This is a sad situation. It has been a topic of debate here at FR for years.
“If you are carrying and a situation breaks out, should you engage?”
Clearly for EJ, the answer was no.
As a white male, if I were carrying and entered into a shooting situation, I think I would try to intervene with my weapon.
But I hope I wouldn’t allow myself to forget that an LEO running into the situation who spots me might well think I am the shooter...and might shoot me, for all my good intentions.
This stuff isn’t like a video game. It is real life, with people holding guns who may be terrified, poorly trained, confused or simply jump to a conclusion seeing me standing near a body, even if I am looking towards a shooter.
I don’t think it is racist to say, it is a statement of fact, that the situation is fraught with even more danger for a black man. Like it or not, a disproportionate amount of violent crime is attributable to, and involves black men between the ages of 18 and 45.
That is a fact of life known to every law enforcement agency and officer across this country, regardless of what race they are. Black police officers are just as aware of it as white police officers.
So the margin for misunderstanding and confusion has the potential to be more widespread and deadly for a Good Samaritan black man. Just a fact of life.