Shots fired at Police during Dallas Police anti-violence protest (5 officers killed)

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ant_

not characteristic of ants at all
I must have missed the meeting where we authorized our police force to use bomb-carrying robots to execute citizens on US soil, my bad.

Apparently it's a bomb detonation robot that detonated the bomb of the suspect. The police didn't' send in a robot strapped with a bomb.

Edit - I am WRONG. This is not what happened.
 
If the police got a robot in there with an explosive you could argue they could have been able to get a robot in there with tear gas. But considering we're talking about a suspect who killed innocent police/shot innocent police and people, and the guy refused to surrender to police, I don't see an issue with the explosives outside of not being able to get more info out of the suspect.

Suspect also claims he had explosives on him. There was no way to know if it was strapped to his body, or placed around the garage waiting to detonate when someone breaches.
 

Calamari41

41 > 38
If the police got a robot in there with an explosive you could argue they could have been able to get a robot in there with tear gas. But considering we're talking about a suspect who killed innocent police/shot innocent police and people, and the guy refused to surrender to police, I don't see an issue with the explosives outside of not being able to get more info out of the suspect.

Tear gas sucks, but it isn't as incapacitating as you might think. It's more useful in getting people to disperse than it is in completely neutralizing a dedicated mass murderer who has made it clear that his only remaining goal in life is to take out as many more police officers as he can.
 
What exactly is the difference between that and other forms of lethal force? Is it the fact that it's a robot? ANd how exactly was this an execution with someone who refused to surrender peacefully?


You mean the other forms of lethal force that the police are actually authorized to use?
 

2real4tv

Member
People second guessing the decisions to blow the dude up is some incredibly silly shit.

Once he claimed to have a bomb--in an area where civilians probably weren't completely evacuated--anything was fair game as far as I am concerned.

This wasn't some heat of the moment crime of passion, or a person who is legitimately unstable (as in mental illness etc.)

This amount of planning and premeditation is disgusting and I doubt they truly believed the situation could be de-escalated safely without putting more officers in danger.

Edit: some of you need to remember their priority is to protect innocent people, not this piece of shit. As far as they knew, he could have had some serious hardware (not a bad assumption considering their other hardware) and other's lives were in danger as a result.

I didn't expect to come back to this thread and start fuming at members here. Seriously. Sit back and think about what you are criticizing.

Iam more worried about if this breaks our judicial system. This is a very tragic event but remember the amount a crap they passed when 9/11 happened.
 

Important to focus on: "Claimed to be US army veteran." He claimed to be a lot of things when negotiating with police.

Of course it wouldn't be a surprise if true.

This wouldn't surprise me at all, if it turns out to be true.

Also, why did LA Times shorten his middle name to just "X"?

EIther the LA Times is trying to make a connection with Malcom X (which is a stretch...) or X is the first letter in the name "Xavier," I'm going with "X is the first letter in the name Xavier."
 
So are people not taking the claim of bombs being planted seriously?

I don't understand why you think even if police caught the dude he would tell them where the bombs were he had bombs on him he needed to be removed. It's better a robot blows up than 2 or 3 more officers getting shot. Why is this so hard for you to understand
 

Ray Wonder

Founder of the Wounded Tagless Children
So are people not taking the claim of bombs being planted seriously?

You propose that they all risk their lives and attempt to stun the guy, while hoping he doesn't set off these hypothetical bombs in the stun process, and use him to figure out where the bombs are? They have a trained bomb squad for all that. That's how they determined there was no bomb after the fac
 

Ponn

Banned
If the police got a robot in there with an explosive you could argue they could have been able to get a robot in there with tear gas. But considering we're talking about a suspect who killed innocent police/shot innocent police and people, and the guy refused to surrender to police, I don't see an issue with the explosives outside of not being able to get more info out of the suspect.

If he was ex-military there is a very good chance he was decked out with full gear and even a gas mask. Someone like that would be aware of police tactics. Without being there none of us really know the situation but we can construe that they made an honest attempt to talk him down after 4 hours even after killing and harming many police officers. If they were out for blood they would have shot a rocket at the suspect the minute they had him pinned.
 
This is important. If the police could have taken a shot at him or rushed in and stunned him with a big flare of heroic music then they probably would have. But if the situation is extreme then alternatives have to be used.

Speaking purely monetarily that robot was probably damn expensive and they probably would have preferred to deal with the shooter without it.

Robots are cheaper than human lives. Its why drones are used.
 
Don't like the legal precedent of purposefully killing someone with a robot. I understand he's a dangerous suspect in a standoff but in the age of drone warfare this seems like a dangerous path to go down.

Dangerous path?

The guy shot dead 5 people, attempted to kill more and threatened law enforcement with explosives whilst refusing to stand down, despite negotiations.

The path was already bloody dangerous.
 
This wouldn't surprise me at all, if it turns out to be true.

Also, why did LA Times shorten his middle name to just "X"?

Likely didn't think about the implications and just shorted it like many middle initial representations. Or maybe they were worried about the character count.

edit: or it's AP style.
 

johnny956

Member
Important to focus on: "Claimed to be US army veteran." He claimed to be a lot of things when negotiating with police.

Of course it wouldn't be a surprise if true.

Yea I edited my title. Based on that video, I think no one is surprised if it ends up being true. We'll find out soon enough
 
Apparently it's a bomb detonation robot that detonated the bomb of the suspect. The police didn't' send in a robot strapped with a bomb.

How many times does it need to be explained?

Police don't disarm a bomb, they blow it up remotely with a robot. Ergo, the robot is carrying explosives.
 

Mahonay

Banned
Important to focus on: "Claimed to be US army veteran." He claimed to be a lot of things when negotiating with police.

Of course it wouldn't be a surprise if true.
True. We'll see if it actually checks out or not. For now, it matches up with his approach during the shooting.
 

Tecnniqe

Banned
There you go. It would certainly explain how he carried himself.

I wonder if we are going to get more information about the weapons he used. Those bullets didn't look like your run of the mill lead core ones.

Well it looked like it might have been one of those "expand and explode in every direction on impact after penetration" bullets due to the mini explosions.
 
I kind of wish I could become numb to this eventually. It happens often enough that I should be, but I'm sick every time.

I always end up with the same questions. When's the next mass shooting? When's the next act of police brutality? (The answer to both these things is always: probably pretty soon.) Why won't anyone do anything on a fundamental level to stop these things?

I also worry that this is going to set back the national conversation that needs to happen by years. People are going to become more defensive and entrenched and there won't be any middle left to discuss. We're heading into worse times, I fear.
 

Effect

Member
Glad the numbers from last night didn't increase.

So how has the media been handling this? I would assume Fox News is being Fox News. Local stations? CNN?

MSNBC has seen pretty fair in it's reporting so far from what I can tell. Making it clear the protest was peaceful before the shooting started and the shooter claimed to be alone.
 

Exile20

Member
AFAIK there is no bomb materials, he just shouted threats about bombs. The "sniper rifle" here is probably a hunting rifle with a scope, not some kind of special weapon.

We have no clue if he actually had bombs or was just bluffing. All you need to make a sniper rifle is a hunting rifle and a scope.

Yeah, they seem like extremely caring and compassionate people. My heart goes out to them.


If true, now it make sense.
 
Which video??

the one where the shooter suppressed a cop behind a support pillar, using that time to flank around while the cop was ducked behind cover, positioning himself to the direction of the gunfire, leaving his backside completely exposed, getting killed.
 

Palculator

Unconfirmed Member
So are people not taking the claim of bombs being planted seriously?
There are none? The claim about bombs was made ages ago and they sweeped the area. The context of him getting pinned down and suddenly starting to shout about bombs made it pretty clear it was a bluff, throughout multiple hours of negotiations no bombs went off, the area of the shooting was largely evacuated at that point and police had three potential accomplices in custody who might have given them more insight on the situation. Stop judging situations you know nothing about, apparently.
 
So are people not taking the claim of bombs being planted seriously?

Gotta remember that if it's remote detonation or a suicide vest they are just giving him more time to set it off.

And if it's planted somewhere, their resources and focus is split between a stand-off and a bomb search. Taking him out and focusing on sweeping the area with all your resources seems like the absolute best solution. Full stop.
 

ColdPizza

Banned
Wonder if the other suspects are former or claim to be former army vets

I have so many thoughts swirling right now, but I have this gut feeling there are no other shooters...probably only because the police haven't said anything about them up to this point.
 

mAcOdIn

Member
So kblowing up the guy who knows where he planted bombs is the safest and most appropriate approach?
It's an approach same as any other. One can't say it's the best or not until after the fact but I'd look at it like this:
The man had already demonstrated his desire to kill people so wasn't in doubt.

People have been known to booby trap their bodies in the event they're incapacitated.

So no reason not to take the man at his word.

A flashbang's not going to disorient an explosive. CS gas is not going to disorient explosives. If he wasn't bluffing neither of those options would have deterred an explosive.

On the flip side, if he had the ability to remotely detonate anything a robot rolling in might have very well clued him off that then was the time. Of course while the area's evacuated and people are taking cover'd probably be the best time for the guy to blow them from a public safety standpoint.

That said I think there is also a resource management aspect to this, how long do they want to tie up personnel when there could possibly be more people on the loose?

If the negotiator believed they got all they were going to get and was reasonably sure that they weren't taking him alive I personally believe that eliminating him as quickly as possible is the correct course and direct some freed up people elsewhere or place them on standby in the event more horror was to come.
 

Z3M0G

Member
There's a video of him flanking and executing a police officer.


The one you don't want to watch at 2 in the morning. Made me sick to my sto

the one where the shooter suppressed a cop behind a support pillar, using that time to flank around while the cop was ducked behind cover, positioning himself to the direction of the gunfire, leaving his backside completely exposed, getting killed.

Thanks, not watching that...
 
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