Houston, we have a problem
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Houston, we have a problem
Houston police fatally shoot threatening wheelchair-bound amputee in head
One armed, one legged and wheel chair bound and the officer feared for his partner's safety?
One armed, one legged and wheel chair bound and the officer feared for his partner's safety?
A Houston police officer fatally shot in the head a schizophrenic, wheelchair-bound double amputee threatening people with a pen at a group home for the mentally ill after authorities said the man advanced on the officer's partner, police said.
The shooting occurred early Saturday morning after police responded to a call that resident Brian Claunch was acting aggressively after his caretaker refused to give him a cigarette and a soda, the owner of the home and police said.
"The officers made verbal commands for the suspect to drop whatever he had in his hand, to stay still and to speak with the officers, but the suspect continued to make threats," Jodi Silva, a police spokeswoman, told CNN affiliate KTRK in Houston.
Claunch, who lost an arm and a leg in a train accident, trapped one officer with his wheelchair in the corner of a room "where he couldn't get out," said a Houston police department spokesperson who declined to be identified. The double amputee was "advancing towards" the officers and "refusing to show his hands."
According to police accounts reported in the media, including by KTRK, Claunch attempted to stab the officer with an object that turned out to be a pen.
Officer Matt Marin, "in fear of the safety of his partner and the safety of himself, discharges his duty weapon, striking the suspect," Silva said.
The unnamed Houston police spokesperson said later Sunday that Marin himself was not cornered, unlike his partner, when he shot the wheelchair-bound man in the head.
According to investigators, Claunch was shot once and he died at the scene.
It was the second time Marin was involved in a shooting. In October 2009, he shot and killed a knife-wielding man who stabbed his girlfriend and a neighbor, according to published reports at the time. Marin joined the Houston Police Department in 2007.
In the wake of the weekend shooting, the officer was placed on administrative leave per department policy, according to police.
Claunch, who was in his 40s, had been at the Healing Hands home for 18 months, John Garcia, the owner of the group home, told KRTK.
Houston police have not released the identity of the man, though Garcia identified him as Claunch.
Garcia told the Houston Chronicle that Claunch liked to "doodle."
Two days earlier, Garcia gave Claunch a black felt pen to draw. Garcia told the newspaper he did not know if it was that pen or another one that Clauch had in his hand when he was shot.
Garcia said Claunch suffered from schizophrenia and a bipolar disorder.
"He had a temper. He could fly off once in awhile," he told CNN affiliate KHOU.
Claunch was capable of making people in the house feel threatened during an outrage, even though he was confined to a wheelchair, Garcia said.
"Emotionally disturbed individuals, when threatened, are going to react in most instances, excessively," Dr. Ed Reitman, a clinical psychologist, told KRTK.
"This was an incident that didn't have to take place if the individual -- a police officer -- had been trained in dealing with emotionally disturbed individuals."
The Houston Police Department has officers trained to deal with the mentally ill, though the department would not say whether Marin received training, according to KRTK.
The shooting occurred early Saturday morning after police responded to a call that resident Brian Claunch was acting aggressively after his caretaker refused to give him a cigarette and a soda, the owner of the home and police said.
"The officers made verbal commands for the suspect to drop whatever he had in his hand, to stay still and to speak with the officers, but the suspect continued to make threats," Jodi Silva, a police spokeswoman, told CNN affiliate KTRK in Houston.
Claunch, who lost an arm and a leg in a train accident, trapped one officer with his wheelchair in the corner of a room "where he couldn't get out," said a Houston police department spokesperson who declined to be identified. The double amputee was "advancing towards" the officers and "refusing to show his hands."
According to police accounts reported in the media, including by KTRK, Claunch attempted to stab the officer with an object that turned out to be a pen.
Officer Matt Marin, "in fear of the safety of his partner and the safety of himself, discharges his duty weapon, striking the suspect," Silva said.
The unnamed Houston police spokesperson said later Sunday that Marin himself was not cornered, unlike his partner, when he shot the wheelchair-bound man in the head.
According to investigators, Claunch was shot once and he died at the scene.
It was the second time Marin was involved in a shooting. In October 2009, he shot and killed a knife-wielding man who stabbed his girlfriend and a neighbor, according to published reports at the time. Marin joined the Houston Police Department in 2007.
In the wake of the weekend shooting, the officer was placed on administrative leave per department policy, according to police.
Claunch, who was in his 40s, had been at the Healing Hands home for 18 months, John Garcia, the owner of the group home, told KRTK.
Houston police have not released the identity of the man, though Garcia identified him as Claunch.
Garcia told the Houston Chronicle that Claunch liked to "doodle."
Two days earlier, Garcia gave Claunch a black felt pen to draw. Garcia told the newspaper he did not know if it was that pen or another one that Clauch had in his hand when he was shot.
Garcia said Claunch suffered from schizophrenia and a bipolar disorder.
"He had a temper. He could fly off once in awhile," he told CNN affiliate KHOU.
Claunch was capable of making people in the house feel threatened during an outrage, even though he was confined to a wheelchair, Garcia said.
"Emotionally disturbed individuals, when threatened, are going to react in most instances, excessively," Dr. Ed Reitman, a clinical psychologist, told KRTK.
"This was an incident that didn't have to take place if the individual -- a police officer -- had been trained in dealing with emotionally disturbed individuals."
The Houston Police Department has officers trained to deal with the mentally ill, though the department would not say whether Marin received training, according to KRTK.
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Crazydude was too much for the people to handle where he was, so they called cops on him being crazy at them.
In case you don't know, being in a wheelchair is not the same as being weak-
There was an unstated amount of remaining arm and leg on the cut-off bits-
Could have lunged out of the chair with the strength of a normal man and crossed at least 5-7+ feet before hitting the ground
The cops went in with all this in their heads. Also, as a rule: to a policeman EVERY hand you can't see clearly - is automatically holding a knife
Partner sees crazydude raving at partner, backs partner into corner, is waving something medium-long and reflective. This = about to gut my partner like a fish = that's a shootin.
Don't give me any BS about boohoo the poor cripple they should never shoot a guy in a chair. F that you didnt see the guy and they werent there because he was being sweet as the easter bunny!
In case you don't know, being in a wheelchair is not the same as being weak-
There was an unstated amount of remaining arm and leg on the cut-off bits-
Could have lunged out of the chair with the strength of a normal man and crossed at least 5-7+ feet before hitting the ground
The cops went in with all this in their heads. Also, as a rule: to a policeman EVERY hand you can't see clearly - is automatically holding a knife
Partner sees crazydude raving at partner, backs partner into corner, is waving something medium-long and reflective. This = about to gut my partner like a fish = that's a shootin.
Don't give me any BS about boohoo the poor cripple they should never shoot a guy in a chair. F that you didnt see the guy and they werent there because he was being sweet as the easter bunny!
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Lol. "There was an unstated amount of remaining arm and leg on the cut-off bits". Do you listen to yourself?
So say he had a knife. How shitty of a cop can you be that you can't get away from a wheel chair? Even if you can't how shitty can you be to not wait until he actually tries to attack you with the knife before shooting. And if you have to shoot how shitty can you be to aim for his head of all places? Sounds to me like they are just scared shitless of anything and everything and will immediately resort to shooting.
I also keep reading about a lot of cases uncalled for use of force and most of them are inexcusable. Just today I saw a video where a cop punches a woman in the face, while she was moving _away_ from him, because she supposedly threw some water at him (and it's not clear if it was her or not). And an article about some cops beating a homeless dude to death. The other day I read this old article: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/1...r-calling-911/ I'm sure you'll find a way to justify slamming his face into the ground and then turning away the ambulance, I do that all the time when old people annoy me.
So say he had a knife. How shitty of a cop can you be that you can't get away from a wheel chair? Even if you can't how shitty can you be to not wait until he actually tries to attack you with the knife before shooting. And if you have to shoot how shitty can you be to aim for his head of all places? Sounds to me like they are just scared shitless of anything and everything and will immediately resort to shooting.
I also keep reading about a lot of cases uncalled for use of force and most of them are inexcusable. Just today I saw a video where a cop punches a woman in the face, while she was moving _away_ from him, because she supposedly threw some water at him (and it's not clear if it was her or not). And an article about some cops beating a homeless dude to death. The other day I read this old article: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/1...r-calling-911/ I'm sure you'll find a way to justify slamming his face into the ground and then turning away the ambulance, I do that all the time when old people annoy me.
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FYI, "missing 1/2 a forearm and 1/2 a lower leg, walks with a special shoe" gets a lot less play in the press than "DOUBLEAMPUTEEzOMG!!!" but they could both be accurate in this case thanks to the pathetic state of the press in the USA these days. There is legitimate discussion about whether it is fair to non-amputees to let folks with carbon fiber lower legs into track competition. Missing a big chunk of arm & leg does NOT necessarily make a person less of a physical threat. Laugh all you want at the idea, but sounds to me like you have never had to try to deal with a ravening lunatic trying to gut you, an aggressive chair-bound jerk, or a combination of the two. Probably also you never let yourself get backed into a corner because you didn't want to be in the news as subject to an IA investigation for hurting the poor little gimp in a wheelchair who suddenly came up with a high powered attorney after the fact. Backed into a corner can happen a lot of ways, and it's easy to monday-morning quarterback this one. No it doesn't look great on the cops at first glance, but it happened.
Are you aware at all that a knife is something like 10x more deadly than a gun when used in its effective range? It takes ~4cm of penetration to slice a heart to shreds and you're DRT. Less than that to bleed out through the major blood vessels in the neck. A knife-looking thing waved around by a loon is a 4serious threat, no matter how handi-capable they might be. And there is only one for-sure way to make people stop trying to slice up your partner.
Are you aware at all that a knife is something like 10x more deadly than a gun when used in its effective range? It takes ~4cm of penetration to slice a heart to shreds and you're DRT. Less than that to bleed out through the major blood vessels in the neck. A knife-looking thing waved around by a loon is a 4serious threat, no matter how handi-capable they might be. And there is only one for-sure way to make people stop trying to slice up your partner.
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Garcia said Claunch had lost his right leg to just above the knee and his entire right arm when he was hit by a train, according to the Houston Chronicle. He said Claunch was schizophrenic.
Also, when you say "you have never had to try to deal with a ravening lunatic trying to gut you" you should be saying "you have never had to try to deal with a ravening lunatic trying to gut you WITH A PEN". Kinda sounds dumber doesn't it?
