PD k-9 are officers so if he intended to use the knife to defend himself that the same as pulling one on a cop. So in that respect he called it on himself. He was camping illegally and they were required to detain him, or at least confront him. He resisted and pulled a weapon. He had a history of violence (assuming the cops knew this), I'm not sure I see the issue. They shot a homeless man for pulling a weapon when confronted by police NOT for illegal camping. Nice lefty spin on the title.

Sorry, vlad, no sale. The police initiated the violent confrontation with the flash bang. He was not attacking them or initiating violence until that point. Notice also that they use non-lethal bean bags *after* shooting him in the back with live bullets. I understand they have a job but initiating violence with a mentally disturbed man over illegal camping?

Read Turley's link as well. This didn't happen in a vacuum. The Albuquerque cops have shot 37 people and killed 23 in the last four years. That more than New York, a city 16 times their size. That's 22 more than Iceland cops have killed in their entire history. That's more than German cops have shot in a country of 80 million. This is part of an ongoing problem.

Sorry mike but no. The flash bang was after a 3 hour stand off and the dude had a violent history. What would you propose leavening him alone? That's what my local cops do. I don't like squatters but local cops won't do shit. If you chase them of your land with a firearms you get arrested and your stuff gets confiscated. In the past I'd have felt for the hobo but not after having to deal with a 6 mos waiting list for DMR/DMH to show up with pink papers. He was on private property and he was armed. Why is it that once someone is declared mentally ill he can't be denied anything and gets a free pass on almost any illegal behavior?

"That more than New York, a city 16 times their size." That would be because cops won't enter bad areas of ny. Brownsville East ny, Bedford Stuyvesant, Hell's kitchen etc. are basically pd free. Can't shot someone if you aren't there.
When they do go into those areas guys pulling their pagers are lit up with 40+ rounds in a spary of PD lead.

I'm not saying there aren't plenty of unjustified shooting by PD. Probably many of those 37 shootings you site were. Don't believe this is one of them. This is only getting news because he was mentally ill. This is based on the belief that mental illness is how it's portrayed in the movies. That it's some poor person that's no threat to society and just misunderstood. Most individuals with mental fall into this category. Usually far more dangerous to them selves than society. Those that do not pose a terrifying risk to society. Not all of them should be lumped together. The drunken hobo that thinks he's King George should not be lumped in with the violent paranoid schizophrenic that sliced up some teenage girls because he though they were laughing at him.

We had a similar incident in ma. Kid was flashing gang signs cops stopped to talk to him, he pulls a knife and the officer shots him.

So what if he's homeless and mentally ill? He could have used his superpowers to turn that police dog into a projectile and thrown it at the officers' children attending elementary school.

Anything can happen when you're a cop on the front lines of defending America! Anything!

Besides, the cops were there three hours. Better to shoot a man in the back than pay overtime, am I right or am I right?

Also, 9/11.

PD k-9 are officers so if he intended to use the knife to defend himself that the same as pulling one on a cop

Yes. But one is also permitted to defend themselves against unwarranted aggression, even if it is at the hands of the police.

And a K9, once off its leash, will commit violence as they don't have the higher functions to restrain themselves and will react as they have been trained until they've been called off.

Sorry, but if the cops can't carry out their duty without resorting to shooting someone in the back they don't need to be cops. I understand that mall security is much less stressful a line of work.

I'm pretty sure they had mace and/or tasers. They couldn't use them? I'm also sure this will be called a justified shoot. Fortunately for them, I'm not the one passing judgement upon their fates.

The dog had been recalled and after he turned fishing for something in his pocket. He went for a weapon.

"Yes. But one is also permitted to defend themselves against unwarranted aggression, even if it is at the hands of the police." Trespassing throws that out the window. You can not violate that law then claim self defense. That's like killing the home owner when robbing a house and claim self defense.

3 hours?

Would seem like a 30 minute evaluation plus training would have produced a better outcome for everyone.

BS on the knife issue as they initiated the violence. Not the law but it's the truth. Guns rule and have the final say regardless of what you're wearing.

They no longer deserve to be LEOs or even mall cops. Chalk it up to poor judgement and standing out in the heat arguing w/a mentally ill person. (What did they expect? Logical behaviour?)

It is possible that there is more to the story than is in this video. Three hours, and perhaps over the course of that time the cops knew he had a gun, and knew where he had it. Possible, but unlikely.

Most likely, these are cops who had little or no training for dealing with disturbed people They lost all patience, were pissed, and were therefore on a hair trigger. Which is no excuse for killing someone - in the worst case, they should have hauled him off in restraints.

The problem is, prosecutors almost never file charges against cops. There really needs to be a separate organization responsible for policing the police. Ideally, some sort of council of ordinary citizens.

"He went for a weapon."

And no amount of training can prepare an officer for that type of scenario.

I'm surprised they didn't call in an air strike. He could have had a small nuclear device in his pocket.

Nice lefty spin on the title.

What I am is a civil libertarian.

And Gog is right.

The guy wasn't rushing anyone with a knife.

I am conservative, leaning towards being a Libertarian, and agree with Ms. Alkon. This warrants a charge of murder, second degree to voluntary manslaughter, against the shooters.

They shot him in the back as he was going away.

You have three well armed officers and a K9 dealing with a mentally disturbed, dumpy older man that was lightly armed on essentially a trespassing violation in an open air space.

He never lunged at them, and they had a fair amount of distance between them and him.

It took three hours until they shot and killed him?

Somehow I can't put this down as justified by any standard.

If they had bean bag rounds why not use that first? Why resort to lethality immediately?

And I am hard pressed to describe anyone shooting someone in the back as anything more than a murderer.

Illegal camping...now a death penalty offense.

Why not tranquilizers?

Looks like murder to me.

This is interesting to me. In the 80's I spent a few nights in a downtown Albuquerque hotel. Beautiful weather but you had to keep the windows closed because of the constant police sirens.

It was almost unbelievable, could there really be that much crime? No, just a bunch of dicks abusing authority as a matter of policy.