Wait

[Stinky The Clown]

This is about the tragic death of the Hofstra student at the hand of a cop who probably thought he was being heroic and doing the right thing.

When you kill the hostage, you've clearly done wrong thing.

I am a person who usually gives the cops the benefit of the doubt, but am also not blind to the fact that there are a lot of John Waynes in their ranks.

The fact is that the cops that night were responding to a 911 call that reported a hostage situation of the presence of guns. I can't imagine a "by the book" protocol that would have a cop go running into that house with his gun drawn and having tacit approval to fire eight shots at the retreating bad guy when the good guy (woman) is being held in a side headlock by the bad guy, bad guy's gun aimed at her head, all of which puts the good guy's head inches from the target of the cop and a finger twitch from the bad guy's bullet killing her.

But that is exactly what that cop did.

What ever happened to the idea of waiting?

Take a deep breath. Assess. Consider. Control the scene. But above all else . . . . WAIT.

Most hostage situations involve the captor having a weapon, often a gun. The usual protocol is to call the hostage NEGOTIATOR . . . . and usually the SWAT team.

The least desirable tactic is to send John Wayne into the scene, guns ablaze. People get killed that way.




I feel awful that the young woman is dead. I feel bad for the cop that killed her as his life is now forever changed.

I feel angry at the police organization for which the cop worked. SHAME on them for not doing a better job of training their officers and enforcing good police policy.

[JaneyVee]

1. I agree. A negotiator could have done it, remind the intruder that jail time won't be so harsh for

break in but far more harsh for murder.

[Jim__]

2. A link to one version of the story.

NBCNews

If he pointed his gun at the cop, the cop didn't have a choice. Could the cop have waited outside? I certainly don't know.

...

Police responded shortly after the 911 call. When they arrived, Smith told one of the hostages, the twin sister of the woman who was later shot, to go downstairs and tell police everything was OK. When she opened the door, she ran out and told officers there was a man with a gun.

Police said two officers then entered the house and went up a narrow staircase. At that point, one of the officers saw Smith with Rebello in a headlock, and Smith pointed a gun at the officer.

The officer then fired the fatal shots, police said.

...

[Roland99]

3. I know cops are trained to empty their clips, eh?

But is that really wise in a situation like this? I could see if a suspect is armed and shooting at cops and standing by himself or clear of anyone else but when holding a gun to a hostage's head isn't a couple of shots enough to stop for a second and asses quickly? Rapid firing affects accuracy plus the suspect would have been moving/falling and the hostage's head moving as well.

tragic

[Jim__]

5. Well, of course, the Roy Rogers response is preferred.

Just shoot the gun out of the bad guys hand then finish him off with your fists. It works great on TV.

[Roland99]

6. ...

[NYC_SKP]

4. Smith was a parolee, had a warrant.

We have the highest rate of incarceration, yet let violent offenders out to recommit.

Smith was released on parole in February after serving time for first-degree robbery and has a lengthy criminal record that includes assault, police said. A warrant for his arrest was issued last month for parole violation.