Man killed after he hit 2 officers with rocks

[Jazzy]

A homeless man who was shot and killed by officers at a busy intersection had thrown multiple rocks, hitting two officers, and had refused to put down other stones, authorities said Wednesday.

Officers used a stun gun on the man, but it had no effect, Pasco Police Chief Bob Metzger said at a news conference. Because of his "threatening" behavior, officers fired their guns, he said.

Metzger said he did not know whether a weapon was found.

The man killed was 35-year-old Antonio Zambrano-Montes, whose last address was a Pasco homeless shelter, said Franklin County Coroner Dan Blasdel.

Witnesses say the man was running away when he was shot. They told the Tri-City Herald (http://goo.gl/vm1Aln ) the man had run about half a block when he was killed about 5 p.m. Tuesday near the Fiesta Foods store.

The shooting occurred after officers responded to a report of a man throwing rocks at cars at a busy intersection near a grocery store.

Dario Infante, 21, of Pasco, recorded video from a vehicle about 50 feet away as the scene unfolded. In an email interview, he said he decided to start recording when he saw an officer trying to use a stun gun on the man. Infante said he saw the man throw a few rocks at police officers but he didn't see him hit any officers. Five "pops" are audible shortly after the video begins, and the man can be seen running away, across a street and down a sidewalk, pursued by three officers.

As the officers draw closer to the running man, he stops, turns around and faces them. Multiple "pops" are heard and the man falls to the ground.

"He didn't throw any rocks after he started running," Infante said.

Several dozen people gathered at Pasco City Hall on Wednesday afternoon to raise concerns about the shooting.

The ACLU of Washington also issued a statement, calling the incident "very disturbing."

"Fleeing from police and not following an officer's command should not be sufficient for a person to get shot," the group's executive director, Kathleen Taylor. Deadly force should be used only as a last resort, she said.

Witness Ben Patrick told the newspaper police fired at the man as his back was turned.

"I really thought they were just going walk up and tackle or tase him," he said. "But they opened fire. His back was turned."

Patrick's wife, Shannon, also said the man was running away. The shooting happened in front of her young children.

"He turned around to take off running and the cops just shot him," she said. "All he was trying to do was walk away."

Other witnesses heard officers give the man orders to stop and drop the rock. They said the man refused to listen.

Source

Was this shooting justified or not? Please explain your choice.

 

[+paradox]

no, because the cops could have used other means besides lethal force to subdue the guy...

 

[Jazzy]

The cops did an "overkill". Not justified at all. 3 big and strong police officers couldn't tackle one guy, but had to shoot and kill that man who had stopped throwing rocks and started running away.

 

[Nebulous]

Moral of the story, don't fuck around with cops.

 

[Jazzy]

The real moral: Don't bring rocks to a gunfight.

 

[Nebulous]

My moral was the real moral.

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

Why should three cops risk there life for a man who wanted to hurt them? They tried a tazer and he still did not comply. And I for one want him caught and stopped and not escape. If that means shooting him so be it. I am sure the same people angry about this would be screaming and yelling at the cops if they let him get away and then that man goes back to throwing rocks at cars and kills a entire family.

 

[Jazzy]

The simple fact is that rocks do not warrant the use of deadly force by officers, especially if the antagonist is trying to flee. I don't understand why three officers couldn't run up and tackle the guy.

 

[Sinon]

The simple fact is that rocks do not warrant the use of deadly force by officers, especially if the antagonist is trying to flee. I don't understand why three officers couldn't run up and tackle the guy.

Cop tackles homeless man. Turns out he's carrying a knife. Cop gets shanked in the neck.

If we're going to play the what-if game, it makes sense to have some scenarios that back up their decision as opposed to bitching them out.

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

The simple fact is that rocks do not warrant the use of deadly force by officers, especially if the antagonist is trying to flee. I don't understand why three officers couldn't run up and tackle the guy.

Cop tackles homeless man. Turns out he's carrying a knife. Cop gets shanked in the neck.

If we're going to play the what-if game, it makes sense to have some scenarios that back up their decision as opposed to bitching them out.

Perfect.

 

[identityissues8]

A lot of these attacks are not warranted.
It's simply for the power trip to go with their uniform.

Disgusting. Hope they're jailed.

 

[+paradox]

The simple fact is that rocks do not warrant the use of deadly force by officers, especially if the antagonist is trying to flee. I don't understand why three officers couldn't run up and tackle the guy.

Cop tackles homeless man. Turns out he's carrying a knife. Cop gets shanked in the neck.

If we're going to play the what-if game, it makes sense to have some scenarios that back up their decision as opposed to bitching them out.

there's a lot of "what-ifs" in the field of policing, and every single officer knows the risks of their profession, after-all, they have chosen it... cops are not out there to kill people... and if it can be avoided it should... lethal force is supposed to be the last resort, and in this case it was their second choice after they used their tazer... which means they didn't try anything else but the last resort as a secondary means, which is wrong and unjustified because the cops weren't in threat...