Man shot by police in London..

They asked him to stand down but he apparently didn't, so they shot him. Maybe because he was asian he didn't speak english and therefore didn't know what was going on. Maybe he was guilty of something just not the these bombings but was nervous for another reason. Regardless, he didn't obey the police so they took the only option i guess they had and shot him, to kill him. It might'nt sound like a nice concept but it helps to think of the police frame of mind. People have tried to detonate bombs, partially suceeded, this guy might've been on his way to blow up something. You have to ask questions later. Imagine the catastophe if they hadn't of taken action and the guy, in the mean time, dentonates an explosion that spans kilometres. All of those dead people. The police are trained to think of the worst case scenario, if there is any doubt, take action.

 

No, killing is not the only option, as I said. And as Shaggie said, why didn't they stop him before he was in public? Then there wouldn't have been the same threat. If suspicion is that important, taser him as soon as he's out of the house, then ask questions, no harm done.

I'm pleasantly surprised to find, however that the major media is sharing my point of view here that this is getting out of hand. Alot of the otherwise conservative people I work with at my TV station seem oddly disgusted by this too.

 

With people and police thinking this way, I'm as fearful of the police as I would be of a terrorist.

This is exactly what terrorists want. To make people trigger happy, confused, scared, pretentious.

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reasonable doubt that is
simple suspicion is not enough

this is really tragic, a completely innocent man with no bombing connections has been killed. for nothing, because paranoia has reached a frightening level. if this mentality continues to be used, this will likely happen again.

by the way, he was not asian but brazillian and shooting him 5 times was not their only option. is anyone that shows subjective suspicion to be shot down to death? This is a catastrophe in itself, it's implications should not be downplayed just because it is one man that has died because the police were supposedly taking the proper precautions (which is questionable from all the contradictory reports)

 

As far as i knew, the pommy police don't have tasers. I agree that fear might've played a part in ther officers acting the way they did but like i said before, they also felt they had no choice. If they could've gotten him earlier, don't you think they would have? Imagine the police standing there with their guns drawn and this guy not listening to them Can you imagine how scared they would have been? They felt they were doing their job, saving potential bombings from occuring. It's indeed a tragedy but it was not murder. They made a decision in a split second, that's what the job calls for. Sometimes it goes wrong but that's the way it is.

 

It wasn't a split-second decision. They were already surveilling the house and said they were following him. I'd still like to hear more of an explanation from the police.

Those officers have the green light to shoot-to-kill based on suspicion. I would encourage everyone to really stop and think about that for a while.

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I agree, this was no split second decision on the police's behalf. They were aware of him before he entered the subway.

How is it not murder? An innocent was man shot to death. Just because it was by the authorities, its not to be considered murderous? Unfortunetly, no one will likely be held accountable for it will be brushed off as the police 'doing their job' and attempting to keep london safe. And thats just sad, that some will just shrug and say 'sometimes it goes wrong, but thats the way it is' It didnt have to go this way.

 

According to eye witness reports, the police had him tackled to the ground and one had jumped a top of him. This further questions the necessity of shooting the man, who they supposedly already had under their physical control.
I do understand that the london police are under a lot of stress with the possibility of another pending attack and that if this man was a terrorist, letting him go could have resulted in further tragedy, but this mans only indirect link was that he lived in the same complex that a 'suspected' terrorist occupied. oh and that his jacket looked a little too 'thick' for such warm weather.

 

I'd like to see the jacket too.

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Actually, I read that he spoke english very well and lived in England legally for three years.

 

What really scares me is that during the press conference when the apology was given ,the Police stated that they would more than likely end up killing another innocent person in the week's ahead if the current state of Terror alert is maintained ,of course no one bat's an eyelid when the police basicly say they'll commit murder again in the interest of public safety....

 

I second that.

 

The cops who fired the shots were suspended but not sacked. It must be hard for them but i guess that action had to be taken to look better publically. I hope they aren't made scapegoats. They were given orders. If there is any blame i hope it's shared.

 

I dont blame the cops either. They had shoot to kill orders. I question those orders.

 

If this person had been a suicide bomber, would imagine these police officers would have been 'heros' the only time they knew for sure he was 'innocent'. I question the 'shoot to kill' also but i am changing my mind since suicide bombings became a statement in this country.

 

So plainclothes police should start shooting whomever they beleive to have a slight bit of suspicion?? Dont you think this will breed paranoia and get out of control (which it has already)?

Sure, if this man was a suicide bomber, his killing would have diverted the killing of many others. But what bothers me, other than the lack of evidence that supported thier decision to shoot him, is what this whole happening implies: a new and dangerous level of paranoia and fear.

 

I think the people that forsee a 'police state' and somewhat think it is all about 'foreign policies' are the ones that create more fear.

After the fact, we can all see the flaws and the errors .. at the time, i would imagine it was a case of (as far as the police were concerned) how long is it from point A to point B where is point B ?. Get as much information as possible. It would be hailed as a 'success' if it had not gone so tragicaly wrong..This was one failure how many successes have there been so far ?.. I do hope his family are reasonable enough and our goverment are open enough and no 'point scoring' from the media and political detractors etc make this situation into a postitive so for us come together rather than for this to push people apart...going through the papers and a lot of commentaries on the news..this seems not a likely scenario on many fronts..ok i am a bit of a wishful thinker.

I don't believe it has got out of control.. the only thing that is out of control are the people doing the bombings.. this kinda thing does not work in this country as well as it would in others. London being so large and having been through 'terror' before.. not to blow our trumpet to loudly every country that has come under attack in this way have dealt with it with courage an resolve..to be honest if a bomb went off in my town (i am over 100 miles from London) i hope i would be able to cope with it..i would not be descending into blind paranoia though, i know that much.

We are only having this discussion because it turned out to be a tragic error..If suicide bombings had not occured this situation is not likely to have happened.. I think the shooting of this man was a last resort not the first thing they thought of imho.

 

What an officer believes in his mind means everything. There was a shooting of an innocent man in NY back in the 90s. The police were looking for a rapist and shot a Black man on his porch. They assumed he was the rapist and assumed he was reaching for a gun when he was taking out his wallet to show his I.D. They fired about 46 rounds, 16 of which hit him and killed him.

A younger inexperienced officer didn't know any better and yelled 'Look out he has a gun.' Then everyone open-fired.

I'll post the original story if I can find it. I can barely remember his name.

All the police got off pretty easy. The defense lawyers even had a box of Kleenex for one of the officers to wipe his tears during the testimony. Guiliani, of course, completely defended the police in the incident.

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On an historical note, I think it's ironic that the tubes were a safe haven in WWII when buildings were being bombed yet today have become a place of terror.

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This story about the Brazilian man seems to be going cold in the media. I sure hope they give more details, but I have a feeling it will evaporate.

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