Houston police shoot a wheelchair-bound double amputee in a group home

The police officer should hand in his gun and sit behind a desk, just for allowing himself to be cornered by an amputee in a wheelchair.

 

There's also always somebody who jumps the gun with their quick judgments without having the whole story. Or...who already has judgments towards a side without even reading the story.

Time will tell. Other than that, I don't care. So far it seems like both individuals are/were idiots and did the wrong thing at the time.

 

"Officer Matt Marin, "in fear of the safety of his partner and the safety of himself, discharges his duty weapon, striking the suspect".

He must have been really scared to headshot the guy.

 

My question is why didn't Officer Marin attempt to use a secondary use of force, i.e. Taser, baton or spray? It doesn't mention anything in the article about it or state either of the officers attempted other methods of dealing with the guy.

I've been through hundreds of training scenario's, responded to more real-world assaults, fights and violent encounters than I can count and I can't come up with any reason this guy felt it necessary to use deadly force.

Perhaps we're not getting all the info, but on the face of it, this doesn't appear to be a justifiable shooting.

On the flip side, that Arlene Kelly person is an idiot to assume that just because someone only has one arm and one good leg that they can't be a physical threat. Of course, I don't expect much objectivity from the co-founder of a group whose sole function is to "monitor police misconduct".

 

This is not Officer Marin's first time doing something like this.....I have a feeling this will be his last.

 

I totally agree with this statement.. Something tells me there is more to the story... I doubt this officer woke up that morning and thought to himself I wonder if I will have to shoot an amputee in a whelchair.. I believe there is more to this story..

 

His first shooting was investigated and determined to be justified. It involved an "in process" assault with a deadly weapon and he was justified in his actions.

This case....not so much.

 

This stuff is starting to become unbelievable.

 

Shouldn't that be refusing to show hand?

If you can't stop a one armed, one legged man in a wheelchair with a pen without killing him you might want to rethink your career choice.

 

So...not only was he cornered by a one legged, one armed man in a wheelchair, but he mistook a PEN for a GUN.

Seriously...Worst Cop. Ever.

 

Cmon man,, "one armed man in a wheelchair" How does that mean he cannot still shoot you? Something had to go down for this to have taken place, its too strange a story.

How do we know the guy was not threatning to pull out a gun and shoot the officer?? Maybe he was saying he had a gun and it was a pen in the pocket gig.. Just pretend that is the case, who in here would wait to see? who knows until all info is out.

 

The problem is......there is a possibility that the first was a cover up and at the least, made to look, more within protocal than it was, and its hard to cover up a second....

 

Do you have evidence to support that possibility? Unless you do, it's useless to start tossing around cover up theories.

 

They really should have a "one of these is not like the others" question on the police academy test with pictures of a wallet, a pen and a gun.

 

Umm, no. Marin fatally shot a man who was in the process of stabbing his neighbor to death after having already stabbed his girlfriend to death.

That was pretty cut and dry shoot/no-shoot scenario after the subject refused to drop the knife and advanced on him.

In this case, I believe Marin just screwed up. The Houston PD asked the FBI to assist, if this was some gigantic conspiracy by the Houston Police Department, I doubt that would have been something they would do.

 

I think Marin made the wrong call, but I also believe this is a situation where he followed his training. The cops were called to the scene, which certainly leads me to believe that its something the home didn't feel could be handled without their involvement.

It sounds like this guy had what could have been a weapon. There's a gray area to stuff like that when it comes to police response. It shouldn't have happened, but if you're attacking police, have what could be a weapon, and do not obey their orders to drop it, you can very well get shot. I've talked to several cops over the years who have had to deal with people brandishing things that aren't weapons. Its a tense situation, and not a choice I'd want to have to make.

 

No its not....its a discussion thread where people put out possibilities, opinions, speculation etc.....

Don't be ridiculous, or so sensitive....

And, no I don't have FACTS, to back that up....only the news station here in Houston doing the same thing I am, talking to people involved and talking about possible directions this could take.

 

No, but I think HPD realizes how big of a case this is, considering the officer involved.....and therefore bring in the FBI to make sure that they are seen as on the "up and up"...because they know the questions I brought up, may come up again...

I didn't say anything about whether or not it was a conspiracy the first time OR that they were wrong in their findings, only that those questions could quite possibly come up with this one and cast a bad light on the last time once again.

So rather than trying to turn words to fit your opinion.....read the post.

 

The guy is in a wheelchair. How hard is he to subdue? Just dump his ass out of the chair. It will sure as hell slow him down. Unless this guy had a gun, I see no need to shoot him. Especially if he had a partner with him to knock the guy out of the chair or grab his arm.

 

That would have been my thought process.....

 

Agreed

Isn't this where a taser normally comes into play? Maybe this is one of those few departments that can't afford them.

 

I have had police training from my time in the Navy (I was a base sentry). It seemed to me that based on the officer's actions he thought the guy in the wheelchair had a weapon. Using a taser on someone causes them to clench their hands and fingers. Instead of having a guy with a gun you'd have a guy on the ground firing a gun uncontrollably.

 

But then this thread would've been about abuse and use of excessive force against a handicap.

See, it always comes back to bite them in the ass

 

I think the article was clear that the Officer said he thought it was a knife, not a gun.