Video shows police shot Ohio man ‘on sight’ as he leaned on toy gun in Walmart

a reply to: Kangaruex4Ewe

He also says that the guy tried to get up and come at the officer.

The kid had been shot twice. I'm willing to bet the kid had absolutely no idea what he was doing in those short moments afterwards.

a reply to: Snarl
Yes once again I agree with you. He appears to be looking for his 15 mins of fame. Or trying to cover his mistaken judgement call.

a reply to: 2manyholes

It really makes it hard for the public to know what the truth is.

If you get to know the actual truth then the current news 'propaganda' model is not working. It's the opinion they want a person to believe.

originally posted by: Snarl
a reply to: Kangaruex4Ewe

He also says that the guy tried to get up and come at the officer.

The kid had been shot twice. I'm willing to bet the kid had absolutely no idea what he was doing in those short moments afterwards.

I would assume the same thing. I was shocked to hear him say the guy got up. It seemed to be a little suspect to me. I hate it when there are 50 versions of every story like this and most fall off the radar before anybody really learns what happened. It's disheartening regardless of how it happened.

originally posted by: 2manyholes
a reply to: Urantia1111
Are you kidding me? You seriously want to lay blame at an innocent man leaning on a toy gun in the toy section talking on his cell phone with his back to police when he is shot and killed? Seriously?

Yes, at least partially. Incidentally, those BB guns are not toys and are usually in sporting goods, not toys. I'm just saying that if he had thought about it a bit, he may have realized how unwise it is to be strolling through the store with a super-realistic BB gun, especially in light of recent events featuring cops gunning down completely unarmed citizens like hotcakes. Do you wander out into the Serengeti in an antelope costume and expect no action from the lions?

a reply to: Kangaruex4Ewe

I hate it when there are 50 versions of every story like this and most fall off the radar before anybody really learns what happened.

Pretty sure the comments in this thread have found the pulse once again. Waitin' to see how they spin this. The thing that's new, is there's a published interview of the do-gooder calling for the cops ... and this one looks very suspect (IMNSHO). I'm trying not to rush to judgement ... and failing.

a reply to: loam

Anybody think open carry and stand your ground apply to non-whites?
I firmly believe these laws are made by whites, for the exclusive use of whites. I have lots of evidence to back it up.

Anyone have the courage to admit it?

I haven't seen anybody mention that Ohio is an open carry state. Whether he picked up the BB gun in Walmart or came in with the gun, it's perfectly legal for him to be carrying it.

If he was indeed pointing it at people and such, that's obviously not legal.

originally posted by: Urantia1111
a reply to: loam

I would expect this to cause Wal-Mart to stop carrying products like this that cannot be distinguished from real firearms by police or ex-military. Some of these BB guns are very realistic. People ought to know better than to wander around the store carrying one, but once again we reach the impasse where cops gave commands and opened fire at the same time, plus in this case the victim was on the phone and not fully aware of the cops' presence. My opinion is this is a bit everyone's fault, but mainly the cops.

You do realize that Walmart carries real guns as well as the toy ones? How does one manage to purchase either kind and get out of the store without being killed??

a reply to: Urantia1111

Do you wander out into the Serengeti in an antelope costume and expect no action from the lions?

That has to be a sick joke. Or to you everyone is supposed to act like an animal? You are the problem sir.

a reply to: Urantia1111

People ought to know better than to wander around the store carrying one

Why? As long as he's not threatening anyone with it or pointing it at anyone or anything, it's legal in Ohio to open carry.

The people who should know better are the police. Of course, if he was pointing it at people and such then it adds a different spin to the story. But, even if he was pointing it at people, if the rest was true and he was just leaning on it like a cane with his back to the police and they shot him, that's still unacceptable whether he was threatening people with it or not.

a reply to: TiedDestructor

Wal-Mart did the same thing in response to Columbine for a while and a lot of them still limit purchases of what they do still carry. I'm not saying that should happen, just predicting they'll likely make a move in that direction again if this story gets legs and causes bad PR for them. I'm firmly pro-gun.

originally posted by: roadgravel
a reply to: 2manyholes

It really makes it hard for the public to know what the truth is.

If you get to know the actual truth then the current news 'propaganda' model is not working. It's the opinion they want a person to believe.

The plaintiff's attorney has the store video. The plantiff's will get paid from taxpayer funds. That's how it works until the people stop the madness and defund PD's.

a reply to: frayed1

A new market for a special sales wrapper for firearms. Big old yellow package with lettering "Don't shoot - Unloaded gun - I am carrying this to check out."

The store could let a manager carry it out but then who would want to be a manager and risk death.

originally posted by: Urantia1111
I'm just saying that if he had thought about it a bit, he may have realized how unwise it is to be strolling through the store with a super-realistic BB gun, especially in light of recent events featuring cops gunning down completely unarmed citizens like hotcakes. Do you wander out into the Serengeti in an antelope costume and expect no action from the lions?

Yeah, and if the woman hadn't been wearing a short skirt at a party, she wouldn't have been raped and killed on her way home. Women are stupid, eh?

/sarcasm

There's statements from the couple, April and Ronald Ritchie from a local news station interview on Bearing Arms. Ronald Ritchie is the former marine who called 911. It sounds like their perception of what was going on and trigger happy cops led to this man's death. From the Bearing Arms source:

“He got on his cell phone right after he walked past me,” April Ritchie said. Ritchie was on her cell phone, talking with her mother. She had broken an ankle and was riding a scooter.

“Guy. Gun. Hold on,” April Ritchie recalled telling her mother.

They followed the man at a safe distance and Ronald Ritchie, a former Marine, called 911 at 8:21 p.m.

“Anytime I saw people walking his way, I would get their attention,” April Ritchie said, waving her hands for the reporters to demonstrate what she did. She said at one point, a family was standing next to the man with the rifle, but didn’t notice the rifle. The man turned to look at them with a stare she described as if he was telling them, “don’t come near me.”

He was holding a cellphone between his left ear and left shoulder while messing with the rifle, she said. “He just kept messing with it and I heard a clicking,” she said.

Ronald Ritche said the man “was just waving it at children and people. Items…. I couldn’t hear anything that he was saying. I’m thinking that he is either going to rob the place or he’s there to shoot somebody else.” The man looked kind of serious, Ronald Ritchie said. “He didn’t really want to be looked at and when people did look at him, he was pointing the gun at them. He was pointing at people. Children walking by.”

Ronald Ritchie said the man wasn’t pointing the weapon at people as if he was going to shoot, but rather waving it in their direction as a threat.

So basically they saw a guy walk by talking on the phone, holding what they thought was an actual gun and decided he must be there to rob the place or shoot somebody. So they followed him around making sure everyone that he crossed paths with would be alarmed by waving their arms wildly? Meanwhile the husband calls the cops and gives an embellished account of their PERCEPTION and the cops show up and shoot a man who is completely unaware of wtf is going on?

Sound about right? Wow.

EDIT:

Here's the Crosman MK-177 Tactical Air Rifle at Wal-mart's website

originally posted by: InverseLookingGlass
a reply to: Urantia1111

Do you wander out into the Serengeti in an antelope costume and expect no action from the lions?

That has to be a sick joke. Or to you everyone is supposed to act like an animal? You are the problem sir.

Take it easy killer. All I'm saying is that cops are IN REALITY so poorly trained that what this kid did is now AS DANGEROUS as dressing up as a prey animal and approaching wild predators. You should EXPECT to get attacked, not because what he did is illegal, but because the predators nowadays kill so indiscriminately. Get it now?

From the article:

He said the video suggests Crawford probably did not see or hear officers as they arrived.

Crawford was speaking by cell phone to his girlfriend, who was with his parents, when he was shot.

“He said he was at the video games playing videos, and he went over there by the toy section where the toy guns were,” said LeeCee Johnson, the mother of his two children. “The next thing I know, he said, ‘It’s not real,’ and the police start shooting, and they said ‘Get on the ground,’ but he was already on the ground because they had shot him.”

originally posted by: Benevolent Heretic

originally posted by: Urantia1111
I'm just saying that if he had thought about it a bit, he may have realized how unwise it is to be strolling through the store with a super-realistic BB gun, especially in light of recent events featuring cops gunning down completely unarmed citizens like hotcakes. Do you wander out into the Serengeti in an antelope costume and expect no action from the lions?

Yeah, and if the woman hadn't been wearing a short skirt at a party, she wouldn't have been raped and killed on her way home. Women are stupid, eh?

/sarcasm

Come on now. I'm not saying he deserved to be shot and you know that. I'm saying that in this time and place, we unfortunately should EXPECT wildly dangerous overreaction by law enforcement and adjust our behavior accordingly. IF you want to minimize the chances of getting unjustly shot dead in the toy department of Wal-Mart, that is.

They followed the man at a safe distance and Ronald Ritchie, a former Marine, called 911 at 8:21 p.m.

From the former Marine, following at a safe distance a man with a rifle in a Walmart? Dreaming. Gonna guess they were at about 20 feet.