Please answer yes or no.

oldman45

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Background: You are a police officer chasing a driver later learned to be intoxicated. The chase lasts five miles and uses several police units.

The driver stops and wrestles himself away from one officer before taking the stand shown below.

Do you fire or not?
 

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If I know thats a weapon he's pointing at me or my partner, yes, bag him up
 
If I know thats a weapon he's pointing at me or my partner, yes, bag him up

You know it is silver and has a barrel pointed at officers. There is a half second to make a decision. You also know he is trying to escape at any cost.

Do you fire?
 
I have been a LEO for 15 years. In the .5 second I would have to assess and decide, I would shoot and shoot and shoot.
 
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From this photo, his stance looks like he's fixing to fire a gun, but what is in his hand isn't so clear. From head on (which I presume is where the LEO is seeing him from), it might look more like a gun. Or less. Or, most likely, it's not that clear in the dark, but the total picture is enough to make the LEO think he's about to get shot. Or maybe you're telling me that this side view is what the second officer sees as his buddy is about to get shot. I see a BG who acts like he has a gun. After fleeing five miles from cops and wrestling himself free from one.

SHOOT.
 
I started to let the group play with this one for a while but I see the general mood of the people.

A complete video can be seen at many sites, including the following:

Shooting of marquise hudspeth | SPIKE

The "gun" was a cell phone the perp was threatening to shoot the officers with. He ran a short distance and spun around on the officers a second time before taking flight. As he spun the third time, he was shot a total of eight times in the back, fatally injuring him.

The outcome was the officers were cleared of any wrong doing by the DA, the DOJ and the FBI. A 10 million dollar suit filed by the fmaily against the police department was dismissed by a State Judge. The actions of the guy was ruled suicide by cop.

Anyone interested can google Marquis Hudsmith and read a lot more about it.
 
Well...there is a real cell phone gun that shoots .22 cal bullets. I would like to buy one.
 
The way that he is holding it and the way that it looks while he is holding it, yes I would have shot.
 
Yes

Upon closer look about 5-10 seconds it does not look like a firearm, if I took that much time to study the situation the other officer could be dead and he could be drawing down on me.
 
Given the described situation and the nano second available to make the call...yes, I'd drop him like a bad habit. Suicide by cop is a crappy deal for the officer but it beats going to your partners funeral.
 
If the view I have is identical to the picture: No.



From the perspective of retiring after 21 years as a LEO, anyone displaying anything in a manner obviously intending to be threatening and to make the target believe it is a gun he is threatening you with needs to be shot as soon as the threat is perceived. No amount of Monday-morning quarterbacking changes this. No one has a legal or moral obligation or requirement to allow the person making the threat to fire the first shot! If it is night, the object is shiny and being pointed at a person in a threatening manner, then it has to be assumed to be a gun.
 
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