rapidge
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On May 6th, officer Stephen Mader responded to a 911 call made by the suspects girlfriend that a man was armed with a gun and threatening to shoot himself. The suspect asked Mr. Mader to "please shoot me." Instead of providing suicide by cop, Mader tried to talk the man down. Two more cops showed up and killed the suspect. They found that the gun the man had was unloaded. A week later, Mader was terminated for not shooting the man and "putting other officers in danger to a threat." ( Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2016/09/11/Weirton-fired-officer-who-did-not-fire-at-man-with-gun/stories/20160909008 )
TL;DR - Even cops are being screwed when they want to do the right thing.
PileOfWalthers
I've got a few guns with loaded chamber indicators. I assure you I can not make these out from more than 5 feet away...
jocapi
I can already tell that the comments here are gonna be 7 egdy 9 me
kwkspectre
It makes absolutely no difference that the gun wasn't loaded. Situations like this have caused the death of more than one officer.
blonx
Hopefully he got a better job after that mess
limepepsi504
That's a goddamn shame. He did his job
CrunchyOverCreamy
Apparently not
eagerophiuchus
You're just trying to stir the pot. Stop. "termination included two other incidents in which the city believed Mr. Mader acted improperly"
DrProfessorRocketSurgeon
Yeah, because they'd never make shit up to justify their actions.
eagerophiuchus
Civilians have been filing complaints for years. I'm not saying the complaints are justified, but OP is skewing the story a lot.
butcherbird
Taking your own life is one thing, do what you gotta do. But suicide by cop has to be one of the most selfish things ever.
Mushroombadger
It's also extremely stupid because if it fails you just go to jail...
realFloridaMan
homicide by cop is worse
DrProfessorRocketSurgeon
It's only homicide if they get convicted, otherwise it's a medal and a commendation...
Ethus
Wrong. An armed individual was directly threatening himself and everyone in proximity with lethal force. SOP is neutralize the threat.
realFloridaMan
go fuck yourself, this isn't an enemy situation, this is a distraught citizen.
Ethus
Your defensiveness is unnecessary. Distraught people need help I agree. People threatening the lives of others need containment/neutralized.
rapidge
He was not threatening anyone else. The 911 call stated that and a cop is expected to use their best judgement. He did and was fired for it.
Ethus
So the cop that was there and shot him wasn't there and not in harms way? Some guy waving gun that requires talking down isn't a threat?
Utgart
Amazing that he had to use his Marine training to de-escalate. We train our soldiers to be better police than police.
Ethus
Soldiers protect the State. Police protect the people of the State.
DrProfessorRocketSurgeon
Well, except for the people they shoot for no good reason, they don't protect them very well.
Utgart
The article states that he used his marine training to de-escalate. Not police training. Used soldier training to protect people.
Ethus
They have the similar goals, they are carried out for different parties.
firestorme
So it would seem
realFloridaMan
Police protect nothing. Their job is to apprehend criminals AFTER a crime has been committed, not to stop the commission of crime per SCOTUS
DrProfessorRocketSurgeon
And they don't even do that very well.
5700
Says Florida man
realFloridaMan
Says SCOTUS