Ok, tell me how this is NOT racially motivated.

[Athene]

Apparently, when the victim asked the officer why he shot him, he said "I don't know."
Not that it was accident.

Then they cuffed the living fuck out of him. 
Weird, huh?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I would have respected them a lot more (that is to say, at all) if they had just said "We fucked up."

Admissions from cops that cops fucked up are about as common as the Great Saharan Panda.

Boru

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

(I post this with a certainty approaching unity that someone else ((probably Min)) has already done so.)

The police department in question has said that the therapist was shot by mistake - the cop was aiming at his patient.

Really? Fucking really ? The 'explanation' given is that the BEST possible outcome would have been the shooting of a severely autistic man who was sitting down and holding a toy truck. Not a toy gun, a toy TRUCK.

You know what? I'll take my NZ cops with their batons and pepper spray.

Boru

[brewer]

To much Dundee II. "You shot Walter. Yeah. It was the only thing I could think of to save his life."

[Jackalope]

(I post this with a certainty approaching unity that someone else ((probably Min)) has already done so.)

The police department in question has said that the therapist was shot by mistake - the cop was aiming at his patient.

Really?  Fucking really ?  The 'explanation' given is that the BEST possible outcome would have been the shooting of a severely autistic man who was sitting down and holding a toy truck.  Not a toy gun, a toy TRUCK.

You know what?  I'll take my NZ cops with their batons and pepper spray.

Boru

Well, they pretty much had to claim negligence or incompetence. I suppose they thought incompetence would play better to the audience - and save them money come settlement time.

I don't buy it for a second in any case. Cops in the US are trained to shoot until a target is neutralized. If he was shooting at the patient, why did he stop shooting after failing to hit him even once? If he thought the tactical situation demanded that he shoot the patient - why did he stop shooting when the tactical situation remained unchanged.

I smell bullshit.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

(I post this with a certainty approaching unity that someone else ((probably Min)) has already done so.)

The police department in question has said that the therapist was shot by mistake - the cop was aiming at his patient.

Really?  Fucking really ?  The 'explanation' given is that the BEST possible outcome would have been the shooting of a severely autistic man who was sitting down and holding a toy truck.  Not a toy gun, a toy TRUCK.

You know what?  I'll take my NZ cops with their batons and pepper spray.

Boru

Well, they pretty much had to claim negligence or incompetence.  I suppose they thought incompetence would play better to the audience - and save them money come settlement time.

I don't buy it for a second in any case.  Cops in the US are trained to shoot until a target is neutralized.  If he was shooting at the patient, why did he stop shooting after failing to hit him even once?  If he thought the tactical situation demanded that he shoot the patient - why did he stop shooting when the tactical situation remained unchanged.

I smell bullshit.

As I said earlier, the higher-ups are as much - if not more - to blame than the cops on the street. That being said, how the fuck could the cop miss? The two men are about six feet apart. One is lying down, one is sitting up. One is black, one is white. The cop who fired (three fucking times) was a member of the local tactical unit, presumably trained in how to hit things he intends to hit. He fired two, possibly three times (accounts vary) and managed to hit the one thing he claims he wasn't aiming at - and nothing else.

This smells worse than bullshit. This smells like a skunk took a shit on a jockstrap.

Boru

[Fidel_Castronaut]

So, the official reason the police seem to be going with is that the cop was aiming for the autistic guy and accidentally shot the black dude...

Oh thank goodness. They were aiming at the defenseless mentally ill man instead of the defenseless black man.

Well, that clears that up. Just needs to improve his accuracy next time and there won't be any mistakes

[Brakeman]

While others are focusing on the shooting cop's horrible judgment, it is the cooperating officers that piss me off. They just witness an obvious unlawful shooting but they don't disarm, cuff, and arrest the shooting officer. If the shooting cop doesn't have a clue why he shot, why don't the other "professional" officers react properly to his mistake. Their job is to protect and serve and the shooter cop was an obvious danger to the city at large if he doesn't know why he just shot someone.

[johan]

While others are focusing on the shooting cop's horrible judgment, it is the cooperating officers that piss me off. They just witness an obvious unlawful shooting but they don't disarm, cuff, and arrest the shooting officer.

Nope. Instead, they thought it best to cuff the unarmed, wounded yet still completely calm and rational, not resisting at all, black man he just shot.

And the sad part is none of that is what is most disturbing about this. What is most disturbing about this is that even with clear video evidence to the contrary, it is almost predictable the ensuing investigation will find the officer was justified and right and not guilty of any crime. And some schmuck will stand up at a press conference and announce that without even the slightest hint of irony in his voice. They truly believe they are above the law and can do whatever the fuck they want to anyone they want anytime they want and get away with it.

[ignoramus]

But....but..... that's like terrorism?