Deputy Shoots, Kills Knife-Wielding Man (Columbus, Ohio)

[jcims]

Deputy Shoots, Kills Knife-Wielding Man
Somali Community Says Shooting Not Necessary

http://www.nbc4i.com/news/5692084/detail.html
http://www.10tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4294263

The individual that was shot was being picked up to be returned to a mental institution after getting out of hand and not taking his meds. Kind of a tough call. I don't lay any blame on the Deputy...but i think he was put in a bad situation. It would seem that when you are going to pick up a mentally ill individual, you need to consider the fact that this individual will not want to go back to the institution, and may make irrational decisions to avoid the trip.

Seems a taser/bean bag/etc would have been good to bring along.

The 'community outrage' is tiresome, however. If they were so concerned about this individual, why was nothing done until he descended into this state?

 

[4V50 Gary]

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A Franklin County sheriff's deputy shot and killed a man on Wednesday afternoon, NBC 4's Mike Bowersock reported.

Nasir Abdi

Deputies said they went to Cassidy Village to serve papers to 23-year-old Nasir Abdi, when he pulled a knife.

The shooting occurred at about 1:15 p.m. in the 3700 block of Cassady Village Trail in the northeast part of the county.

"He was maced," said Lt. Brent Mull, of Columbus police. "The mace did not work. The deputies, at that point, with revolvers drawn, still were trying to order him down."

Police said Abdi lunged at the deputies and one of them shot him.

He was taken to Grant Medical Center where he died 30 minutes later.

Abdi's family said he was mentally ill.

An angry group of Somalis said the deputy did not need to shoot Abdi.

A man yells to a group of Somalian-born residents outside Cassidy Village.

"Instead of just shooting and taking someone's life, they could have done it so much differently," said Samira Abdullahi, of the Somali Community Group.

"Why he die? He doesn't have a gun, he's not OK, he's mentally," said one woman.

"…and they pepper spray him, and then they shoot him," said witness Ayan Maslh. "And I'm standing there, literally point blank, just shoot him. Then they search him. After they shoot him, then they call the ambulance 15 minutes later."

"The witnesses tell us he did not have a knife. That's what the witnesses tell us," said Somali Community President Hassan Omar.

Mull said witnesses provided police with different stories.

"What we do have here though is a community that doesn't know what happened," Mull said. "We tried to get with one of the community leaders, let them know. We scoured the area for witnesses. At one point, there were no witnesses. At another point, there were numerous witnesses, all seeing different things."

Somali people gathered at a local community center Wednesday evening to discuss the incident.

"I used to be a refugee in Kenya. People are afraid of the police there. In America, we're told it's different. Now, I see no difference at all," said Somali Community member Adam O'Hirsi.

"I am a mother now afraid for my kids. What's next? Because of their color, language or what? Why did he have to lose his life? This man needed help," said Somali Community member Maryam Warsame.

Watch NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com for additional information.

Let's see, man armed with a knife is maced. Man armed with a knife isn't deterred by mace, doesn't drop the knife and then he lunges at the deputy. The community believes the deputies could have done something else. They're right. Retreat & get into car. Drive off. Return only when 9-11 calls come in from numerous parties saying that numerous individuals are stabbed and dying. Opps, that's not a viable alternative, is it? Guess shooting the man was the lesser of two evils after all.

Conclusion: Good Shoot.

 

[Optical Serenity]

Absolutely perfect shoot. There is never a shoot that isn't a "tough call." As an LEO, every single time my weapon's sights are pointed at another person, its tough.

 

[stratus]

"Instead of just shooting and taking someone's life, they could have done it so much differently," said Samira Abdullahi, of the Somali Community Group.

"Why he die? He doesn't have a gun, he's not OK, he's mentally," said one woman.

Unbelievable. Apparently the popular view is now "knives don't kill people, guns kill people," and "cops exist to get in the way of peoples' blades, and therefore shooting in such instances is unreasonable."

And, "Take your medicine" is apparently just thrown right out the window.

Real class acts, these people being interviewed, I tell ya.

jcims - I do agree on the taser idea.

 

[Pharley]

Totally disagree with disagreeing.
Easy to sit back after-the-fact and try and second guess what happened. Who in thier right mind expects to charge a Cop with a knife and not expect to have holes in them? Fact is, while mace or tasers are good tools, they are not absolute. And if I were a Cop in this situation, I would have went straight for my pistol. I dont know what the problem is with people today, but saying a Cop is wrong in this situation is like saying a homeowner is wrong for defending himself aainst a burglar.

 

[jcims]

Not that it matters, but just to clarify my position

I don't lay any blame on the Deputy...but i think he was put in a bad situation.

I don't have any problems with the shoot at all. They interviewed an officer and he explained clearly that knives are one of the most dangerous weapons they encounter, and you often don't know you're even being stabbed until it's too late.

The 'tough call' was probably worded wrong. I was talking about the planning for the pickup. You wouldn't take OC to detain some dude on PCP...you would take non-lethal tools, such as a taser, that have the ability to physically incapacitate/disable the person. All i was saying is that some random 'mentally ill' guy could be just as dangerous. It's probably more of a training/policy issue...i'm sure tasers are a 'tough call' most of the time as well.

 

[mtn. man]

ANYONE threatened with a weapon that could cause serious injury or death should be allowed to protect themselves.
Especially an LEO who might have to face this situation again [no second guessing you do what you have to]