Video: Dallas police open fire on schizophrenic man with screwdriver

CNN ^ | March 18, 2015 | By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN

[Talisker]

Spoken like a true Obamatard.

No, baseless slander designates you as the liberal in the room.

I suggest you read some history about what happens next, after a society gets used to cops simply blowing away the mentally ill, instead of making space, getting back up and using any of an incredible number of intervention options they have available.

Hers a big fat hint: they don't stop at the mentally ill.

[SVTCobra03]

Stun guns and pepper spray are never used when the perp has a weapon. You always shoot to kill. Shooting to wound can get you killed.

[MaxMax]

He has a criminal history, Just search his history.

http://www.dallascounty.org/applications/english/record-search/rec-search_intro.php

[RightOnTheBorder]

I concur. In a perfect world maybe the cops could have thought fast enough to back around the car but A) that is hard to do without taking your eyes off the guy and B)if the guy kept advancing it would have ended the same way. I won’t second guess a man within stabbing distance of a crazy person with a screwdriver.

That said this does dovetail into my “be wary of involving the cops” mantra

[ToxicMich]

So, if I can’t stand a cop who seems clueless on how to handle a person with mental illness (they knew what was waiting for them), it means that I don’t love America? What kind of logic is that?

[cripplecreek]

Stun guns don’t always work. Last summer in Ann Arbor a mentally ill woman off her meds and on drugs charged police with a knife.

On cop hit her with the stun gun and it didn’t even slow her down so the second cop put her down.

[Tamzee]

She called the police and told them she needed help because her schizo son was off his meds and was scaring her. They come to the door and she states that he is “off his chain”, schizo and talking about chopping people up. And she lets her enormous man of a “son” follow her out the door holding a screwdriver as he approaches those cops.

I don’t understand how anyone can think the cops weren’t right to feel threatened when he wouldn’t drop it and kept coming at them.

[backwoods-engineer]

I don’t like police brutality, either, but sorry, this will likely be adjudicated a “good shoot”. The police have learned well the lessons of Dennis Tueller’s classic article in SWAT magazine, “How Close is Too Close?” and Massad Ayoob’s latest book, “Deadly Force”. A couple seconds aren’t even enough time for your life to flash before your eyes before you die.

[hal ogen]

The guy obviously had a screw loose.

[MaxMax]

ATT_HARASS_PUB_SERV

I wonder if this means he's assaulted officers before.

From the file "COMPETENCY_RESTORED, he's competent not a loony.
From last year. So the courts had him tested and he's competent for trial.

There goes the MSM agenda.

[TBall]

The officers should have been better prepared to deal with someone off meds. Why not use non lethal force for a crazy guy with a screwdriver? What a shame.

[servantboy777]

>>Stun guns and pepper spray are never used when the perp has a weapon.<<

Whatever. Paint with a broad brush, just freakin idiotic.

My son is diabetic. If he were in a hyper/hypoglycemic condition and cops happened up on him, my son would likely be dead because steroid freaks can't use common sense.

If these guyz were trained to deal with mentally ill people, they must have made D's on the exams.

There were other options, but these cops chose to take a mans life. I hope they are prosecuted. Not likely, but one could hope.

[ToxicMich]

“The officers should have been better prepared to deal with someone off meds.”

Can't agree more with you. Can't believe some of the comments I am reading here.

[cripplecreek]

Interesting story of one cop holding fire in one situation and using lethal force in another just a few weeks later.

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2015/03/ann_arbor_officer_who_fatally.html

[MaxMax]

The guy was 4-6 feet away and moved at them with a weapon.

Even on the ground he refused to drop the weapon.

So, you are saying that the police maybe should've done this or that when
in reality the attack was there, the threat was real, and they acted in defense.

Those officers were trained to deal with the mentally ill, but when armed
there is no discussion or rational dealing with an upset man that big,
with a weapon.

[servantboy777]

>>Even on the ground he refused to drop the weapon.<<

He was on the ground...dying. Don’t be a dumb @$$.

[MaxMax]

Screw you, he wasn't complying even as he was bleeding. But no, you can't fathom the truth.

Go back to your peacenik site.

[Diamond]

She called the police and told them she needed help because her schizo son was off his meds and was scaring her.

I made that mistake one time in 2001. Never again. Never call the cops unless you want someone arrested or killed.

Cordially,

[Lazamataz]

So they ran out of 9v batteries? What’s up with the lack of Tasers????

[Tamzee]

Thanks for the link, good article. Sounds like everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief when the nut with the sword stopped slashing at the cops and put it down. Too bad the woman with the knife didn’t read about it before she tried to stab the same cop.