LAPD officers kill man holding baby when he opens fire; baby dies

[Hammer]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: Hammer
should have waited for SWAT

From what ive read, it was a Swat officer that was hit.

yeah, when more details came out, it was noted that SWAT was there. when i first read the article and it mentioned 10 cops emptied their guns into the guy and his kid, i assumed they couldn't possibly be SWAT.

 

[A Scream]

Originally posted by: NFS4
"He had problems with depression, his business was not doing well," Lopez told KNBC-TV. "I told them that he needed help, he needs a psychologist, but please don't shoot. They didn't understand, and the police fired like 300 shots."

Like 300 shots??? What kind of reporter is this guy?

 

[BuckNaked]

I wish I could read the whole thread, but some of the responses here make my stomach turn. First of all, my heart goes out to everyone involved, both LAPD and the family. It was a horrible turn of events, but only one person is responsible, and that is the father.

I am not nor have I have I ever been a LEO, but have know several, shot with many, and have even had the chance to meet one or two from LAPD D Platoon (SWAT). LAPD was the first agency to field a tactical unit (SWAT) and is cosidered one of the best, if not in the world, at least in this country. I am sure a significant number of them are family men, and bringing harm to a child is about the last thing these guys want to do. One guy I met had just retired from LAPD SWAT after many years, with a wonderful wife and two beautiful daughters, and seemed as good a family guy as I had ever met. I wish I had had the opportunity to get to know him better, I would have been honored to call him a friend. To typecast these kind of guys as someone excercising poor judgement, blood thirsty killers who just want to take someone out, or some other such BS is just wrong. Some of you keyboard kommando's telling everyone how it should have happened should take a reality check... If you can watch a couple of news reports and accurately determine what actually happened, you are a better person than I am. These guys have to make life and death decisions in fractions of seconds, yet the rest of the world can analyze the outcome for days, weeks or even years and then try and tell them how they 'should' have done it...

Generally in a tactical situation like this, there tends to be a 'center of gravity' with regards to the situation, where the actions of one (instigator) determine the actions of the other (police). When the 'center of gravity' tips one way or the other, it generally dictates the type of response. When someone has reached the point of being so irrational as to be firing at police, family members or people in general, they are way past the point of negotation, and usually a response is called for to end the threat. From all indications, it was the father who escalated the conflict to the point where action needed to be taken. If this was your neighborhood, and your family was at risk from stray rounds, I think you would want the police to take some kind of action to stop the threat. I believe the police used the appropriate level of force for the situation, but with a most unfortunate outcome.

 

[bimmyjx]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
BTW CNN's article explicitly says an officer was shot in the incident, which this article kind of glossed over.

This guy shot a cop & got taken down, it doesn't get much clearer than that.

As for the baby, sh!t happens.

Viper GTS

I am pretty sure you wouldn't be saying "Sh!t Happens" if it was your baby. Playing too much CounterStrike making you think teh baby gonna respawn in a minute or 2.