Police officer sacked for not shooting black man holding an unloaded gun

[christx30]

Source: Independent UK

A police officer has been sacked in West Virginia for apparently failing to open fire on a man brandishing an unloaded gun.
The case will anger police brutality activists who have raised dozens of other cases in which officers have shot dead unarmed suspects and escaped punishment. Speaking for the first time about the incident that happened in May, Stephen Mader told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette how he tried to de-escalate a dangerous situation.

He said his training helped him when he was dispatched to a domestic dispute and found Ronald Williams, 21, armed with a handgun. I told him, ‘Put down the gun,’ and he’s like, ‘Just shoot me.’ And I told him, ‘I’m not going to shoot you brother.’ Then he starts flicking his wrist to get me to react to it,” he said. “I thought I was going to be able to talk to him and de-escalate it. I knew it was a 'suicide-by-cop' situation.”

Things changed when two other officers arrived on the scene. Williams was shot dead as he walked towards them. A police investigation concluded that the killing was justified despite the gun being unloaded.




Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/police-officer-sacked-not-shooting-black-man-virginia-stephen-mader-ronald-williams-a7245681.html

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This cop did the right thing and got fired because of it. And police forces nationwide wonder why they aren't trusted by a good deal of the population. It's a leadership problem from the top down.

[tonyt53]

1. A shot in the shoulder of the arm holding the pistol would have stopped it, or a leg shot.

[MicaelS]

4. That is not how police are trained.

You aim for center of mass. Shooting a gun out of someone's hand is Hollywood bullshit. If you shoot someone in the leg it could sever the femoral artery and they could bleed out.

[AtheistCrusader]

5. Brachial artery, Femoral artery.

Can we just let this 'less lethal' meme die already?

Firing a gun at someone is exercising deadly force. Period. You don't do it unless deadly force is required. If the police fire their weapons, they are shooting center mass, period end of story.

If you try to carve out a 'less lethal' option of 'shooting dangerous people in the leg or shoulder' when lethal force is not ABSOLUETLY NECESSARY, you are carving out a policy that will get more people shot, and consequently, more people killed by the police.

Please. Just stop.

[MicaelS]

6. Agreed.

Mist people get their knowledge of guns from movies and tv. And we all know how truthful they are.

[NutmegYankee]

7. There is no safe place to shoot a person.

Major arteries and nerves run through the shoulder and leg. Severing the Brachial Artery can cause death in minutes from blood loss. Severing the nerves will paralyze the arm.

[randome]

2. Risking your life puts others' lives in danger, too.

That being said, I applaud what this cop did. His example should be grounds for a discussion, not a firing.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]“If you're not committed to anything, you're just taking up space.”
Gregory Peck, Mirage (1965)[/center][/font][hr]

[graegoyle]

3. He must have lied on his entrance forms...

...and stated his I.Q. was lower than it actually is. This incident proved it was higher than allowable.

[PersonNumber503602]

8. Right!

I was going to make a similar comment as yours. He must have purposely answered some questions wrong on his entrance IQ test.

[Locrian]

9. apparently

Unlike the cops - he's a vet and has had military training to recognize an actual threat. I guess even the military knows that going around shooting people is a bad idea.

[ansible]

11. The military has even stricter rules-of-engagement than cops

[Locrian]

12. yes - it's the ***system***. n/t

[ColemanMaskell]

10. Cheers for Stephen Mader -- maybe some other Police Dept will hire him as a trainer :-)

Inspirational story of cop Stephen Mader acting like a rational human being. We become so acustomed to reading horror stories like the one with Tamir Rice. True this Stephen Mader short story did not have a happy ending -- "two other officers arrived on the scene. Williams was shot dead" -- and the fact that the dept fired him for his courage and humanity is a disgrace -- but the story may have sequels. Maybe some other dept will hire Stephen Mader as a trainer. Several police departments that have been in the news could use a guy like him. Just hiring him would upgrade their image by demonstrating that they're making a good faith attempt to improve. On balance I score this as an inspirational story. Okay, we're grading on a curve here, with the Tamir Rice story at the rock bottom, but still I found this inspirational. Thanks for sharing.