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Police: Cop draws gun on man charging him with a knife, doesn't shoot him
By adamg on Fri, 07/29/2016 - 1:22pm
Boston Police report a man with a knife got to within four feet of a police officer before dropping the weapon, outside TD Garden around 9:50 p.m. yesterday.
Police say the BPD sergeant had just pulled up to investigate a 911 call about a man with a folding knife threatening passing women and Garden security officers:
As the sergeant exited his cruiser, the suspect charged at him, screaming that he would kill the officer. The sergeant quickly drew his department issued firearm and ordered the suspect to drop the knife. The suspect complied and, with the assistance of other officers, the sergeant was able to place the suspect into custody.
Michael Garrick, 20, was charged with three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and making threats.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
Clap.....clap..clap..clap.clapclap
clapclkapclapclap
(thunderous applause!!!!)
Boston area PDs are the best! With all that's goin on in this country they have yet to screw up ('cept that off duty drunk DB whose Lincoln got scratched).
Bill Evans deserves a lot of credit. He seems genuinely invested in the community here and keeping his officer's safe and responsible.
Can we just say one more time
... how Boston Police are the best. From the linked description it sounds very much like this fellow was mentally ill, and that the officer was not just well-trained and super-professional but had nerves of steel. That situation could have gone tragic in so many ways, and it didn't.
Agreed. This incident goes
Agreed. This incident goes to show the difficult split-second thought process police are required to have. The guy could have easily disobeyed the cop and attempted to attack in which some level of force would be needed. These guys have a tough job.
Yup
And I'm sure situations like this happen all around the country every day and simply aren't reported because the officers didn't need to shoot.
Cop needs to be retrained.
Cop needs to be retrained. Avoiding shooting someone is great but not when they are charging you with a pointy object that can poke holes in you.
Handguns are not a magic talisman that will stop the threat with the first shot.
Yeah Man
Shoot everyone.
I'd say the training of the BPD is pretty darn good if they know when someone is a threat so extreme to be worth using lethal force and when there are non-lethal methods of appending someone.
BPD is very well trained.
BPD is very well trained.
In pretty much any law enforcement agencies training, this scenario is a "shoot" scenario. This officer was very lucky that the suspect obeyed his command to drop the weapon.
If he didn't he was close enough to most likely complete an attack on the cop. The old "21 foot rule" says that a person armed with a knife, and the average ability, is able to close that distance in under 1.5 seconds. In that scenario a cop, with a holstered firearm, had to assess the subject, determine whether or not they are a threat, and then draw their weapon. In the time in takes ro do that the person can close enough to kill you.
This cop said that by the time he exited his vehicle and drew his forearm the guy was already 4 feet away. He was damn lucky with this guy. Based upon the article the guy had the ability, the opportunity, and intent to cause serious bodily harm or death.
With that being said, again, BPD is very well trained compared to other parts of the state and country. I hope the officers can remain safe as these encounters are becoming a more common occurrence.
Absolutely 'shoot'
Kid's lucky. He apparently went from 60 to zero so fast he convinced the sergeant not to shoot. So, he's lucky and smart and the sergeant is probably old enough to sense that the kid hit the brakes. Fast.
But, IANAW (witness). All assumption.
The equation is simple, do
The equation is simple, do you prefer dead victims (in this case the cop) or dead attackers? The cop is lucky he is not dead. This is not an example of good training, this is an example of poor training or discipline and the cop should be riding a desk for his own safety.
Yup..
Your Commie has no regard for human life, not even his own. And for this reason, men, I want to impress upon you the need for extreme watchfulness. The enemy may come individually, or he may come in strength. He may even come in the uniform of our own troops. But however he comes, we must stop him.
Officer allowed the perp way
Officer allowed the perp way too close potentially resulting in his fatality and a crazy person obtaining his service weapon.
A knife at that distance is far deadlier than a gun.
Why don't more MA cops have tazers to subdue dangerous disturbed persons nonlethally? Shooting is not preferable but without other options this is a serious officer and public safety issue.
I don't get posts like this
So BPD is able to apprehend people without shooting them AND no officers have been shot/stabbed/etc as of late. Most people would be impressed and concluded that BPD clearly is doing something right.
Yet, people like the above anon aren't a happy. They claim the cops are fools, evidenced by the lack of blood. It's like the people who go to hockey games just to see the fights and consider it a bad game unless someone is knocked cold.
Go watch one of those surgery programs if you want to see blood so bad.
BPD is taking a serious
BPD is taking a serious gamble with officer safety with their policy. Providing tasers to stop someone at a safe distance with non-lethal means would be prudent.
Don't kid yourself this isn't good training it is pure luck. No one's reflexes are fast enough to react at that close of a distance and most cops are NOWHERE near as "well trained" or well practiced as people think they are. The Watertown shithow should have made that crystal clear.
Napalm
That'll work. If not, nukes. That'll show those crazy bastards who's boss.
This comment reminds me of something....
oh yeah, I remember now. That scene in White Men Can't Jump where Billy (Woody Harrelson) and Sydney (Wesley Snipes) pull their first hustle. The big guy (I think that the character's name was Raymond) who was hustled gets pissed off and finally says, "you know what? F&*^ this. Goin' to my car. Get my gun. Shoot everyone's ass."
A 90s classic.
Video that shows the risks to a cop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8djH9JjUsyU