Good Samaritan accidentally killed by police

[philip964]

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-m ... z2yWV85KpQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Really Sad. Not sure how to avoid this if you decide to get involved. Maybe leaving with your hands in the air. But that was probably the last thing this poor guy had on his mind after rescuing a hostage.

[jmra]

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-m ... z2yWV85KpQ

Really Sad. Not sure how to avoid this if you decide to get involved. Maybe leaving with your hands in the air. But that was probably the last thing this poor guy had on his mind after rescuing a hostage.

The best way to avoid it is to be as far from LA as you can.

[jimlongley]

"The second man that was shot . . ."

So they shot two people and neither one of them was the criminal?

Multiple things going on with the potential to go wrong, possible lessons for CHLs.

This guy "rescues" someone and then exits with them and is shot because the police think he's a bad guy. Think what would happen if he was also "brandishing" a gun.

The one witness says she heard "Get down, get down . . ." and then popping noises. All you ha0ve to do is watch a couple of episodes of "COPS" to see this scenario play out. The cops arrive and start yelling commands (sometimes two or more yelling conflicting commands, like "Get on the ground" and "Turn around and put your hands on your head" at the same time) and then they start reacting to the lack of reaction almost instantaneously. I see no reasonable amount of time given to react to one command, much less a confusing array of LEO Hokey Pokey, as happened in North Las Vegas.

Brings to mind, once again, our training in the Navy, when we were taught that we had to yell "HALT" twice, fire a warning shot, yell "HALT" again, and then fire for effect. With the Weather Underground bombing reserve centers all around, we were a little on edge in our isolated little corner of the world, in the Brooklyn Navy Yard with one unarmed civilian security guard at the gate, so it was decided that we would put an armed guard at the gate, an armed roving patrol in the yard (which was empty except for us and civilian renters of the property) and armed watch on board the ship. And they called on senior E4s and Junior E5s to stand these watches, watches we hadn't stood since we were E3s.

The scenario, without thinking of consequences, went something like: You see someone acting suspicious and you do the crazy watch stander trick; "HALT, HALT, {BANG}, HALT, {BANG} exactly as fast as you could say it, and in the confusion you fire for effect with the first shot and fore the warning shot last.

We can giggle at it, until we think in terms of the poor guy who just left Charlie's Bar on Flushing Ave and is wending his way back to the ship, in civvies because by then Zumwalt had allowed them, and after he clears the main gate with proper ID, gets lost and wanders down the wrong road on the way back to the pier. And here he runs across a nervous sailor who decides that his behavior is suspicious, and he gets the "HALTHALTBANGHALTBANG" treatment.

[Dragonfighter]

IIRC, when the LA folks were looking for a rogue cop, a large African-American male, they shot up a car with a couple of ladies and a pickup with an elderly gentleman. Because, you know, they looked so similar. LA is scary.

[VoiceofReason]

The Sheriff’s Department’s initial news release the day after the shooting made no mention of the mistaken identity and said the two people shot had “aggressed the deputies.”

Assistant Sheriff Todd Rogers said that it was “pretty apparent” the night of the incident that it was a case of mistaken identity. He said he was officially briefed of that determination Tuesday.

Scott, the acting sheriff, said the case was complicated and it took some time to sort out.

Tried to cover it up, couldn’t, so was forced to tell the truth.