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LAPD shoots at guy armed with bike lock, kill 14 year old bystander


Gil Bang

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3 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Looks like it?  I think it's the old ACOG.  So you have a magnification factor at extremely close range and a POI off by at least 4 inches (your mom).  That's a standoff option, not something you charge into a store with.  Dumb. and seems a clear indication of a serious lack of training.  

Agree.  And when you watch the full video, you even see that one of the officers has a 12 gauge -- a much more appropriate close-quarters weapon.  That is, IF firing at that moment was necessary.  Which it pretty clearly was NOT.  The bad guy was NOT in the act of attacking anyone (he was 15-20 feet away from the previous victim, and headed away from her), his hands were on a weapon that was clearly visible and was NOT a firearm....shooting ANY gun at him at that moment was completely unnecessary, and wildly risky.  Shooting THAT particular firearm, without ascertaining what might be behind your target, was beyond unnecessary, it was reckless and stupid.

But, he got to play Rambo, and that's what's really important here.

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3 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Agree.  And when you watch the full video, you even see that one of the officers has a 12 gauge -- a much more appropriate close-quarters weapon.  That is, IF firing at that moment was necessary.  Which it pretty clearly was NOT.  The bad guy was NOT in the act of attacking anyone (he was 15-20 feet away from the previous victim, and headed away from her), his hands were on a weapon that was clearly visible and was NOT a firearm....shooting ANY gun at him at that moment was completely unnecessary, and wildly risky.  Shooting THAT particular firearm, without ascertaining what might be behind your target, was beyond unnecessary, it was reckless and stupid.

But, he got to play Rambo, and that's what's really important here.

We don't always agree, but you are spot on here. You would think that an LEO would have had enough training to know better than to fire that type of weapon in a caliber known for high penetration indoors, especially given that he had other options. Again, cops are dumb and this one should face charges for killing an innocent little girl.

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7 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

a much more appropriate close-quarters weapon

Debatable.  Now you have a dozen or so .32 caliber projectiles skipping around on those tile floors (assuming buck shot).  Now a rubber bullet or bean bag would make a ton of sense fired from a shotgun.  If it is buckshot, it's also wildly dangerous as FBI ballistic penetration tests have concluded they over penetrate more than almost any other option. 

Either taze that guy or gang tackle him to the grond.  Discharging like that is such a tell that this guy didn't know what he was doing.  

Edited by BabaYaga
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4 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Debatable.  Now you have a dozen or so .32 caliber projectiles skipping around on those tile floors (assuming buck shot).  Now a rubber bullet or bean bag would make a ton of sense fired from a shotgun.  If it is buckshot, it's also wildly dangerous as FBI ballistic penetration tests have concluded they over penetrate more than almost any other option. 

Either taze that guy or gang tackle him to the grond.  Discharging like that is such a tell that this guy didn't know what he was doing.  

Oh, you and I aren't disagreeing here -- note that I said that the correct answer is not to use a firearm AT ALL in this situation.  I'm thinking more about the chance to put the 12 gauge on target at close range, but either one has high as hell risk in that situation, and real downrange danger (each .32 projectile carries similar energy as a round from a .45 acp).  Yeah, a non-lethal projectile or taser would have been the common-sense way to go here. 

That's the real failure here -- not choice of firearm, but the use of the firearm at all.  While the bad guy here was indeed a bad guy, it doesn't matter -- every "shoot" has to be a good shoot (charging, convicting, and punishing bad guys is for the courts, not the cops).  The cop executed this guy when he was not an immediate threat to anyone, and was functionally surrounded.  Shooting with a firearm was unnecessary and stupid.

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