Discussion for article #230450
Oh, god. How horrible.
Props to the NYPD for not trying a bunch of bullshit to pretend the officer was “defending” himself from anything.
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JFC
This kind of thing makes me want to move to Australia where there are no firearms.
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Australia also has mandatory voting and a fine may be levied if the reason for not voting is unacceptable. Consequently, turnout is between 70-75% (better half just came back from visiting family there).
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Honestly, if I had family there I’d move tomorrow! Amazing country in almost every respect.
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Guns: “Accidents” waiting to happen.
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Sounds like he was just afraid of the dark. That and stairs.
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On one hand, you have to give it to the commissioner for stating that the deceased was innocent. Usual NYPD protocol is to search for dirt and release to the press a history of anything that the deceased ever did wrong in order to ring the “justified” bell after the fact.
On the other hand, “accident” may not have been the most accurate word to use. And I understand why the commissioner used it as opposed to “unjustified” – using the latter would have been looked upon as throwing the officer under the bus. From what was reported, it looks like the officer was afraid and pulled the trigger with intent – but not malice.
I don’t believe that the officer should be painted as someone who abused his authority, but stating that it was just an unfortunate accident doesn’t do justice either.
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Sounds a lot like negligent manslaughter to me.
You lose control of your car and plow into a crowd, you go to jail for manslaughter, no matter how much of an accident it was. Same deal here.
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Somehow that doesn’t make any sane person consider that this “oops” to be acceptable. The COP needs to be removed / fired.
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Yes, I’m so happy they didn’t lie and spew bs in this case, they are true heros!
You’re right! I was afraid (and my training was poor) so I just used my lethal weapon to kill the boogyman. I’m a hero!
Yes. As I’ve been trying to teach my children, there are no such things as “accidents” - just carelessness and mistakes.
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Accident? Someone is at fault and it sure looks like the policeman is guilty of manslaughter, if nothing else. Turned around the other way, would the police say it was just an unfortunate accident if the man killed was a policeman. Hell you can’t even kick a police dog without being charged with a serious crime.
If you claim the right to kill, you better not do it in an accident.
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I don’t see how this can be called an accident at all, unless they’re claiming his gun malfunctioned.
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Spilled coffee on laptop’s keyboard. Unfortunate accident. Killed young man in dark stairwell. Not at all the same. Total insensitivity to the gravity of the situation. Police business as usual.
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Oops there goes another one! The story of blacks and cops!
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What an ahole. The first thing you do is “shoot” the guy with the FLASHLIGHT to see what you are dealing with. The flashlight will blind the other guy anyway. Then if you think something is amiss, you tell him to freeze.
Rookie Cop should not only be removed from the force, he should never be able to carry a gun. And even in an accidental discharge, giving him the benefit of the doubt, this is negligent homicide.
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This is manslaughter. Job gone, and 2-3years is what I am guessing, with settlement from the NYPD.
Training should make it clear that you NEVER draw your gun except when under immediate hostile circumstances. Don’t go up the stairwell if you have to do it gun first.
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So, can I shoot a dark uniformed storm trooper and then claim it was an unfortunate accident?
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