• SWAT on a drug raid, shot and killed man with a golf club.
    239 replies, posted
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV6Bq8xeQrU[/media] [quote] Context pulled from The Salt Lake Tribune Shouts break the evening silence. “Police! Search warrant!” Officers burst through the door. A man appears across the room. Metal glints from his clasped hands. Shots echo from a police-issue Glock 22. Todd Blair slumps to the floor. “Five seconds,” said Blair’s mother, Arlean. “In five seconds, he was dead.” Officers entered Blair’s home Sept. 16 during a drug raid when he stepped into the hall, wielding a golf club, police video shows. Ogden police Sgt. Troy Burnett shot Blair, 45, in the head and chest. The shooting was deemed legally justified. “They could have handled it a lot better,” Arlean Blair countered. “They could have tasered him. They could have done a lot of things other than shoot him.” Investigation reports obtained by The Tribune depict an operation that took some unexpected turns away from protocol before that one explosive moment. [/quote] So who's fault? You decide! I'm with the SWAT team.
I think it was justified, SWAT didn't know it was a golf club and it might as well have been an axe. Besides, running over against SWAT with a golf club isn't exactly a good idea.
Aww poor guy, from the video I see they could have just tackled the guy. [editline]29th December 2010[/editline] Maybe he didn't know it was a SWAT team. He might of thought it was a burglar.
I wonder how the people who were in the deaf-guy-with-the-knife thread will react to this
fucking idiot cops
Run, [del]Think[/del], Shoot.
Unjustified.
I love it how after he is dead they yell 'GET ON THE GROUND!'
They shout "Cease fire" and don't even give him a chance, fucking trigger happy morons.
If I ever go to the united states, I'd better keep my hands out of my pockets and avoid holding any possible object that look like a gun (which means all dark colored objects).
Should have tazered the guy, shooting him was unnecessary.
Would have shot too.
I'm seriously getting sick and fucking tired of this bullshit and this same shit applies to the deaf guy with the knife that got shot. This shit has been popping up more and more in the past few years and it's just a perfect example of the trigger happy dickwads just wanting to shoot every potential threat because they wanna see some action and will go to extremely far lengths to do it. Then they deny the actual reasons for doing it while subconsciously knowing they did it for a completely different reason. Isn't the point of law enforcement and civil protection to protect citizens, keep peace, and help to resolve domestic issues? If you want to let off some steam or just wanna shoot something don't do it at your fucking job, go to a god damn gun range and use a minigun or RPG, or play some fucking video games. Seriously, I think all cops nowadays should undergo physcological evaluation or something simliar, as well as all of the people being recruited. The guy probably didn't know what was going on to begin with. For all he knows they were robbers banging on the door and broke in so he grabbed a golf club to defend himself and then got shot by someone who he probably thought were the perpetrators. They didn't even tell him to drop the club, they just shot as soon as they saw him. You're wearing a fucking helmet, a bullet proof vest, and a shitload of gear for christs sake, at least use your god damn brain instead of walking around half-cocked and trigger happy about every "potential threat". This is just pure insecurity. And to think that some people actually defend this. It's almost sickening. Edit: I'm not saying that all cops and SWAT are like this, I'm just trying to say that, perhaps the situation could have been handled better. Stuff like this just really gets under my nerves, that's all.
Bang, bang, bang... "Get on the ground"
[QUOTE=bugfix;27045266]Would have shot too.[/QUOTE] I would have too to be honest.
A man's life has been lost, for something that could have been resolved by two of the swat team That being said, if I was in the situation I probably would've tagged him too. Rather you than me. It could've been anything, and I would place my life above that guy. They should've confirmed the weapon before firing, and obviously even if they did fire they should've shot to wound, not kill However the rational look on things is effective in past tense, I do not blame those men for firing but I acknowledge that the situation could have been handled better And who the fuck runs at armed SWAT dudes with a fucking golf club?
When your in the SWAT members position. People are trying to kill you because you are raiding their house. I mean, you can say "oh they are stupid bla bla" but you have less then a second to think about threats in his position. Virtually everything but his fellow SWAT are threats when they raid a house.
That was completely justified. How were the swat to know better, the officers reaction suggests that he shot in impulse to what the man was carrying, take it literally, swat is invading your house, drop whatevers in your hands, if the swat member didnt fire for all he knew it could have been a gun concealed in the shadow, and he could have gotten himself and his team dead
[QUOTE=dude2193;27045353]That was completely justified. How were the swat to know better, the officers reaction suggests that he shot in impulse to what the man was carrying, take it literally, swat is invading your house, drop whatevers in your hands, if the swat member didnt fire for all he knew it could have been a gun concealed in the shadow, and he could have gotten himself and his team dead[/QUOTE] Are you fucking blind? How the fuck was he suppose to know they were SWAT as soon as he popped his head around the door he was fucking shot he didn't even attempt to run at them. They're SWAT. If they're that trigger happy and can't process thoughts fast enough they shouldn't be part of any police force.
[QUOTE=Monty Pie-thon;27045458]How the fuck was he suppose to know they were SWAT[/QUOTE] Police! Search warrant!
[QUOTE=Monty Pie-thon;27045458]Are you fucking blind? How the fuck was he suppose to know they were SWAT as soon as he popped his head around the door he was fucking shot he didn't even attempt to run at them. They're SWAT. If they're that trigger happy and can't process thoughts fast enough they shouldn't be part of any police force.[/QUOTE] The people saying "Stop police" would have alerted him to the presence of police in the vicinity of his door and then living room. My two cents: Trigger happy, could have been justifiable if he made an attempt to attack rather than brandish the golf club. A tazer would have certainly been the best option and it is a damn shame they didn't use one.
[QUOTE=bugfix;27045490]Police! Search warrant![/QUOTE] First and foremost, what was he doing prior to the drug bust? I doubt the situation would suddenly hit him if he had just got woken abruptly.
The reason they shout that "Search warrant" shit is so people realise they're not being robbed and should not come out with a weapon, ready to swing, yelling. Shame the guy died, but it was inevitable as soon as he picked up that golf club. The SWAT have to act that fast, it's not trigger happiness, it's being forced into situations where you have to act before you can logically break down the situation and weigh the pros and cons of each action, with your life and the lives of your friends possibly at risk.
[QUOTE=Rock Ironrod;27045574]The reason they shout that "Search warrant" shit is so people realise they're not being robbed and should not come out with a weapon, ready to swing, yelling. Shame the guy died, but it was inevitable as soon as he picked up that golf club. The SWAT have to act that fast, it's not trigger happiness, it's being forced into situations where you have to act before you can logically break down the situation and weigh the pros and cons of each action, with your life and the lives of your friends possibly at risk.[/QUOTE] Logically thinking on your feet can be stressful and intimidating and even more so in a drug raid but really should be a requirement for any police force especially the SWAT.
Don't do drugs if you can't dodge bullets. I'm with the SWAT all the way.
Some of you don't understand that he might have been in panic, and thought that the people breaking his door down were robbers. He stood in a defensive pose, and the police didn't have to shoot him several times, because he was of no threat to them, and the SWAT should have recognized he had a stick or club. Seriously, what sort of gun do you hold like that?
[QUOTE=Janizaurd;27045630]Some of you don't understand that he might have been in panic, and thought that the people breaking his door down were robbers. He stood in a defensive pose, and the police didn't have to shoot him several times, because he was of no threat to them, and the SWAT should have recognized he had a stick or club. Seriously, what sort of gun do you hold like that?[/QUOTE] If someone would look at me with golf club raised I would see them as a threat to my health. And I think the SWAT team is instructed to shoot three times. I might be wrong, but I think it was like that.
[QUOTE=Hullu V3;27045639]If someone would look at me with golf club raised I would see them as a threat to my health.[/QUOTE] Then taser him or wrestle him down to the ground, don't fucking shoot him.
[QUOTE=Monty Pie-thon;27045620]Logically thinking on your feet can be stressful and intimidating and even more so in a drug raid but really should be a requirement for any police force especially the SWAT.[/QUOTE] There's a limit to critical thinking and reaction times though, until we manage to create literal superhuman law enforcement, this can and will happen, as SWAT team members are still only human.
[QUOTE=Monty Pie-thon;27045650]Then taser him or wrestle him down to the ground, don't fucking shoot him.[/QUOTE] You think they go into the house and have time to analyze the situation like "Oh he has a golf club, well, time to switch to tazer"? They go there and are ready for someone to jump out of the closet with a gun. Too bad this guy brought a stick into a gun fight.
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