Houston officer kills double amputee in wheelchair

[Samstwitch]

The excuse for this is Bullshit!

Houston officer kills double amputee in wheelchair

HOUSTON (AP) — A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.

Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said the man cornered the officer in his wheelchair and was making threats while trying to stab the officer with the pen. At the time, the officer did not know what the metal object was that the man was waving, Silva said.

She said the man came "within inches to a foot" of the officer and did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still. "Fearing for his partner's safety and his own safety, he discharged his weapon," Silva told The Associated Press.

Police did not immediately release the name of the man who was killed. They had been called to the home after a caretaker there called and reported that the man in wheelchair was causing a disturbance.

The owner of the group home, John Garcia, told the Houston Chronicle that the man had a history of mental illness and had been living at the house about 18 months. Garcia said the man had told him that he lost a leg above the knee and all of one arm when he was hit by a train. "He sometimes would go off a bit, but you just ignore it," Garcia told the newspaper.

Silva identified the officer as Matthew Jacob Marin, a five-year veteran of the department. He was immediately placed on three-day administrative leave, which is standard in all shootings involving officers.

Houston police records indicate that Marin also fatally shot a suspect in 2009. Investigators at the time said Marin came upon a man stabbing his neighbor to death at an apartment complex and opened fired when the suspect refused to drop the knife.

On Saturday, Marin and his partner arrived at the group home around 2:30 a.m. Silva said there were several people at the house at the time. The caretaker who called police waited on the porch while the officers went inside, she said.

"It was close quarters in the area of the house," Silva said. "The officer was forced into an area where he had no way to get out."

 

[Peregrini]

I didn't see any excuse and I must have missed the "Bullshit" part too. I read about a police officer doing his job. Might it have been done differently? I don't know. Hindsight is often 20/20 but, can you imagine the uproar that would have occurred if the officer had... let's say... tipped over the man's wheelchair and dumped him on the floor and subdued him by physical force? It's easy to attack Law Enforcement and, just as often the Military, when we don't know the circumstances and have NEVER had to make a split second, life or death decision.

 

[Samstwitch]

I didn't see any excuse and I must have missed the "Bullshit" part too...

Yeah, you missed it: "Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said the man cornered the officer in his wheelchair and was making threats while trying to stab the officer with the pen. At the time, the officer did not know what the metal object was that the man was waving, Silva said.
"It was close quarters in the area of the house," Silva said. "The officer was forced into an area where he had no way to get out...Fearing for his partner's safety and his own safety, he discharged his weapon," Silva told The Associated Press...

 

[Samstwitch]

There are constantly articles about Texas Police Officers going too far in the news. Here's another one from last week...Click green title to see the video:

Texas Copy Drags 77-year-old Grandmother from Car

 

[Peregrini]

So, why not just hand your license to the cop when he asks for it and avoid the situation in the first place? From what I have seen from several of these videos, more often than not, these people bring it on themselves.
If a problem does exist in Texas police departments then, there is surely a problem with training or the selection process that needs to be addressed.

 

[Samstwitch]

Today's related Headline...Click on the green link for details:

FBI to investigate officer shooting double-amputee

Excerpt: Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said she didn't know if the department requesting FBI assistance in officer-involved shootings was rare but said "it's the step we're taking at this point."

But the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice, a group that includes 16 local and national civil rights organizations, suggested Claunch's death was part of a bigger problem at the Houston Police Department. "The deeper problem is a failure to discipline for excessive force, especially in the area of shootings," said Randall Kallinen, a member of the group and a local civil rights attorney. "They are concerned only about liability."

Kallinen said he would like the shooting to spark a change in the department regarding discipline and training of officers.

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