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HOUSTON (AP) — A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.

Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said the man cornered the officer in his wheelchair and was making threats while trying to stab the officer with the pen. At the time, the officer did not know what the metal object was that the man was waving, Silva said.

She said the man came "within inches to a foot" of the officer and did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still.

"Fearing for his partner's safety and his own safety, he discharged his weapon," Silva told The Associated Press.

Police did not immediately release the name of the man who was killed. They had been called to the home after a caretaker there called and reported that the man in wheelchair was causing a disturbance.

The owner of the group home, John Garcia, told the Houston Chronicle that the man had a history of mental illness and had been living at the house about 18 months. Garcia said the man had told him that he lost a leg above the knee and all of one arm when he was hit by a train.



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Sparkly Shapeshifter

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I don't know how I feel about this.

Nyadriel's King

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Okay, so wait. The officer was confronted by a guy who only has one arm and one leg and in a wheelchair. He gets cornered? He could not have gotten out of that?

Whether or not the guy in the wheelchair had anything in his hand, he only has one hand and has to use it to propel himself anywhere. You mean the cop feared for his life in this situation?

The other cop could not have helped? Could not have grabbed wheelchair from behind and locked it so it could not be wheeled?


Sorry, but I am not buying any of this.

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I don't know how I feel about this.

What she said. sweatdrop

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Lord Elwrind
Okay, so wait. The officer was confronted by a guy who only has one arm and one leg and in a wheelchair. He gets cornered? He could not have gotten out of that?

Whether or not the guy in the wheelchair had anything in his hand, he only has one hand and has to use it to propel himself anywhere. You mean the cop feared for his life in this situation?

The other cop could not have helped? Could not have grabbed wheelchair from behind and locked it so it could not be wheeled?


Sorry, but I am not buying any of this.

I agree... a trained police officer, wait... TWO trained police officers could not do anything to control the situation? They are trained to deal with people that are out of their minds on drugs and are threatening them with guns, knives, etc and yet can not handle a person stuck in a wheelchair with only one leg (ie they know could not suddenly get up out of the wheelchair and run at one of them) and only one arm? Like it was said above, with only one arm, how is the guy any serious threat when he has to use that arm to move the wheelchair? Neither one of them couldn't stop him before getting 'cornered'? He couldn't be threatening the officer with the unknown object while using it to move the chair.

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Hop - Stab - Hop - Stab - Hop - Stab

I'm not sure. On the surface it sounds like excessive use of force. I'm wondering if I'd feel any different if I was actually there or saw a good video of it.

My first thought was couldn't the cornered officer use his leg to push the wheelchair away but probably not. If the guy only had one arm the wheelchair was almost certainly one of those heavy electric ones. I'm not sure but I assume those things auto brake when you let go of the joystick in case you stop on a hill. I'm physically pretty strong. If I had a knife or some other 'pointy' in my hand I could be a pretty serious threat to you even with one arm if I had you cornered where I could reach you. Add to that the aggressiveness that can come from mental illness and it is conceivable the officer was genuinely concerned for his well being. Keep in mind a cop (or anyone) does not have to think they are going to die to defend themselves. They don't have to allow serious cuts either.

I think mostly this is a great example of why many police forces (including both my local city and county deputy sheriffs) routinely carry tasers or stun guns. Tasering this guy would have stopped him from a safe distance but probably not done him any serious harm.

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David2074
Hop - Stab - Hop - Stab - Hop - Stab

I'm not sure. On the surface it sounds like excessive use of force. I'm wondering if I'd feel any different if I was actually there or saw a good video of it.

My first thought was couldn't the cornered officer use his leg to push the wheelchair away but probably not. If the guy only had one arm the wheelchair was almost certainly one of those heavy electric ones. I'm not sure but I assume those things auto brake when you let go of the joystick in case you stop on a hill. I'm physically pretty strong. If I had a knife or some other 'pointy' in my hand I could be a pretty serious threat to you even with one arm if I had you cornered where I could reach you. Add to that the aggressiveness that can come from mental illness and it is conceivable the officer was genuinely concerned for his well being. Keep in mind a cop (or anyone) does not have to think they are going to die to defend themselves. They don't have to allow serious cuts either.

I think mostly this is a great example of why many police forces (including both my local city and county deputy sheriffs) routinely carry tasers or stun guns. Tasering this guy would have stopped him from a safe distance but probably not done him any serious harm.


Better yet, as I had said, the other cop to pull the chair away from behind and lock it.
Besides, even if the chair was/is motorized, it is still difficult for a one-armed guy to be of that much danger to anybody especially if they are not alone. Where was the other cop? And what was he doing?
If the cops were trained well enough, disarming (no pun intended) the guy would/should have been the course of action. Not taking out a gun and shooting him.
Quote:
"It was close quarters in the area of the house," Silva said. "The officer was forced into an area where he had no way to get out."

I'm curious about how the man got the officers cornered into an area like that. It does sound like use of excessive force in this case. I would like to hear more about the case, because it seems weird that they would be forced into that area cut off by the wheelchair bound man. I can understand them thinking the pen was a weapon, but the sudden jump to killing the guy instead of subduing him some other way seems fishy. I think there is more to this story than they're telling in the article.

Tipsy Smoker

sounds like the officer who drug the old lady from the vehicle over identification...and two officers, in this case, can't handle such a task? they get pats on the back and pity.

Rainbow Admirer

Wow, seems like that cop had never heard of a taser :/

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It's difficult to say without more evidence as towards what actually happened. A knife is a dangerous weapon and if the person in the wheelchair seemed intent on stabbing the officer getting too close is very dangerous, even if the person only has one arm. You'd be surprised just how dangerous some people can be, even the disabled, under the right (wrong) circumstances. I do wonder if the officer had a taser and if so why it wasn't used. I don't know the Houston Police Department's policy on tasers, they might have some kind of policy where they can't be used on the disabled or people that might have heart problems or something that could result in the officer having to use lethal force instead, similar policies have existed in other departments. Ultimately, more evidence is needed to make any determination.
laughed when i heard it on the news...

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Lord Elwrind
Okay, so wait. The officer was confronted by a guy who only has one arm and one leg and in a wheelchair. He gets cornered? He could not have gotten out of that?

Whether or not the guy in the wheelchair had anything in his hand, he only has one hand and has to use it to propel himself anywhere. You mean the cop feared for his life in this situation?

The other cop could not have helped? Could not have grabbed wheelchair from behind and locked it so it could not be wheeled?


Sorry, but I am not buying any of this.
This :/

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