Another police shooting of an unnamed man. This time with a bizarre twist.
Police shootings and brutality of unarmed citizens is nothing new to America, but recently, the topic has taken on new life. This is presumably because of video evidence which documents shootings during or after they have taken place, evidence which was nonexistent over a decade ago. After a shooting, police often justify their actions by stating that they thought the victim was reaching for a weapon and they were in fear for their lives. With that said, a bizarre instance occurred in DeKalb County, GA yesterday when a naked man was shot dead by a police officer.
According to the report, the incident began around 1pm on Chamblee Tucker Road when a unidentified man was seen roaming the area in the nude. Witnesses claim that the man was doing “weird movements”, banging on doors while also crawling on the ground. One person attempted to guide him to safety and he replied with “I’m ok, i’m ok.” It is then that some began warning him that he would be arrested when officers arrived. “He was acting crazy but he was calm like he didn’t know where he was. He was like kind of lost in his face,” one of the witnesses described.
It is when the responding officer arrived on the scene that the story becomes a bit blurry. The chief of police and few other witnesses claimed that the naked man lunged at the officer. This is when the officer fired two shots causing the man to die on the scene.
DeKalb County Director of Public Safety Cedric Alexander:
“When the male saw the officer, he charged running at the officer the officer called on him to step back, drew his weapon and fired two shots,”
Others on the scene describe a slightly different sequence of events. “He ran to the police. He runs wide open with the hands up,” said one of the witnesses.
The victim is a black male in his 20s, while the responding officer is a white male with 7 years on the police force. With recent high profile police shootings around the nation, the chief of police says he would like to conduct a transparent investigation into the matter. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has currently taken over the case.
I’d venture to say this man might have been mentally ill. Was deadly force the only course of action? Batons? Tasers? Fists? No other alternative? – @Rocko_CNK
1 Comment
Average officer is warned about losing his weapon in wrestling struggle. It does happen. And the truly mentally ill are MORE likely to TRY to take an officer gun simply due to poor judgement.
The solution is of course obvious. Stop arming officers with guns — unless its KNOWN that someone does 100% need to be shot. Not really difficult if extra officer with gun stays in car.
Your local and state politicians are WRONG. Its NOT too expensive to have 2-3 officers respond to each call. Not after considering unnecessary loss of life and size of lawsuits. The whole chain of government supervising police needs to be held responsible. Federal law needs to mandate minimum size of police patrol teams and make funding equal per capita nationwide not a local tax issue. Minimum police raining needs to be federal to federal standards and with periodic standardized police psychology reviews. Force cops out on partial retirement if they become psychologically unreliable.