Cops Kill Woman Who Lunged at Officers With Crochet Hook

Foxnews ^ | 07-14-08 | staff

[em2vn]

SALINAS, Calif. — A disoriented woman holed up in a minivan and repeatedly stabbing herself in the neck was shot to death by local police officers who thought the distraught woman was lunging at them with a knife or pick ax.

[em2vn]

How does one misidentify a knife for a pick ax? Moreover, how does one misidentify a knitting needle for either one?

[libs_kma]

Stop! Or I’ll stitch and pearl.

[xDGx]

Darn hookers.

[CholeraJoe]

Another unruly citizen successfully subdued. Put them in for a commendation.

[null and void]

Truth be told?

They were afraid she was going to knit an Afghan...

[Fido969]

Overtrained robo-cops.

[EyeGuy]

Able-bodied MALE officers? (Yes, gender IS relevant).

Tasers all simultaneously out of juice?

[Joe 6-pack]

Why yes...I can see the similarity....

[Mr Ramsbotham]

How does one misidentify a knife for a pick ax?

According to the original news account they thought it might have been an ice pick. Still, one has to wonder whether the officers overreacted. She was in the van; why couldn't they have backed off? This reminds me of an incident that happened in my hometown about a decade ago. An emotionally unstable man went into a dentist's office for treatment and went berserk following an injection of novocaine. They managed to get everyone out of the building before the cops arrived. When they did, they cornerned the man at the end of a hallway, at which point he pulled out a teeny-tiny penknife. The officers responded by emptying their weapons into the guy. That one ended up costing the municipality a pretty penny, though I think it was settled out-of-court.

[wideawake]

I assume the author of the article meant “ice pick” not “pick axe.”

[liege]

At 3:45 in the morning, things do look different, at least to my untrained eye. I wasn’t there. The cops didn’t have access to the victim’s past history of epilepsy. They were reacting to the situation at hand, but it does sound like they might have over-reacted a bit...

[dljordan]

“I assume the author of the article meant “ice pick” not “pick axe.””

I think you’re right. Still.....

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Look out! She’s comin’ right fer us!

[jwparkerjr]

re: I assume the author of the article meant “ice pick” not “pick axe.”

A mistake I make all the time.

[MARTIAL MONK]

How does one misidentify a knife for a pick ax?

I don't think that they did. I think that they meant ice pick. I have to deal with people everyday whose malapropisms turn English into a foreign language.

[ClearCase_guy]

I think you're right.
I also think the journalist is not too bright.
Lastly, I think the editing of the article was done by Mr. Spell Checker, without further assistance.

[driftdiver]

Good thing they kept her from hurting herself.

[ktime]

Yeah, I guess your right.

Who needs Tazer’s anyway when you can use lethal force on a little woman holding a crochet hook.

[faloi]

Actually, reading the full story, it looks like one officer used a taser, the other a pistol. The difference in choice of mechanisms to subdue the person is going to be fodder for a lawsuit.

[Maverick68]

Cops want to go home to their families at the end of their shift. Responding to a call they see a woman committing violent acts, then she lunges at police officers and was only shot twice? Not an overreaction.

[sheik yerbouty]

You’ll have to axe them that..

[xDGx]

Isn’t Ice Pick that rap star?

[Fresh Wind]

These officers would be perfect for the Obamafuhrer’s Domestic Security Force.

[unkus]

These officers would be perfect for the Obamafuhrer’s Domestic Security Force.
-——————————How do you say Gestapo in english?

[MARTIAL MONK]

You must be thinking of Nose Pick.

[Iron Munro]

A disoriented woman holed up in a minivan and repeatedly stabbing herself in the neck was shot to death by local police officers

Here Granny, let me do that for you.

[Mr. Mojo]

she allegedly lunged at them with what was thought to be a knife or a pick ax and the officers fired.

I can see how, if waved around quickly, a crochet hook could be mistaken for a (small) knife. But a pick ax? That's quite a stretch.

An unruly woman inside a van? Use a taser, not a pistol.

[xDGx]

Nose Pick, Nose Mo King, Nosestradamus...

[PLMerite]

“A mistake I make all the time.”

Remind me not to ask for anything ‘on the rocks’ at your house!!

:)

[Fresh Wind]

Better question:

How do you say “Gestapo” in Spanish?

[unkus]

How do you say “Gestapo” in Spanish?

Obamanistas.

[tumblindice]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ygy7UDADXDg
:46

[Does so]

Better to be tried by 12...I always sez.

[Teacher317]

I assume the author of the article meant “ice pick” not “pick axe.”

Isn't it nice that the Journalism major, the editor, and the rest of the staff failed to catch that? We can all have the utmost faith in the stories we read from them. /sarc>

[Cicero]

This does seem absolutely bizarre. Granting that the reporter or the spell checker confused an ice pick with a pickaxe, why on earth would you shoot someone suspected of wielding a sharp instrument INSIDE A VAN?

A gun would be another matter, but how could someone inside a van possibly threaten two policeman on their feet outside the van? Surely the right move would be simply to back off a few feet?

What was the urgency? No one’s life was threatened, except maybe the crazed woman who was stabbing herself.

I can understand them acting in self defense if she ran at them with a knife, but that was not the case, even according to their version of the story.

[Fido969]

I assume the author of the article meant “ice pick” not “pick axe.”

Maybe he meant "assault ice pick."

[reagan_fanatic]

"Good job, boys. You never know what a dangerous lunatic with a crochet hook is capable of."

[Fido969]

Cops want to go home to their families at the end of their shift

I want to go home at the end of the day, too. I don't want to be shot by some hyped-up cop.

[Maverick68]

Then I would advise you not to lunge at a cop with a weapon.

[fella]

She was in the van; why couldn't they have backed off?

Krispy Creame called to tell them that the next batch had just been put in the oil and they just had to roll on that call.

[ExGeeEye]

Geheime Staatspolizei: Secret State Police. US Secret Service, I suppose. Dunno.`

[Iron Munro]

"Good job, boys. You never know what a dangerous lunatic with a crochet hook is capable of."

THINK FAST!!!

[Fido969]

Then I would advise you not to lunge at a cop with a weapon.

You don't even have to lunge at them with a weapon anymore.

Merely talking back will get you tazered, and if your cell phone drops out of you pocket, you can get blown away.

I'll take my chances with the criminals, thanks. At least with those dirtbags, I figure the odds are slightly in my favor.

[Izzy Dunne]

A mistake I make all the time.

You have a potential future career as a journalist...

[ExGeeEye]

Estado policía secreta?

[MEGoody]

How does one misidentify a knife for a pick ax? Moreover, how does one misidentify a knitting needle for either one?

It was night, and I doubt the woman had lights on in the van. They knew she was stabbing herself with something, then lunged at them with whatever it was. In this case, I side with the cops.

[ASA Vet]

Yes, gender sex IS relevant

[untrained skeptic]

I'm guessing that the author mean ice pick, not pick axe.

Of course he also described a woman who was stabbing herself in the neck as merely disoriented. Was she confused about what direction she was looking while she was stabbing herself in the neck?

Stabbing at police officers with a long pointy object is not a good way to extend your life expectancy.

Stabbing herself in the neck and then lunging at officers with a pointy object in her hand seems like a very unusual response to an epileptic seizure.

[LimaLimaMikeFoxtrot]

I assume the author of the article meant “ice pick” not “pick axe.”

Yeah, same type of brilliant reporter who wrote about the 22MM Automatic Pistol.

[Gator113]

Well, if you were to come at me with an ice-pick, I’d kill you and then go eat something fattening...and tomorrow, I would feel just fine about it.