Posted on 10/26/2012 2:12:33 PM PDT by Altariel
Officer Steve Gilley of the Downey Police Department will not face charges from the Los Angeles District Attorney's office for the October 2011 submachine gun death of Michael Nida in Downey, Calif.
The prosecutor who investigated the killing said that Nida ignored warnings from police, including one from Gilley who promised to "blow [Nida's] head off." From the LA Times:
Prosecutor Stephanie Sparagna, however, wrote that Nida repeatedly resisted arrest and ran from police three times. He also ignored warnings from police, including one from the officer that he would "blow his head off" if Nida did not show his hands.
Sparagna found that Gilley reasonably feared Nida and was armed and dangerous, even though he eventually was determined not to be the robbery suspect and was unarmed. Sparagna said Gilley was required to make a split-second decision.
"Given the rapidly evolving, dangerous situation that confronted Officer Gilley, we conclude that Officer Steven Gilley was justified in using deadly force to prevent Nida's escape," she wrote in the report released Tuesday.
The killing of Michael Nida, 31, led to protests at the site of the shooting and in front of the Downey city council. Reason TV covered the story in "Cops with Machine Guns: The Killing of Michael Nida."
Tasers are cheaper than submachineguns.
Tasers are PC toys. This guy had issues. Try to shock a big drunk, or a meth head, or a psycho on salts, or anyone wearing a leather coat? Good luck with that.
.45 & a double tap. much more effective.
But vivious thugs in uniform can’t blow your head off with a taser.
The prosecutor and the police are on the same team.This is why such shooting need to be investigated by a seperate special official.
This is why civilian review boards also exist.The more power any government employee has the more closely they must be watched.
Yeah but not as cool or as much fun.
I wasn’t there. I used to automatically credit the cops actions as most likely appropriate. I no longer do so automatically; I’ve learned too much about cops.
Justifiable, The officer just thought that Nida was a dog. Nothing to see here folks. Just keep moving.
Good thing he had a submachine gun or the officer would never had hit him. Nida was moving
Submachine gun? What kind?......oh, it wasn’t stated.
Ah, it was stated in the video at the end of the post.....got it.
So now cops can shoot you even if they think you may have a weapon. The guy was pretty dumb to keep running and provoking the officer but without a weapon being displayed this is a “homer” call. What happened to using reasonable force dictated by the perp?
It was an HK MP5.
Of course he was, He's a cop.
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