Well, she didn't kill herself, now did she?

Well yes, when you charge at the police with a knife they will shoot you...every time.

Hopefully only a few of the kids had to witness that. Terrible story.

Tunk87: While this story is farked up, check out the slide show of mugshots linked on that page.

Some of those are freaking gold! I think my favorite may be the guy who used dominoes and toothpaste to escape jail.Clicky-Pop (new window)

Wow. Just wow. Some of them were hilarious and some of them plumbed the depths of human depravity.
/Going to shower, now. Yeesh.

I hear stories about this kind of thing pretty often. Somebody running around with a knife, won't put it down when the cops show up? Shoot 'em.

it sounds like overkill (ha) but really, what are the police supposed to do? This lady was at an elementary school.

In other news: One of those mugshots is actually wearing a shirt that says "I shaved my balls for this?"

Yes.

Yes.

If the story had gone differently and the headline read, Woman arrested after standoff with police, 3 children stabbed to death, I wonder how many Farkers would be hating on the police then.

She charged at them... She got shot. So it goes.

Modesto: Asshole of America.

I'm with the cops on this one sort of. Where were the tazers in this situation, or are cops ony brave enough to use tazers on unarmed people and pre-teen girls? But in the end she shouldn't have charged at the cops while holding a weapon.

How terrible and unnecessary...

(reads article)

How terribly necessary!

...The woman came onto the school campus near the playground while children were playing nearby with a large knife...

She simply noticed that this was the correct place in town to play with sharp knives.

The mugshot gallery in the link is great.

They aim for the head, huh? That's nice.

torch:
The police are trained that suicide is homicide turned inward, and it can turn outward in a flash. Unfortunately, that's correct.
Anybody care to guess what the maximum distance a knife-wielder can be and still be considered a lethal threat? It may surprise you.

I wouldn't risk my life trying to disarm a person with a big knife, and I wouldn't expect them to act rationally. And no, I'm not a cop apologist. I don't like them a bit.

personally, i am surprised that a cop was a good enough shot to blast her in the head. On a serious note, that is just a horrible situation for everyone. crazy lady, scared cops, worried bystanders. it is hard to blame anyone but the circumstances :(

Yes. Yes I do.

Merry Christmas Kiddies. Merry Christmas.

When the officers approached the woman, she charged at them

Well, there ya go. She didn't get shot for injuring herself, she got shot for being hostile and charging people with a big farking knife.

I assume someone has pointed this out?

FTFA: When the officers approached the woman, she charged at them, according to the Modesto police department, forcing them to fire

Yeah... Charging the cops, after hitting yourself in the head with a large knife at an elementary school, means that the headline is a wee bit misleading. It's not like she was in the corner and threatening to slit her wrists when a bunch of gun-slingin' SWAT members blew her away from 1/2 mile. Of course, suicide by cop is nothing new, nor do we know if less lethal options were available in what was likely a high-anxiety situation.

/ No, I'm not new here -- I don't expect Fark headlines to accurately portray reality. :)

This just in, running at police officers with a knife gets your ass shot, more at 11.

torch:
Anybody care to guess what the maximum distance a knife-wielder can be and still be considered a lethal threat? It may surprise you.

21 feet, iirc.

Good riddance, she was at a school and deranged to the point of suicide. Her next move could have been cutting up some of the kids. People like that are better off put down like a rabid dog.

I guess she didn't like Mon.....Tuesdays.

What about the mug shots over there. Lozl!

Yeah, I fail to see the fail here. She was in a playground, with a knife, clearly crazy, and a bunch of kids running around. Would a headline reading "Cops wait for lady to drop knife, watch as she slices child instead" be better?

Teacher Jennifer Doyle said she heard the school's lockdown alarms before the shooting and ordered the children in her classroom to take cover under their desks

I thought this was what kids did in the 1960's.

Couldn't they aim for the knife? Or her legs?

There's nothing farked up here, except Subby's reading comprehension.
FTFA:
When the officers approached the woman, she charged at them, according to the Modesto police department, forcing them to fire. The woman was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head and was later pronounced dead.

What exactly did you want the cops to do; take a knifing?

give me doughnuts: torch: Anybody care to guess what the maximum distance a knife-wielder can be and still be considered a lethal threat? It may surprise you.

27 feet.

That's unless we're talking Bill Braksi.

/I once saw Bill Braski kill a man from half a mile with a plastic butter knife.

Ya know the scene in Napoleon Dynamite where the guy shoots the cow in front of a busload of schoolkids?

Coldly logical.

/I like it.

Reading this story, seems like a random newspaper entry that Yagami Light would have orchestrated, crazy yes but still within the bounds where most of the public would dismiss..

/All hail Kira!!

No, no, no, you eat the knife, thereby disarming her. It was probably choice A or B, and the officer is unfortunately a Farker.

whatshisname 2009-12-15 10:29:22 PM
Couldn't they aim for the knife? Or her legs?

They aimed for the knife.

Unfortunately for her she was hitting her head with it when they fired.

torch: Um, someone coming at you with a knife is the embodiment of deadly force. This woman just committed suicide by cop, that's all.

The police are trained that suicide is homicide turned inward, and it can turn outward in a flash. Unfortunately, that's correct.

Anybody care to guess what the maximum distance a knife-wielder can be and still be considered a lethal threat? It may surprise you.

21 feet for the average person. A trained knife fighter or someone trained in hand-to-hand combat skills can be deadly from even further out. It takes approximately 2-3 seconds to recognize the threat, actuate a level 2 holster, raise the weapon and fire one unaimed round. How much ground can you cover in 2 seconds? Of course you are saying to yourself, what if I already have the weapon out and trained on the target? I say unto to you...good luck.
Reverse gear is the only thing you can count on to save you, space=time. Providing you have an avenue of escape, that is.

Suicide by cop...

Killing suicidal people eliminates two problems at once.

You know, saves having to treat them later.

I mean this IS America and guns are how we solve problems!

whatshisname: Couldn't they aim for the knife? Or her legs?
They aimed for the knife but it was in front of her head?

FunkOut: Couldn't they have just shot her knees off or something? I mean, I don't know, I'm not an expert on gun based maim and immobilise tactics.

Odds are, the cop wasn't even aiming for the head, it just chance that that's where the bullet landed. As for the whole 'go for the non-lethal shot' thing, they teach cops specifically not to do stuff like that. At least in Texas, cops are taught to aim for center mass (chest area), and to shoot to stop whatever action is cause for the use of force. You don't shoot to kill, or shoot to disable, you shoot to stop.

FunkOut: Couldn't they have just shot her knees off or something? I mean, I don't know, I'm not an expert on gun based maim and immobilise tactics.

It always amuses me when people think this is a better option. Dude, short answer, no.