Officer fatally shoots man swinging flag pole in Louisville
Source: Associated Press
Jun 14, 12:13 AM EDT
Officer fatally shoots man swinging flag pole in Louisville
By CLAIRE GALOFARO
Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- An African man was shot and killed by a Louisville Metro Police officer Saturday afternoon, after police say he grabbed a flagpole and swung it at the officer. The man, whose name has not yet been released by authorities, was shot twice and died later at the hospital, according to the police department.
The African immigrant was a regular presence in the Old Louisville neighborhood surrounding the busy street corner where he was killed, neighbors said. A neighbor left a bundle of yellow lilies on the sidewalk where he fell.
Dozens began to gather there Saturday evening, trying to piece together what led to the fatal shooting and calling for police to quickly release footage from nearby surveillance cameras.
. . .
Kenneth Williams said he watched the shooting from across the street and refuted the police department's account. The man had been staggering down the street and looked dazed, Williams said.
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OFFICER_INVOLVED_SHOOTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-06-14-00-13-52
marym625
(17,997 posts)No more. Not one more!
My heart hurts.
How does this keep happening. How do they keep doing this? !
THIS is the most important thing going on in our country right now. This
cstanleytech
(26,361 posts)"Police Chief Steve Conrad said a 22-year-old woman called the police just after 2 p.m. to report she had been assaulted near the corner of South Third and West Oak streets. The responding officer, who has not been identified by police, spotted a man who matched the description of the alleged assailant a block away, at South Fourth Street.
The officer pulled over and spoke briefly with the man, the chief said. The man started to walk off, then grabbed a metal flagpole, lunged toward the officer and started swinging, Conrad said.
The officer stepped backward and ordered the man to drop the pole, the department said. But he continued to swing, according to police."
Offhand I would say this happened largely due to a women calling in about being assaulted or are they not supposed to call in about that now?
marym625
(17,997 posts)And using their weapons unnecessarily. That never happens! Couldn't have anything to do with cops not trained well enough to deal with unarmed suspects. No, not that. Because just like in the UK and Germany, where the cops don't normally have guns, they can handle people with knives and other objects without anyone dying. So yeah, has nothing to do with that. And it certainly could not be that the cop is lying about the threat because we know that never, ever happens. And none of those ever happen because the suspect is a black man.
7962
(11,841 posts)How many police are assaulted in those countries in a given year?
Lets see what the video of this incident shows before we instantly jump to the usual conclusion.
marym625
(17,997 posts)That conflicts with the cop's account
I don't care how many whack jobs are here or there. Using a gun against a person with a flag shouldn't be the first option. And it sure as shit should be thoroughly investigated, as should all shootings. Especially when the suspect is unarmed
7962
(11,841 posts)I havent seen it. And he wasnt using a "flag", he was using a POLE.
I want to see the video before i condemn the cop for defending himself.
marym625
(17,997 posts)NutmegYankee
(16,207 posts)A few local municipal units with limited police functions, whom mainly carry out safety inspections and the like, do not carry. The normal police do have guns, but are trained to avoid escalating violence.
marym625
(17,997 posts)I can't recall what country the cops were from that held the guys fighting on the NYC subway, but that's what ours should be trained to do. Not just pull a weapon and shoot. Or strangle a man to death.
NutmegYankee
(16,207 posts)Continental Europe police carry sidearms, but are far less violent than American police. Britain has unarmed police because people were afraid they would curtail their freedoms when formed, so they were unarmed to make them less scary to the British citizenry.
marym625
(17,997 posts)Had the cop not pulled his weapon, he could have grasped the pole from the man. Had he pulled his taser, he could have tased the man..absolutely no need to shoot him.
NutmegYankee
(16,207 posts)American police are taught that every situation must be "won" and that their gun is the hammer for the nail. Never mind that many situations can be resolved by stepping back, isolating the area, calming the situation down, and then implementing a non-lethal tactical solution if required.
marym625
(17,997 posts)Tell me a cop couldn't take him down.
Just horrible
Diclotican
(5,095 posts)NutmegYankee
And still - even if German police normally carries weapons, like an sidearm - how many is killed by german police officers each year - and how many is killed by US police officers at the same time frame? - At current - it is more than 400 killed by different US police officers - I do not have the numbers of german police officers - but I it is safe to say - it is far lower - maybe so lov as 0 Zero at current rate... But the year is still young - 6 mounts to go...
If 400 people had been killed by any country yearly, by the police in that country - it would have been seen as a total lack of trust between the police and the population- And government would have failed as an result of inquiry into what happened.. - in the US it looks like they take it for granted - that more than four hundred people will be killed by the same police, who are there to protect them against crimes.... And in many cases - the biggest THUGS of the all - is the police.
Diclotican
Unknown Beatle
(2,672 posts)He said the police officer got out of his car and confronted him, with his hand resting on his sidearm. Williams said it looked like the man "panicked." Williams said he picked up the pole, which had been standing outside a business, and reared it back over his shoulder. But he didn't swing it, Williams said.
Crabby Appleton
(5,231 posts)advancing on the cop and whacking him with the flagpole.
marym625
(17,997 posts)He didn't need to kill him. No way
Judi Lynn
(160,682 posts)samsingh
(17,605 posts)except to remove the true witness to could prove the police fing LIE
fing murderers
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)I'll give them a few days to release the video, and sees what happens.
I don't have a problem with a cop defending himself is somebody is trying to hit him with a large metal pole.
Judi Lynn
(160,682 posts)By no means was it a lethal situation for the cops, as the top end merely fell out of the lower part, just as will any light-weight arrangement people use for bird feeders, cheap flag poles, etc.
It so clearly cannot be used for murdering people.
"Large metal pole?" Not so much. It was extremely light-weight, as anyone can tell, and it was composed of two hollow, light-weight pieces stuck together loosely.
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,682 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)There was a report of an assault and the claim, at least, that he was threatening the officer with a weapon.
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)Grabbed a flagpole? What kind of a flagpole was a match for a gun?
marym625
(17,997 posts)You know, touching waist while black is a capital offense.
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)to too many cops and too many cop apologists in this country.
marym625
(17,997 posts)ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)Thus the lethal response.
However, outside the range of the pole, any distance weapon will usually win.
cstanleytech
(26,361 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,682 posts)Last edited Sun Jun 14, 2015, 07:51 PM - Edit history (1)
cstanleytech
(26,361 posts)Also bamboo weapons including poles Judi can kill you if the person using them knows what they are doing.
cstanleytech
(26,361 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,682 posts)LMPD: 1 dead after officer-involved shooting in Old Louisville
C.J. Daniels, @WHAS11 1:02 a.m. EDT June 14, 2015
LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) -- One man is dead and a Metro Police officer is on administrative leave following a shooting Saturday afternoon. LMPD Chief Steve Conrad said the officer, who he did not identify, was responding to a report of a woman assaulted in the 300 block of West Oak St. The officer saw a man matching the suspect description and approached him, said Conrad.
. . .
Video at link.
More:
http://www.whas11.com/story/news/crime/2015/06/13/metrosafe-police-investigate-shooting-near-3rd-and-oak-street/71178474/
Many people most likely will see it was an extremely light-weight, flimsy, 2-piece (one section sliding into another for lenth) "metal pole," and not capable of hurting anyone, much less killing someone. Common sense tells you a fragile, clearly drunk on his butt, scrawny man wasn't remotely capable of "killing" anyone. It simply doesn't add up.
Judi Lynn
(160,682 posts)LMPD: 1 dead in officer-involved shooting near 4th and Oak Streets
Posted: Jun 13, 2015 1:40 PM CDT
Updated: Jun 13, 2015 7:43 PM CDT
By Travis Ragsdale
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville Metro Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting near Fourth and Oak Streets left one person dead Saturday afternoon, according to chief Steve Conrad. Chief Conrad said the person shot grabbed a flag pole and advanced on the officer, the man did not obey officer commands and was shot twice.
"The man walked a few feet north," Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad said, "In front of one of the local businesses and grabbed a metal flag pole and immediately advanced to our officer swinging that flag pole."
But several witnesses, who say they saw the shooting take place, say the person shot did not advance toward the officer.
"The dude, he panicked," said Kenneth Williams, "He grabbed the pole out of the ground and held it like this, the officer said 'drop the pole'. The dude didn't respond but he didn't chase the officer or nothing. Next thing you know the officer reached to his side and shot him twice in the side, and next thing you know, the guy dropped."
More:
http://www.wdrb.com/story/29312940/lmpd-investigating-officer-involved-shooting-at-third-and-oak-streets
Thespian2
(2,741 posts)of such a large percentage of the population, death will surely follow...especially with militarised police forces who seem to believe that citizens are the enemy...
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)citizens are the enemy, at least in a growing number of cases it seems.
White folks don't seem to antagonize the murderous little bastards in blue quite so much.
I'm sorry, but I thought it went without saying that Black lives are targeted almost all the time.
I am old and white...I hate what the America's police forces are doing to black people, as well as other minorities...
samsingh
(17,605 posts)The Jungle 1
(4,552 posts)I do not think we have JUST a race problem. We have a cop problem. In my area of Southeastern Pa. the cops shot and killed a white drug addict who was handcuffed. No charges were brought against the cop. In another case a cop arrested a man on the street because he would not give ID. The cop lied in court about how he tased the man and several other things. Again no charges. Our DA will not bring any charges against any cops for any reason and they know it. That is one problem
Often we hear the statement that police need more training. IMO stress and adrenaline training is the missing link. This is a big deal and I bet a lot of the cops involved in these screwed up messes are saying the same thing. Why did I do that? It is why hundreds of shots are fired and the target is not hit. It is why bad decisions are made. The changes that happen to the body during an adrenaline pump are very hard to control and very hard to train for. These physical changes are real and well documented. Vision, hearing, motor skills, reaction time, and decision making, are all affected.
Understand the person being arrested is going through the same thing!
The cop needs to be the one well trained and in control.
Again IMO we need a national push for large scale regular training for stress and adrenaline. The only solution for the DA's that won't prosecute is to turn them out at the polls. Also let me state that there are cops that are just no good.
valerief
(53,235 posts)leveymg
(36,418 posts)This news photo said an awful lot about America. Maybe things haven't changed that much, except it's now bullets instead of flagpoles, and these angry Drooges grew up to be cops:
secondvariety
(1,245 posts)with the cop on this one. Attacking and cornering a police officer with a metal pole and expecting a different outcome is foolish.
A Simple Game
(9,214 posts)Could the cop have grabbed the pole? Maybe.
At that point the cop was justified in taking action, I have to leave it to the cop what that action was. But I will say it looks like his first and only choice, not option but choice, was the most deadly. Nor do we know from the video if the cop escalated the situation when he talked to the man.
Doremus
(7,261 posts)That drunk could have easily been subdued, flagpole or no. Pepper spray, tazer or old-fashioned body slam would have worked.
I think there's a growing population of people so fearful of everything and everybody they use the deadliest weapon they can find at the slightest provocation. It's getting to the point where we're going to have to suit up in kevlar before we step outside lest some milquetoast sees his shadow.
SwankyXomb
(2,030 posts)"Flag-waving patriot murdered by gang thug". Oh wait, victim wasn't white, sorry.
brett_jv
(1,245 posts)That was a very thin, cheap-aluminum two-piece, telescoping flag pole. The dead man has hold of the top of it, where the flag is. When he swings it towards the cop, the bottom half of the pole slides out, bounces off the ground, and MAYBE bounces against the cop.
NO WAY did that cause him even a remotely serious injury, but the news report makes it sound like the cop was being bludgeoned to death or some shit.
The guy was scrawny, wasted, and not really any serious threat with his flimsy flag pole.
Cop shot him like a punkass.
Judi Lynn
(160,682 posts)How a few others refuse to look at the video and see the unavoidable truth is disturbing!
I fumbled for the words you found so easily. Thank you, so much.
brett_jv
(1,245 posts)that I saw the exact same thing you saw and commented on.
It's very disturbing how little thought some officers go through before gunning someone down. I'm not saying what he did can NOT be 'justified' in a sense, and he probably did 'as trained', but I don't think we should be training cops this way, to be this 'trigger-happy'. Given his size advantage, and the fact that perp was clearly wasted, and with how skinny the 'pole' involved was, the officer should've reached for his taser or pepper spray, not his gun, in this situation. Or better yet, just charge the guy and tackle his ass. Physics would've dictated that the skinny, drunk perp could not have generated enough force with that unwieldly, long, flimsy pole to hurt the cop if he had just charged him and tackled him. Cop apparently couldn't calculate through those simple thoughts in a timely fashion, adn instead went for deadly force as a first resort.
Judi Lynn
(160,682 posts)He wouldn't have needed a taser at all.
Undoubtedly some middle school kids could have pushed him over, as well.
It was alarming to see adult "journalists" scribbling furiously that the drunk man "hit" the cop so hard with his "metal pole" that it "broke" in half, when what really happened was the top part fell out of the bottom part. Where have they been all their lives that they wouldn't know this instinctively?
I insist, you did an exceptional job of actually describing what happened, and I was so glad to see you did it.
sakabatou
(42,204 posts)Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)blackhawk2415
(10 posts)My brother is a cop and he says sometimes in the moment of the things, it can really get out of hand. Did the officer in the post take excessive force, ABSOLUTELY. But in the moment, he could have just paniced.
Judi Lynn
(160,682 posts)onecaliberal
(33,008 posts)bermudat
(1,329 posts)The answer for most policeman would be 'unarmed black citizens.'
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,682 posts)Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)Thanks for keeping track
brett_jv
(1,245 posts)just waiting to be picked up (i.e. you KNOW it was super cheap/flimsy),
plus it was VERY long, thus difficult to generate significant momentum without a SIGNIFICANT windup period ... in which case it's trajectory can be 'seen coming' for quite some time.
plus consider the sizes of the dead man (uber skinny) vs. the size of the cop (built), plus the sloppy drunk state of the dead man ...
He had plenty of time to assess the situation as he was picking up the 8 foot long (telescoping) flag pole, and run up and tackle the guy, or to get out pepper spray or a taser instead of his firearm ...
Others may disagree, but I think that cop acted like a wuss, shooting that dude in those circumstances, IMHO.
And if I was him, I'd watch this video and feel shame for behaving like a COWARD in the face of such a piddly 'threat'.
But then ... I believe #blacklivesmatter, so ...
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)The cop had a second or two to react, now the courts get 6 months to pick apart the scene second by second.
Why hasn't one person said "maybe the guy shouldn't have picked up a pole and started swinging it at an armed police officer.
I think all lives matter, and if Deng Manyoun made better choices, this would have never happened, and we would not even know who he is.
cigsandcoffee
(2,300 posts)Sure, I'll say it. And if it was him that assaulted the woman resulting in the call being made to the police, well then, he shouldn't have done that either.
Don't want to risk getting shot? Don't assault a woman and then a cop - this will certainly minimize your chances of running afoul of the law.
brett_jv
(1,245 posts)Last edited Mon Jun 15, 2015, 01:52 AM - Edit history (1)
Because FFS, obviously the answer is 'no'.
The question is ... should he have DIED for them ... at the hands of our civil servants? As opposed to, you know ... serving some time in the can for attempted assault of an officer. Which he clearly deserved.
Some of us feel that the answer is NO. These aren't 'complicated' physics, here, gentlemen. Most of us could do them in a split second.
Some 140lb drunk dude swinging around an eight-foot long, two-piece, HOLLOW, telescoping, aluminum flag pole that he just happened to find laying around on the sidewalk, right outside the 'Sam's Smoke Shop', near the corner of Ghetto Ave and MLK Dr ... is actually NOT that much of a 'threat' to a sober, male, fit, young, professionally-trained individual who outweighs him by 50lbs minimum.
All the officer had to do is just REACH OUT AND GRAB IT when drunk guy swings it (it CANNOT be moving that quickly, nor can it possibly hurt you that bad *if* he hits you with it), and take it away from him.
Oh, wait, can't do THAT, because you've already drawn your firearm with both hands. Got no hands to use.
Point is ... the police should be trained to properly assess, and not respond with deadly force ... to such a minimal threat, as this drunken scrawny dude with such a flimsy, cumbersome, weak, slow-moving 'weapon' in his hand.
I suppose the two of you were big fans of the cops rolling up and blowing away the little boy playing with the airsoft pistol in the park in Ohio as well, right? After all ... can't be TOO careful, eh?
These professional public safety officers shouldn't have to, actually, ya know, ACCURATELY assess how dangerous a situation is. Heaven forbid! Out of their pay grade!
Apparently your thinking is: if there's a danger of 1 ... on a scale of 1 to 10 ... FIRE AWAY!!!
After all, there was teh DANGERZ!!!1!!!
madville
(7,413 posts)I'm going to take the metal pole from them and then beat them with it. If I'm carrying my handgun and they hit me, they are probably getting shot or at the very least drawn on, that's a completely justifiable response regardless of race on either side.
Judi Lynn
(160,682 posts)Just like our beloved Savior, or maybe not, now that I think about it.
madville
(7,413 posts)I could give two shits about what Jesus or the Flying Spaghetti Monster might do.
Judi Lynn
(160,682 posts)[center][/center]
brett_jv
(1,245 posts)I'm on your side in this debate, but THAT ^^^?!?
Not cool, Judi ...
Gotta give some kind of warning for that sh*t.
Judi Lynn
(160,682 posts)Community questions Kentucky officer's use of deadly force
By CLAIRE GALOFARO, Associated Press | June 14, 2015 | Updated: June 14, 2015 9:03pm
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) The surveillance video shows a man stagger away from a police officer and out of the frame. He charges back into view seconds later, a 7-foot flagpole reared over his shoulder, and he swings it wildly at the officer.
The man, a 35-year-old African immigrant, was shot twice by the Louisville Metro Police officer Saturday afternoon and died, sparking a debate over officers' use of deadly force and the simmering racial tension between the police and the communities they serve
~ snip ~
Conrad described it as a "sledgehammer-like motion." The pole appears to snap in half. But Conrad said it was two poles jointed together that split apart as he swung. It is unclear if it actually hit Blanford. The officer was not taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries, Conrad said.
~ snip ~
Manyoun did not speak English. Neighbors worried that his struggle to communicate led to the shooting, and the chief acknowledged it likely had a hand in how the incident unfolded.
More:
http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Video-shows-man-fatally-shot-swinging-flag-pole-6326470.php
Calista241
(5,586 posts)The cop didn't blow him away instantly, and conducted what looked like a routine stop before the suspect got enraged and went over to grab the flag. The officer drew his weapon and retreated as the suspect was running at him with the pole.
Only after the officer was struck and had nowhere to go did the suspect get shot.
Walter Scott and Tamir Rice are better examples of our out of control cops. They are incidents the entire country can get behind to demand action. This incident, while perhaps a little questionable, does not rise to the level of egregiousness requiring change.