You would think that those who are called in to the line of duty as a police officer would have a high tolerance for fear and a steady hand when it comes to dealing with possibly dangerous situations. This assumption comes from the fact that those who decide to become an officer of the law know that they are putting their lives on the line when dealing with what could be a lethal situation any given day.
A police officer who is dealing with such a situation should choose to use their weapon only if there is absolutely no other choice, and if they do go ahead and shoot someone who ends up being less lethal than perceived in the moment, that police officer should be put in jail.
Today, Sunday September 23rd a Houston Police Officer shot and killed a man with one arm and one leg. The double amputee was in a wheel chair and living in a home for the mentally ill as he suffered from schizophrenia. CNN explained the situation as follows:
A Houston police officer fatally shot in the head a schizophrenic, wheelchair-bound double amputee threatening people with a pen at a group home for the mentally ill after authorities said the man advanced on the officer's partner, police said.
"The officers made verbal commands for the suspect to drop whatever he had in his hand, to stay still and to speak with the officers, but the suspect continued to make threats,"
Officer Matt Marin, "in fear of the safety of his partner and the safety of himself, discharges his duty weapon, striking the suspect,"
The unnamed Houston police spokesperson said later Sunday that Marin himself was not cornered, unlike his partner, when he shot the wheelchair-bound man in the head.
"This was an incident that didn't have to take place if the individual -- a police officer -- had been trained in dealing with emotionally disturbed individuals."
... So instead of grabbing this guys wheel chair and wheeling him away, an officer decided the best course of action was to shoot him in the head. I can understand that the officer may not have known it was a pen at first, he thought it was a knife obviously, but this wheel chair bound amputee had no ability to lunge at anyone and was obviously paranoid and scared.
This is beyond disgusting and completely unacceptable behavior. Why are police officers allowed to murder people? Why do they get away with things like this with a simple slap on the wrist and a few days paid leave? What in the world is wrong with our society that we condemn innocent dark skinned people to death row when the evidence is barely there to convict them, but when a police officer murders someone in public they are just doing their job?!
Police officers need to be held responsible for their actions. Officer Matt Marin should be sentenced to death! Justice with mercy my ass.
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