According to the news story, they knocked on the door because the man they were looking for had parked his motorcycle across the street, in front of his door.Originally Posted by epc
So according to the story, the police see the motorcycle of a murder suspect and knock on the door of a likely place he is staying. A man answers the door with a gun pointed at them so they defended themselves. Were mistakes made, maybe. Maybe the police should have shouted who they were, maybe the guy should have looked though the peep hole or asked who was at his door. Maybe he was high on meth and didn't want to go to jail again, or maybe the cops just saw the gun and shot him without cause and are covering it up. Either way it is a tragedy. I'm willing to take the police officer's word at what happened and any investigation into the event will reveal what happened. **** happens, life sucks sometimes because the world isn't a perfect place. RIP Mr. Scott and i hope the officers involved are able to cope with what happened.
I'd arm myself before answering the door at 1:30am too (although I wouldn't open the door without first peaking out a window and asking 'who is it?'). A friend of a friend answered the door late one night, half asleep and two guys tried to push their way in. He held them off but got shot in the process.
But if I were a cop and somebody was pointing a gun at me I'd shoot him too.
Sad situation.
I tend to look out when someone bangs on the door after bedtime I so far have not armed myself and I live in a statistically highly violent part of the world.
The cops were negligent. Now the question is weather they are going to get away with it or not.
Cops screwed up and murdered a guy. Sad.
RIP and hopefully protocols will help prevent this happening again.
For you guys who own guns where would you be pointing your weapon (if you drew it) when opening a door?
There is a lot of anti cop stupidity in this thread!!
In a safe direction. If I thought the situation was dangerous enough to actually be pointing it at someone, I wouldn't open the door.
This. If the guy was a helmet head and pointed his gun at the cops, I can see how his death was justified. You don't point a gun at anyone unless you intend to do harm.
I have checked the door at my apartment in a crummy neighborhood with firearm in tow several times. I keep the gun riding along my side in the hand the person in the doorway can't see.
There wasn't a lot of information given to make a judgment, although even with limited information it doesn't appear to rise to the level of murder or any such nonsense.
I don't know what the protocol is in such a situation. Are the officers expected to announce their presences as police officers? Maybe someone with a law enforcement background can knowledgably answer the question.
The term "knock" is non-descriptive. Was the homeowner carrying the gun or pointing the gun at the officer? The initial report indicates he was pointing the gun when he opened the door, which under the circumstances the likely response to me is the officer would discharge his weapon.
It just seems like the outcome could have been avoided, but it amounts to a tragic mistake and the department will likely pay out a considerable amount of money.
Official responses are always dictated by the attorneys and written with future litigation in mind. I've got to believe no one on the police department is feeling real good over what happened.
An acquaintance of mine is the head of the SWAT team in our town. A couple of years ago he asked to use my school for training, which was approved by the school administration. Being a retired Marine and the school principal he allowed me to observe. The training evolution was well coordinated and the instructors competent. I suppose my major concern was how often the participants are able to practice their craft, since they are required to to perform mutliple roles as police officers, so there are limitations as to how much time can be spent training. I would think the average police officer is even more limited in how often they can train, so I'm pretty impressed with how well officers perform their diverse duties on a daily basis, particularly when they're really not faced with highly confontive, armed situations very often. I had to remind myself these men were not Marines, who face a much higher level of training intensity.
I keep the crowbar in the hand that's behind the door, guess you could do the same with a gun.
Last year I think a German Policemen was killed by a Hells Angels boss who shot through his door because a commando also screwed up identifying themself, and the guy was found not guilty because the Police did not identify themself and the judge found he had reasons to believe they were of an opposite gang trying to kill him.
If I see armed, masked People in front of my door who do not respond to my calls, maybe I would get my rifle. But never happened, hopefully will never happen, and so far I never pointed any gun on anyone.
Ya they do knock on doors . Here in Little Rock they have ( robbers) knocked on a door and when the people come to the door or answer the door they kick it in robbing them. While I agree that the police are justified in this case , if they were knocking they should have identified themselves as law enforcement. Which by this article they admitted that they did not. And if someone knocks at my door at three in the morning you're being met by Mr. 1911
And a dead guy to prove it.There is a lot of anti cop stupidity in this thread!!
"Murdered"? I thought you were a little more even-handed than that.
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