It's easy to say that you would react the 'appropriate way,' when it's not your daughter who was just run over. Too much assuming going on here.
Why didn't the cop just fight back instead of shooting? I know I wasn't there and don't know how I would react but if I'm just being beat up or something I fight back fairly and not with a gun or maybe I would have shot him in the leg.
You would fight back fairly, 1v2, against a 26-year old and an 18-year old men? And as you are getting knocked unconscious at least you could tell yourself you fought fairly.
I'm sure the cop was still a little dazed from jumping from the bike but having two men beating on you makes it a whole lot harder to even try fighting back 'fairly'.
Thanks for the update and explanation. I only read one of the excerpts at the beginning and didn't notice that it was not a fair fight. I can understand where he is coming from. It is tragic all the way around and sucks that it had to end that way. I can't really fault anyone at this point based on the facts right now.
I'm just playing devil's advocate but is it fair to question whether he was too trigger happy? We saw the same thing in the Martin case. It just seems like dudes with guns are quick to use them. I mean I'm pretty sure most people would back off if they were to pull it out and say "step back or I will shoot" (queue Swoly) or something of that nature. Hell, even a knife might work in this type of situation.
Question: The dropping of the bike thing . . .is that standard motorcycle procedure? The bike is maybe 2 ft wide. . . .the baby maybe a foot across. It would seem that swirving was an option I mean see. . .we can question everyone's judgement in this situation If he was not a police officer folx would be asking was he speeding? Could he have done something different? Is his account accurate? Sad Sad Sad Situation The end result - Little girl scarred . . . fatherless now Folx able to walk away from this with a few bumps and bruises are blessed. Rocket River
I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt to the cop. It seems like he tried to avoid the child by dumping his bike. Why would he do that and then decide to keep it a secret to the father that he was a cop even as he's getting his ass kicked? Father was obviously upset but probably shouldn't be beating on some random guy, cop or not, based on an accident.
I don't understand this point of the story. Which the family seems to be latching onto. Was he supposed to say "stop beating me up, I'm not just an average Joe that you certainly can beat up but a police officer with a gun, and if you don't stop I will shoot you!"...? Yes, it is likely if he made it known loudly that he was a police officer that 2 might have stopped, for fear of beating up a police officer. But he was getting beat up, nearly into unconsciousness. Whether or not he managed to get out that he was a police officer doesn't really matter. Rocket River, people are still asking the questions about his account, speeding, etc... all valid questions that need to be addressed. But even speeding doesn't change the situation wrt to subsequent fight.
Dead father is black. Police officer is, as of yet, unnamed. Race card hasn't been pulled yet so he might be black. However, they might be waiting for the right time to throw it down.
He shot him in the groin. Btw. A driver clipped the curb and hit my daughter when she was two. I wasn't there but my wife's first reaction when the guy came out of the car was to slap him in the face.
I'm sure others have stated it through out the thread (haven't read fully) but off duty police officers are actually REQUIRED to have a hand gun present at all times and can, in some cases, actually be fined or reprimanded if they're found to not be carrying it. My dad's been a sheriff for almost 30 years and he'll carry at least TWO when going out in public
I'm going to hold judgement, but I would say it would be very difficult to be the cop OR the father in this situation and react differently than EITHER of them did. I would say that I understand what the cop was doing by shooting him, and it's unfortunate that the man died. He was shot in the GROIN. Usually, that's NOT a fatal gunshot wound. It's just a sad situation anyway you look at it. I wish the man had just attended to his daughter, or at least had the rationality to approach the cop non-violently.
More questions: Was the child/cousin crossing the street legally? Why was a child crossing a street at night? Why did the father attack the cop w/o asking questions first? Does the father have a violent history? Fair questions to ask in addition to yours no?
