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Posted on 06/05/2014 7:16:26 AM PDT by Altariel
SAN MATEO COUNTY (KRON) — Authorities and the family of a woman shot and killed by San Mateo County sheriff’s deputies are telling far different stories about the moments leading up to the shooting.
The family tells KRON 4′s Mike Pelton the woman who was shot was 18-year old Yanira Serrano.
Authorities say they got a call about an armed woman in the street in the Moondridge Housing Complex.
“Deputies arrived on scene,” Sheriff’s department spokeswoman Rebecca Rosenblatt tells KRON 4. “Shortly thereafter there was a confrontation where the deputy was in fear for his life and as a result he fired his weapon.”
Serrano’s family tells a different story. They say the woman who was shot has special needs and was refusing to take her medication so the family members called 911 hoping paramedics would show up instead of armed law officers.
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She has special needs and we just want answers,” the woman’s brother, Tiny Serrano says. “Who are we supposed to call now when we need help when who is supposed to help us is killing our kids?”
(Excerpt) Read more at news.kron4.com ...
The only persons known to be armed were wearing government uniforms.
We can do better than this.
Ronald Reagan spoke of a shining city a hill. I don’t think he meant that city to include a peacekeeper force that opened fire on its residents at the slightest provocation.
IIRC the video says that the family admitted that she had a knife.
Just watched the video again.The reporter said that the family reported that she *did* have a knife.
I guess they didn’t try any other method of restraining her first. Oh well, the cop got paid administrative leave so all is well.
Off her meds...armed with a knife.Because I wasn't there I will admit that the cop(s) involved might not have taken reasonable steps,short of firing,to address the particular circumstances of that incident.But because *you* weren't there will *you* admit that it's possible that cops were given no choice? Will *you* admit that mentally ill people armed with a deadly weapon sometime behave in potentially lethal ways?
Another article specifies that she had a knife:
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Woman-18-shot-dead-by-San-Mateo-sheriff-s-deputy-5527706.php
My beef with this incident is that her family called 911 for what was clearly a medical issue, and the responders sent armed police instead. If they clearly specified on the 911 call that this was a medical issue, there should not have been a need for an armed police response to a private residence.
I guess I would need to hear what was said on the 911 call.
Generally family/staff are in a better position to talk someone down but occasionally things go bad fast and the cops have to step in. Some of these individuals are in a place bad enough that they should never have been released from the institution they were in. Some of these folks are high functioning enough to engage in these types of acts in an effort to try to game the system into getting them a relocation or different treatment and can go far too far in their plan. In these situations the family staff are of no help.
I have managed a location that had 38(?) of these types of clients living in apartments and I have far too much experience dodging flying feces and being chased by people with butcher knives. Under normal circumstances these situations could be brought to some type of successful conclusion by staff and documented appropriately for the clients physicians and counseling team to address but, in those rare situations when someone in this type of state eloped from the program or targeted another client, then the situation is not handled as a medical issue by the emergency response community, rather the situation is always considered a public safety concern first.
This "fear for his life" stuff is getting way out of hand.
What was the reach of the knife, wielded by someone who is not an expert at self-defense?
This cop could not have feared for his life if he were standing a few yards away from this woman, what with his vest on. If she lunged at him, he could take a few steps back himself.
-PJ
They don’t fear for their life.
It’s just a magic phrase they are told to say to be fully backed and protected by their departments.
It’s what they’re trained to say to be protected by their qualified immunity.
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