Turkish Police Gun Down Rioter

GRAPHIC VIDEO


So to me it appears this officer essentially gets separated from the rest of his comrades, freaks out and while trying to fire off some warning shots a man is struck either by a ricochet or another officers weapon. It appears the first shot is aimed at the ground, and the subsequent shots are fired into the air. Either way, dumb freaking move and just a recipe for disaster.

Google translation of the video description:

A video came out only a few hours ago, inherent to the first day of the protest erupted in Ankara - more specifically in the commercial district of Kızılay - which continues for over 10 days. Right here, a police officer in riot gear, after being thrown out of a group of about 20 protesters with flags and banners, he felt cornered. So, he pulled out the pistol and started shooting, mo 'warning, upwards. In the meantime, however, a protester was hit. Judging from the pictures, not by the same police officer who was there, caught up in the crowd, but probably by an agent away. That, given the ailing colleague, has seen fit to fire randomly into the crowd at eye level. The policeman at the center of scrimmage, immediately after the shooting, he fled.
Victim's name Ethem Sarısülük, a worker of 27 years. E 'was shot in the head and he slumped to the ground. His companions waved white flags because it was immediate relief. Turkish sources speak of brain death, but his lawyer has so far denied. It would be the fifth victim of the repression - remote-controlled by Prime Minister Erdogan - who are literally bloodshed protest in Turkey. A prosecutor has already contacted the police because he mentioned the name of the man who opened fire. At the moment, according to the Turkish Communist Party, has not yet received a response. We look forward to new updates, which we will inform you hour by hour.

While there are certainly times when I could see a police officer firing on a mob, this was not one of them. He had a clear escape route at that point, and I was very surprised by his actions. One person is dead, and let's all hope the rest of those warning shots didn't strike anyone.

I'm not going to embed the video, but you can find it below. It's not really gory, but it does show a man being shot which I'm sure would bother a few folks.

Warning: Graphic Video

I'm with you on this, that cop should never have been armed, he's just used his weapon like a US cop uses theirs - shoot first and ask questions later.

The use of guns should always be an absolute last resort, and that cop has now potentially escalated the crisis in the country no end.

This is what a lot of those on the ground don't seem to realize, when there is unnecessary violence like this, it increases the support and the public anger. This will only increase the numbers out on the street. If that guy has been killed (I don't think there's evidence for that yet) then that cop could be responsible for igniting an even more violent response from the public.

I remember having the same thoughts in response to Occupy, and that young man almost killed by a riot cop firing a canister at his head. I knew when I watched that video that things were about to heat up, and within days thousands of serving military were joining in the protests and taking photos of themselves holding up messages of support for him.

These little moments have the potential to escalate a period of civil unrest and protest into a state of civil war.

Well ,that didn't take too long.Looks like the bumpy ride just got started.If you are below 30 years of age good luck.

This thread should be interesting...let see how many actually bother to click on it never mind post in it..

A Police officer Killed a man in broad daylight at point blank range...ok he was firing blind by the looks of it, but he still killed a man.....No excuses....Ratbag!!

I just can't see how the gun fire hit that guy. It had to ricochet off something.

Or someone else shot the guy and we're looking at the wrong cop.

I just cannot see how it, pointing the way it was, hit that guy.. he fell right on the third pop.

bizarre.

reply to post by winofiend


That's what I'm having trouble with too. The gun appeared to not have been pointed on the guy that got hit. I suppose he could have taken a ricochet from that first shot, or another cop could have shot him. I'm almost certain I read an article stating that the guy was shot in the head, I'll try to find it here in a second. I suppose he could have had a heart attack or fainted too.

Either way as the guy who first responded to the thread pointed out, these little incidents (if you want to call it little) can snowball pretty fast with the understandable outrage sure to follow.