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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSo where did the three bullets go?
We see in the video that Officer Michael T. Slager shot eight times at Walter L. Scott from a distance of about 15 to 30 feet. According to unofficial reports, Mr. Scott was struck five times.
The New York Times
So where did the remaining three bullets go? Did they whiz into a house? A school? A playground?
Who was in danger of getting struck by these three errant bullets? Have any reports surfaced yet?
It's terrible enough when a police officer murders a citizen, but when that officer unloads his weapon in manner that sets bullets flying randomly, the entire community is in danger.
NoJusticeNoPeace
(5,018 posts)car looks like to me
Anybody know what I am talking about?
do we have that video?
liam_laddie
(1,321 posts)...to be a passenger, especially in low-light situations. I'm unsure, myself.
herding cats
(19,568 posts)NoJusticeNoPeace
(5,018 posts)anybody know?
herding cats
(19,568 posts)A passenger was reportedly in Walter Scotts car when Scott was stopped by a North Charleston police officer who fatally shot him shortly afterwards.
Local news station ABCNews4 said police reports showed an unidentified passenger was inside Scotts Mercedes Benz when the 50-year-old was stopped by officer Michael Slager last Saturday.
That person could provide insight into the circumstances that led Slager to fire at Scott while the unarmed man was running away an incident that was captured on video by Feidin Santana, who was walking to work nearby.
A spokesman for the Scott familys attorney, Chris Stewart, told the news station the family does not know who the passenger was.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/09/south-carolina-shooting-passenger-walter-scotts-car-during-traffic-stop
jwirr
(39,215 posts)friend in the back I would have been running hell bent for leather in the opposite direction and I would not be turning myself in. The only way I would turn myself in would be to the FBI and then only with a promise of protection.
herding cats
(19,568 posts)A DUer posted a map which helps show where he was stopped and where he was murdered.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026476880#post6
And since running away while black just got Walter Scott killed, I admit I'd think twice about it myself.
Someone called Scott's mother and told her Scott had been shot with a taser at a traffic stop. She called his brother asking him to check it out, and when he arrived he was dead. Someone appears to have know he'd been tased, but didn't know he'd been shot and killed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/us/south-carolina-officer-is-charged-with-murder-in-black-mans-death.html
It seems someone else saw some of it at least.
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)The passenger is also just fine. I dont think they saw the shooting from where the car was parked.
TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)...a friend and/or coworker in the car with him.
TYY
NoJusticeNoPeace
(5,018 posts)wont believe the same way they didnt believe Dorian Johnson.
TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)The passenger's identity was not given in a police report obtained by CNN, but another officer responding to the incident said in the report that the passenger was detained and placed in the back seat of a police vehicle.
Scott family attorney Chris Stewart told CNN the man with Scott was a co-worker and friend. He did not identify the friend by name.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/09/us/south-carolina-police-shooting/
Hopefully we'll find out more about the friend.
TYY
pintobean
(18,101 posts)according to the DOJ. Comparing this incident with the Brown shooting is ridiculous.
NoJusticeNoPeace
(5,018 posts)when he takes the final two shots to the head.
Other than that, the distance as in this video, similar, everything very similar.
I realize some people need Brown to be guilty of something.
Too bad we dont have the video, but it would show an ALMOST IDENTICAL positioning of the two
both UNARMED
pintobean
(18,101 posts)or shot at while fleeing. Brown assaulted the officer, Scott didn't. Brown turned and charged the cop, Scott didn't.
They are not the same.
NoJusticeNoPeace
(5,018 posts)It is SOOO important to certain people that Brown be guilty of something
I get it
pintobean
(18,101 posts)They're who you disagree with.
NoJusticeNoPeace
(5,018 posts)based on all the testimony.
period
sorry
pintobean
(18,101 posts)You still haven't read it?
NoJusticeNoPeace
(5,018 posts)or wasnt threatening the officer only that based on conflicting testimony, the benefit of the doubt goes to the cop.
That they cant prove he wasnt in fear for his life.
I hope you will spend all day today proving me wrong, proving how IMPORTANT it is to YOU that he be guilty of something.
Too bad we couldnt have had a trial and found out...which has nothing to do with what the DOJ did
SwankyXomb
(2,030 posts)from most of the threads on this topic. It must give them all kinds of tingles to have a point where they can push their "KOPZ R GUD U ALL SUK" agenda.
logosoco
(3,208 posts)Viva_Daddy
(785 posts)If they shoot for the legs instead of the back, the bullets that miss are likely to go harmlessly into the ground instead of randomly into a neighborhood.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)But at least part of the energy will be spent when they first hit the ground, which means less danger overall.
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)Every armed organization in the world trains its people that if you need to fire a firearm at someone, you fire at center of mass.
The key phrase there is "if you need to fire a firearm at someone"
The need only exists if you or someone else is in threat for their lives.
In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)except ... why aren't they being trained to deal with situations without using a gun
951-Riverside
(7,234 posts)Dead guys can't sue for pain, suffering and medical bills.
Simply put, its cheaper to pay the family a mil or two in a lump sum settlement vs. $500,000+ a year for life to keep a wounded guy alive.
justiceischeap
(14,040 posts)because it's safer for all. In a situation as was caught on video, you have a person running and a cop amped up on adrenaline, the likelihood of him making a leg shot and succeeding is low. And if the cop were actually in a situation where his or her life is in danger (I'm not seeing it from the video in this case), then I want them to survive the encounter.
The problem, as I see it, is cops should be better trained when to pull and use their weapons, not how to use them. They seem pretty damn successful with how to use them.
herding cats
(19,568 posts)Last edited Fri Apr 10, 2015, 01:13 PM - Edit history (1)
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)If aomebody is an actual threat, then shooting center of mass to stop the threat is the correct action.
In this case not shooting at all is what should have happened.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Last edited Fri Apr 10, 2015, 03:38 PM - Edit history (1)
like this policeman and Darren Wilson were worried about the safety of innocent people getting hit by one of their wildly fired bullets. Gunners, and hardened police, cite you can't bring your target down of stop them by shooting at legs -- well, maybe you don't have to drop the "target," kill them, or shoot them in many of these cases.
I'm so tired of people trying to rationalize killing more folks.
Action_Patrol
(845 posts)And it hits your Femoral, you're nearly instantly dead. The whole point is that these idiots aren't supposed to shoot anything that isn't an immediate threat to life
ileus
(15,396 posts)You could probably find them with a metal detector in the dirt.
logosoco
(3,208 posts)I don't trust anyone with a weapon, unless under controlled circumstances (like a shooting range). Someone may think they are a good shot, but in an emotional situation they are sure to lose some skill.
This was a thought I had with the Michael Brown shooting. A lot of people in those apartments. The cop made a choice that his "fear for his life" was more important than any bystander.
Calista241
(5,586 posts)Hollow point ammunition, which is generally what law enforcement use, is lethal out to about 100 to 150 yards if he was shooting a 9mm pistol.
Full metal jacket ammo is lethal to much further ranges, but this is not generally used by law enforcement for carry purposes.
In my area, cops are usually assigned a 9mm pistol by the agency they work for.
Angel Martin
(942 posts)so max lethal distance is more like 70-100 yards, but still plenty dangerous in a suburban neighbourhood
police accuracy rates are low. NYPD reported a 30% hit rate against suspects who didn't shoot back
http://nation.time.com/2013/09/16/ready-fire-aim-the-science-behind-police-shooting-bystanders/