Officer shows 'great restraint' NOT shooting charging homicide suspect

[katydid23]

But this officer did not NEED to do that to do his job and arrest the suspect! This should be APPLAUDED! Nothing will make me say this man is not a hero. Sorry we disagree.

But he did not KNOW that for sure. And he put himself in grave danger in that one moment. And that is something I can not applaud. Sorry, guess we must agree to disagree.

 

[EllieBee]

But he did not KNOW that for sure. And he put himself in grave danger in that one moment. And that is something I can not applaud. Sorry, guess we must agree to disagree.

Lol, or agree to agree that we disagree.

 

[Tawny]

I think it's absolutely worthy of applause that he spared a life. That anyone would believe differently astounds me.

 

[katydid23]

I think it's absolutely worthy of applause that he spared a life. That anyone would believe differently astounds me.

I guess i am a cold hearted cruel person. But I have little sympathy for a double murderer on a high speed chase, ending the chase with charging and threatening to kill an officer. I do not think it was a wise decision to 'trust' that he was not going to shoot, and the officer put himself in an unnecessarily dangerous position. I am glad that it worked out, but it was not a wise choice, imo. It may well have cost him his life and I bet his superiors will play back that one moment that he allowed the perp to come so dangerously close that he fell backwards. JMO

 

[EllieBee]

I think it's absolutely worthy of applause that he spared a life. That anyone would believe differently astounds me.

Maybe that is part of the reason we have such a kill-happy "shoot first, question later" society.

Maybe the cops are just living up to the expectations of their fellow citizens.

I am still so proud of this officer for doing what was RIGHT and not what he could have gotten away with under the law, maybe.

 

[EllieBee]

I guess i am a cold hearted cruel person. But I have little sympathy for a double murderer on a high speed chase, ending the chase with charging and threatening to kill an officer. I do not think it was a wise decision to 'trust' that he was not going to shoot, and the officer put himself in an unnecessarily dangerous position. I am glad that it worked out, but it was not a wise choice, imo. It may well have cost him his life and I bet his superiors will play back that one moment that he allowed the perp to come so dangerously close that he fell backwards. JMO

We have a court system to decide guilt and penalty. The job of LE is to apprehend suspects and keep the peace. They are NOT appointed to serve as judge, jury and executioner.

They choose a dangerous job. But in doing so they are expected to perform that job ethically and legally. We have a judicial system in place for good reason. Killing bad guys is the job of the courts.

 

[mysteriew]

At one time it was known, if you were holding a weapon and facing a cop there was no doubt you were going to get shot.
That if you were facing a cop and pretending to have a weapon, you were going to get shot. That if a cop was giving you orders and you were not following them that you ran a high risk of being shot.

Those assumptions have actually saved lives. Yes you will jeer, but people learned that the time to make complaints was later. Not while a cop was holding a gun on you. He/she is a cop, they gave an order, they have a gun, they will use the gun.
You either obey and live to complain later or you die and never complain. Many have seen cops approach and just gave up.

Now in the time that a cop is trying to decide shoot or don't shoot, the suspect has a chance to kill them.

 

[Tawny]

What happened to taking cover and calling for back up?

 

[mysteriew]

We have a court system to decide guilt and penalty. The job of LE is to apprehend suspects and keep the peace. They are NOT appointed to serve as judge, jury and executioner.

They choose a dangerous job. But in doing so they are expected to perform that job ethically and legally. We have a judicial system in place for good reason. Killing bad guys is the job of the courts.

What a good idea! We could make it a policy to put judges and juries on patrol so they will be on hand when the split second decisions need to be made.

 

[katydid23]

We have a court system to decide guilt and penalty. The job of LE is to apprehend suspects and keep the peace. They are NOT appointed to serve as judge, jury and executioner.

They choose a dangerous job. But in doing so they are expected to perform that job ethically and legally. We have a judicial system in place for good reason. Killing bad guys is the job of the courts.

But you are leaving out the part about the murder suspect CHARGING the officer and threatening to KILL HIM. Is the officer supposed to ignore that kind of danger? Just because someone chooses a dangerous job does not mean they have to become cannon fodder for various criminals. They put up with that type of dangerous confrontation almost every day. There is no reason that they should give the benefit of the doubt to the perps that are trying to kill them.

it's not about an officer being the 'judge jury and executioner.' It's about the officer defending himself. It is entirely legal and ethical to shoot in self defense.

 

[katydid23]

What happened to taking cover and calling for back up?

If a double murder suspect is running at you screaming, it is too late for that.

 

[mysteriew]

What happened to taking cover and calling for back up?

I live near there. NR is a small town. They would usually staff 1-2 officers per shift at most. They are 15-20 min. (At high speed on a twisty road) from the nearest policed village. They are 40-45 min. from the sheriff's office. Backup will take a while and will be thin when it comes.

 

[Tawny]

I live near there. NR is a small town. They would usually staff 1-2 officers per shift at most. They are 15-20 min. (At high speed on a twisty road) from the nearest policed village. They are 40-45 min. from the sheriff's office. Backup will take a while and will be thin when it comes.

Back up showed up pretty fast actually, did you read the article?

 

[katydid23]

Back up showed up pretty fast actually, did you read the article?

Thats because there was a high speed chase which ended in this incident.

 

[mysteriew]

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news...-county-police-investigating-elsmere-homicide
This is what caused Wilcox to become a suspect

 

[mysteriew]

http://m.wlwt.com/news/affidavit-brown-co-man-claimed-voices-music-told-him-to-kill/32417970

What led up to the police chase and take down. He actually dragged an investigater and police officer when they tried to take him into custody.

 

[EllieBee]

What a good idea! We could make it a policy to put judges and juries on patrol so they will be on hand when the split second decisions need to be made.

But that is not the job of judges or juries. See, we have THREE branches of government, all with checks and balances so that one branch does not supersede the other.

But you knew that. So what exactly are you proposing? That we abolish our current system of government?

 

[EllieBee]

OH MY GOD!

Nobody is saying the officer did not have reason to shoot the suspect. If there was ever a case where shooting was warranted, this is it!

Nobody on this thread is saying that. What is being said is "Wow, he could have killed the dude but he did not have to in order to arrest him! Well done officer!"

Why is this so hard to grasp? I am getting angry so I will take a break here and privately be grateful for LEOs like this. I admire him.

 

[mysteriew]

But that is not the job of judges or juries. See, we have THREE branches of government, all with checks and balances so that one branch does not supersede the other.

But you knew that. So what exactly are you proposing? That we abolish our current system of government?

You are the one who said that he shouldn't be an executioner, that was the job of the judge and jury. So if he is going to be in situations where he has to make split second decisions on a charging suspect making threats against him, then I guess he should have tht judge and jury easily accessible.

 

[mysteriew]

OH MY GOD!

Nobody is saying the officer did not have reason to shoot the suspect. If there was ever a case where shooting was warranted, this is it!

Nobody on this thread is saying that. What is being said is "Wow, he could have killed the dude but he did not have to in order to arrest him! Well done officer!"

Why is this so hard to grasp? I am getting angry so I will take a break here and privately be grateful for LEOs like this. I admire him.

Why is because it is very scary. If police officers become afraid to shoot in defense of their own lives, do you really think if it became necessary that they would shoot to protect your loved ones?

I am glad he was able to take the suspect into custody without killing him. But he took a huge chance with his own life. What if the guy had been armed, along with the threats he was making. The officer could have been killed. Anyone who happened to drive by would have been endangered. Even people in nearby buildings could have been harmed if a bullet went through a window.