. It looks like the cops didn't have a choice at the end of this, if he grabbed a gun, but since cops aren't trained in how to deal with someone having a mental breakdown, these types of things happen. It's just sad.

At what point do we as a society, decide to have the mental health care discussion?

Because I've been through the mental health system with my daughter who is autistic, and I've been on a few boards and I've seen the attitudes displayed towards those unable to properly care for themselves. It's almost enough to make you give up on humanity as a whole.

originally posted by: Anyafaj

originally posted by: BerenstEiner
How long until the riots?

Want to see how cynical I've become? Depends, what color was he? No one riots over a white dead mental homeless guy.

Yes they do. Come to Albuquerque, the land where cops dont care what color you are. They will flat out kill you here.

In fact, when they killed a homeless man last year, one of the cops, said he was going to shoot him in the penis before even arriving on scene. To me thats pre meditated murder.

Come to Albuquerque, I dare you.

We should wait untill the outcome of this LA shooting before we compare the James Boyd case thats going on down here.

But they both have mental illness and both were homeless and both did not remove their tent. Now both are dead.

The homeless guy was acting aggressively, he was swinging at the cops with his fists and than the female picked up the baton and was ready to swing it at the police. Whether this homeless guy was on drugs or was hallucinating, he definitely escalated the situation. If this is a dangerous part of town, I can understand why there were so many police present. Considering all the bad publicity police have been getting since the shooting in Ferguson, I'm sure all police departments around the country have been lectured on not using lethal force on unarmed civilians. I would have to guess that something caused this officer to shoot this guy. The aggressiveness of this homeless man makes me wonder if he did reach or grab for the policemen's gun.

As for the bystanders, I think they already had feelings of their race being victimized by police. It had to be shocking to watch this man being shot, but I think their shock and the feeling of being victimized created a selective perspective on the entire incident. Them calling the black office a "sell out" clearly showed how they viewed this incident along racial lines. If the officer that shot this homeless guy was black, it gives credibility to the officer's actions that he was most certainly in fear for his life. I'm sure as more videos come forward, it will help clarify and explain what really happened.

a reply to: game over man

Arm the homeless with .357 mags. The heroes will look elsewhere for their confrontations.

The amount of LEO force applied is inversely proportional to the threat.

originally posted by: network dude

originally posted by: n00bUK
No matter what angle you look at on this case, guilty or not - This situation wouldnt have arrised if the one man wouldnt have been jumped on by a group of thugs.

One homeless man Vs 4+ heavy weght, armed men.

Your police are a #ing joke.

Actually, if you really look at it, none of these incidents would have happened if someone hadn't called the cops to begin with. Some person, called the police to file a complaint about a robbery.

Did you see the guy fighting with the cops? If there were just two of them, they would have had their ass handed to them. he was flailing wildly.

lets get even more deeper then, take the #ing guns away.

The state of America is a joke.

Great people but their fixation with guns is #ing insane

a reply to: n00bUK

I guess I just don't see how Americans having the right to bear arms has anything at all to do with this incident.
The cops have guns. This guy tried to grab one, or may have actually done so.

Are you going to tell me that where you live, no cops have guns?

originally posted by: doompornjunkie
The lady grabbed the baton and took a fighting stance... gonna get tackled, no 2 ways about it.

originally posted by: Anyafaj
My guess is, he fought so hard because he thought they were coming to take him back, or God knows what was running through his brain. They woman may have been trying to protect him and may not be all there herself.

originally posted by: WeRpeons
Them calling the black office a "sell out" clearly showed how they viewed this incident along racial lines.

These above noted details are important because they signify a larger cultural shift with the general population, with blacks being on the forefront of the shift and millenials being close behind ("ask a cop" comments being the best example) Its very safe to assume that the other demographics will soon follow suit.

What is that cultural shift you ask?

LEO's have the lost the trust and respect of EVERYONE.

But how do I know this from the video?

The homeless man is willing to give up his life to NOT return to the mental health facility. The woman actually attempts to fight multiple police officers, with just a baton, when has that ever happened? Last, the crowd taunts large group of police office that could have easily started arresting them.

It can't be undone now and their attempts at friendly "twitter feeds" and "youtube body camera footage" CAN NOT shift the tide, its simply, too little, too late. The generation that actually remembers when cops did "good things" is in decline, retiring and/or dying. Most people under 30 only know police as violent. How can LEO's possibly fix that?

They can't.

Its only a matter of time before the crowds jump in and forcefully prevent officers from acting inappropriately.