Posted on 04/14/2014 11:55:05 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Santa Clara police fatally shot a woman who they say started attacking them with a baseball bat.
Lt. Kurt Clarke said in a statement the officers, whom he did not identify, feared "for their safety," and fired at her about 4:50 p.m. Sunday in the 5000 block of Lick Mill Boulevard after they were called there because she called 911 "making threats to harm herself and others."
When they arrived, police said the woman came out of the front door and attacked the officers with the bat.
She was treated at the scene but died later at a hospital.
Download the free NBC Bay Area mobile app Clarke did not release any more details.
Fatal officer-involved shootings are unusual in Santa Clara. The last instance was in 2012 when a 42-year-old man was killed during a DUI investigation after he became "uncooperative" and reached for his gun, police said,
We are in agreement.
Haha. Good one.
I’m trying to imagine how the conversation would go:
“Officer Mack - please proceed to xyz where a woman is threatening harm to herself and others. If you get there and she attempts to harm others, you can shoot her...”
Riddle me this; if she were making threats only against others, that would be one thing. However, if she is making threats against herself, shouldn’t there be a different protocol used to subdue these individuals?
I assume you are not a policeman. Police have at their disposal other means than a gun, of which we are all aware.
I am not going to run.
I am not going to take a beating.
I am going to take the threat seriously.
I would use lethal force to defend myself and, in cases like this, I extend the same courtesy to the cops. I am sorry the cops didn’t use any less-lethal means that might have been at their disposal, but this is not a case like the cops shooting that guy who was already spread-eagled against a car. She picked her fight and the consequences are on her head.
Sounds like she had mental problems for which 98% of LEOs are not trained to deal with.
If she really called them ahead of time to warn them as a previous poster mentioned, why was her killing necessary? Sounds like she needed mental help.
We get these types in the psych ward. They can be handled without being killed. Consider, hospitals would be sued out of existence for an incident like this. They can actually be held responsible, unlike our public servants.
Nailed it.
Sheesh!!!
At least the dog is still breathing
Maybe the officers were baseball purists who hate anyone not using wood bats.
Pity it didn’t happen in Seattle. NOBODY in Seattle can hit anything with a baseball bat.
So the solution was to shoot her? At least she didn't commit the grievous crime of bumping into the fence around the white hut and making the cops chase her across town to shoot her.
Probably close to the end of shift and didn’t want to prolong the incident....off to the bar for a few drinks, a few days off with pay, and the rest of the hierarchy completes the paperwork and cover.
Or pepper spray...
many still have collapseable batons on their belts.
plus dead people can’t sue them.
under certain circumstances you bet. aluminum bats can kill someone.
or do you have to just be another woman threatened by a woman with a bat to shoot her?
disparity of force issues can occur between men and women where the man is the one in more danger.
not kidding, I’d actually i’d like to know how to do this. if you can describe it i’d appreciate it.
yeah pepper spray takes the fight out of quite a few different types of folks.
Why carry a baton when your flashlight can not only beat someone to death but also show you the results at night?
I'd say the point is that if they were forewarned of a mentally unstable individual why were they not prepared to deal with them, other than firing lead? Where were the Tasers or Bean Bag rounds?
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