Cop Fires on Van Full of kids (Viral Video)

I have mixed emotions on this situation. The woman should never have left the scene with her children in the car. The cops should have blocked her vehicle the second time. I think she is nuts, and escalated this on her own. I am not sure the cop who fired knew there were other children in the car. The 14 year old rushed the cop, and he is not a toddler. I think this is going to be easily used as a race baiting situation again. You decide:

More and more we are seeing cops using their guns instead of common sense. It used to be that a cop was proud when he could state that he has served so many years and never had to pull a gun from his hip. Now it seems that many are feeling left out if they don't get the chance to do so.

Steroids + Cops + Immunity from actions + Paid leave while being investigated = "I'm a God!"

Not good at all...

Peace

She's an idiot for doing 71 in a 55, she's an idiot for pulling away from the traffic stop. Her son is an idiot for getting out and trying to start a fight with the cops. The cop who fired on the vehicle is an idiot for using deadly force where none was warranted.
Stupidity Abounds...

reply to post by UnifiedSerenity


I am pretty sure the cop that was shooting that van was black as well .. not sure how this would be used as a race thing.

Clearly she is scared with a van full of kids and cops attacking the vehicle .
I guess it is ok for cops to behave this way and not a group of bikers .

sageturkey
She's an idiot for doing 71 in a 55, she's an idiot for pulling away from the traffic stop. Her son is an idiot for getting out and trying to start a fight with the cops. The cop who fired on the vehicle is an idiot for using deadly force where none was warranted.
Stupidity Abounds...

Granted, the boy's actions weren't the smartest, but he is not a mature adult. I see him just trying to protect his family from what he perceives as a threat. The mother is just clinically retarded or trying to hide something.

reply to post by UnifiedSerenity


Damn! Lots of blame to go around on that one.

You youngsters would never know it, but there was a time when the police and the public were not mortal enemies. Looks like that's long gone.

I will say this: I've noticed that police now seem willing to go directly to escalation these days so that they have an excuse to fire their tasers/weapons, rather than to try and de-escalate. This is the exact opposite of what they used to be taught. It's really not surprising that they perceive constant danger to themselves: They bring it on themselves....

I try and stay in the middle on all clips like this and write just off the information presented..

To me the mother is the only person responsible for this scenario.

1. She was speeding
2. The officer was trying to talk with her and the point when he says" Im returning to my car please shut yours off" and she decides to pull off? Yah , that is about as dumb a move as you can do and at that point she is putting her whole family at risk.
3. The cop could have easily pulled his gun when the 14 year old came at him and he didn't.
4. The cop that showed up at the end clearly didn't have all the info because the original cop had multiple chances and would have been warranted in at least drawing his weapon but didn't. The last cop shows up and all he sees is a van speeding off so he opens fire. That cop should have tried to get an assessment from the other but it is much easier to sit here behind my keyboard and say that vs being on scene.

I am all for pointing out when police respond incorrectly but I am also for holding people accountable for their actions and it this case the mother failed and failed horribly.

reply to post by UnifiedSerenity


The woman definitely was in the wrong for driving off in the first place. If you disagree with a ticket written by a cop you show up in court and present your side of the case. Small chance of winning but it does happen. She should be charged with child endangerment as well as speeding and resisting arrest. Cops have guns. If you get into an altercation with one of them then there is a possibility of the gun being used. If you have a car full of kids and you decide to get into an altercation then you are endangering them! The cop that fired his gun was wrong for firing since I did not see any imminent danger to fellow officers at the time he fired. I do not believe he was aware that the van was full of children though since it appears like he arrived late to the scene.

Ok normally with these things I can't defend the man, but this is a dysfunctional family.

As for the cop that fired his gun, I'd say he showed up on the scene saw the chaos, and reacted.

Also it looked like he aimed low most likely for the tires.

I blame mom, and Billy Badace!

freedomSlave
reply to post by UnifiedSerenity

 

I am pretty sure the cop that was shooting that van was black as well .. not sure how this would be used as a race thing.

I thought so at first as well, but then I watched the video again. Notice the color of his ears at 1:36-1:37.

reply to post by opethPA


I agree with you that the mother is the one at fault, but was the police officer justified in taking a shot the vehicle? I feel that he wasn't. What harm was posed to him? As you point out, the officer the 14 year old came at kept his cool and didn't draw his weapon.

FatherStacks
reply to post by opethPA

 

I agree with you that the mother is the one at fault, but was the police officer justified in taking a shot the vehicle? I feel that he wasn't. What harm was posed to him? As you point out, the officer the 14 year old came at kept his cool and didn't draw his weapon.

Agreed but in a different way.
Again it is easy for me to sit here at my keyboard and say "No way Im shooting" but that cop probably showed up to a van pulling away from a stop and reacted to the info presented.

I don't think his response to the information he had was wrong, I think his not communicating with original officer is where he failed.

opethPA

Agreed but in a different way.
Again it is easy for me to sit here at my keyboard and say "No way Im shooting" but that cop probably showed up to a van pulling away from a stop and reacted to the info presented.

I don't think his response to the information he had was wrong, I think his not communicating with original officer is where he failed.

That's a fair assessment. It's fortunate that no one was severely injured as a result of poor communication and piss-poor judgement (the parent).

While the mother was uncooperative, I saw the police office attending to the situation quite badly, and even escalating the issue.

The whole ordeal was over a TRAFFIC violation.
No 'real' crimes were committed until the officer gave cause for them to occur.

Additionally, what is shattering the passenger side window where a child is, and breaking off the passenger mirror going to accomplish but to terrify someone with their children even more?

True, the woman should have complied from the very beginning, but, the officer unnecessarily escalated the situation beyond what was needed.

On the second stop, the officer should have called for assistance to block the woman, and waited until assistance arrived before continuing.

FatherStacks

sageturkey
She's an idiot for doing 71 in a 55, she's an idiot for pulling away from the traffic stop. Her son is an idiot for getting out and trying to start a fight with the cops. The cop who fired on the vehicle is an idiot for using deadly force where none was warranted.
Stupidity Abounds...

Granted, the boy's actions weren't the smartest, but he is not a mature adult. I see him just trying to protect his family from what he perceives as a threat. The mother is just clinically retarded or trying to hide something.

Or she saw the video a few weeks ago when two ladies got fisted by an officer searching for god knows what up their hoohaa.

Is it really any wonder why people are afraid of cops? The whole fear of cops thing is what has been pressed on society. "Don't question authority" "I'm right and you're wrong" "Oops I shot you, sorry"

If police officers were merely around to help people perhaps they wouldn't be worried about getting out of the car to talk to them. Police encounters look more and more like attempted rapes, gang bangers swarming, or wild hyenas than they do "protectors of the peace".

Meh…

The police officers who drew his gun and shot at the vehicle showed up as the van sped off the second time. Maybe he wasn't aware that there were children in the vehicle. A lack of proper communication is obviously at fault here.

Xquizit
The police officers who drew his gun and shot at the vehicle showed up as the van sped off the second time. Maybe he wasn't aware that there were children in the vehicle. A lack of proper communication is obviously at fault here.

If he has to be told not to shoot at a van to which he has no clue who is inside, than it is more than a communication problem.

How is he to know there isn't a kidnapping victim in it? Just shoot cause it sped away from police? This is police logic now. "Running away from me deserves deadly force"

boncho
Or she saw the video a few weeks ago when two ladies got fisted by an officer searching for god knows what up their hoohaa.

Is it really any wonder why people are afraid of cops? The whole fear of cops thing is what has been pressed on society. "Don't question authority" "I'm right and you're wrong" "Oops I shot you, sorry"

If police officers were merely around to help people perhaps they wouldn't be worried about getting out of the car to talk to them. Police encounters look more and more like attempted rapes, gang bangers swarming, or wild hyenas than they do "protectors of the peace".

Meh…

I'm not defending the actions of the officer who fired the weapon. But up until the point where the woman drove off, what acts of aggression did the original officer demonstrate that would lead you to expect sexual violence or eminent bodily harm? None. Did he react poorly later on, sure. I can't nor will I defend the actions of anyone in this video, except the boy.

AliceBleachWhite
On the second stop, the officer should have called for assistance to block the woman, and waited until assistance arrived before continuing.

Then people would have been complaining about why does it take multiple cops to stop a van of kids with a woman. How about this, how about if you break the law you deal with the consequences?

The mother caused the problem at multiple points and caused the whole scenario. She is the only one to blame.

The initial cop handled the situation correctly.

The cop that fired you could make a case he didn't.

FatherStacks

sageturkey
She's an idiot for doing 71 in a 55, she's an idiot for pulling away from the traffic stop. Her son is an idiot for getting out and trying to start a fight with the cops. The cop who fired on the vehicle is an idiot for using deadly force where none was warranted.
Stupidity Abounds...

Granted, the boy's actions weren't the smartest, but he is not a mature adult. I see him just trying to protect his family from what he perceives as a threat. The mother is just clinically retarded or trying to hide something.

You know I agree with both of you. With that said, is it unreasonable for anyone to be scared of a cop? Granted he didn't seem to do anything wrong and for some unknown reason she drives off which is like a massive red flag to any cop! Let me play devil's advocate here for the cops:

This is in New Mexico and there is massive human trafficking. She is a child abductor taking children to Mexico to sell into the sex slave trade. Her son helps her, and she is caught a year from now and we discover she has been doing this for five years and has been responsible for hundreds of missing children. Why didn't someone stop her?!?

Ok, yeh that is very far fetched, but what woman drives off from cops like that unless she is insane (needs to be stopped just for that) or up to some serious criminal activity. You see, as I have said before I am leery of the police, but I also worked with them for five years and I know most are not criminals intent on abusing you. They have a job to do, they have families and they are faced with dangers on a daily basis now that was not the case a decade ago. So, the cops who never pulled a gun back then would do so today imho.

Now let me play devil's advocate for the woman:

I have friends who have been ramrodded by a cop, beaten, killed, and there was no way I was going to stick around for that roid freak to kill my family. I was just trying to drive to a safe location where there would be witnesses, and he assaulted me, so what was I supposed to think when he got rough and three more pit bulls in uniform showed up?! I was scared for my life and that's all that happened!

The police are turning citizens paranoid, and as has been said, it's better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.