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[excelsiorlef]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-with-an-unloaded-gun/?utm_term=.4ff2ac5987ff

After responding to a report of a domestic incident on May 6 in Weirton, W.Va., then-Weirton police officer Stephen Mader found himself confronting an armed man.
Immediately, the training he had undergone as a Marine to look at “the whole person” in deciding if someone was a terrorist, as well as his situational police academy training, kicked in and he did not shoot.
“I saw then he had a gun, but it was not pointed at me,” Mr. Mader recalled, noting the silver handgun was in the man’s right hand, hanging at his side and pointed at the ground.
Mr. Mader, who was standing behind Mr. Williams’ car parked on the street, said he then “began to use my calm voice.”
“I told him, ‘Put down the gun,’ and he’s like, ‘Just shoot me.’ And I told him, ‘I’m not going to shoot you brother.’ Then he starts flicking his wrist to get me to react to it.
“I thought I was going to be able to talk to him and deescalate it. I knew it was a suicide-by-cop” situation.

Mader was responding to a 911 call from Williams’s girlfriend. In that call, she told police that Williams was threatening to kill himself, not anyone else.

What Mader did upon arriving at the scene is a hell of a lot braver course of action than simply opening fire when the suspect doesn’t immediately disarm. What Mader did is in fact exactly what we want cops to do when someone is in crisis. It’s also precisely what law enforcement officers say they do on a daily basis — put themselves at risk in order to save lives. Mader should have been given a medal.

The Weirton police department then refused to name Williams for three days and assigned an investigator to look into the shooting . . . who then promptly left for a weeklong vacation. Then came the punchline.

Mr. Mader — speaking publicly about this case for the first time — said that when he tried to return to work on May 17, following normal protocol for taking time off after an officer-involved shooting, he was told to go see Weirton Police Chief Rob Alexander.
In a meeting with the chief and City Manager Travis Blosser, Mr. Mader said Chief Alexander told him: “We’re putting you on administrative leave and we’re going to do an investigation to see if you are going to be an officer here. You put two other officers in danger.”
Mr. Mader said that “right then I said to him: ‘Look, I didn’t shoot him because he said, ‘Just shoot me.’ ”
On June 7, a Weirton officer delivered him a notice of termination letter dated June 6, which said by not shooting Mr. Williams he “failed to eliminate a threat.”

Even the rare cop who gets fired often gets to keep his pension. Mader won’t be getting one.

After he received his termination notice, Mr. Mader sought attorneys to help him fight the city. He was told because he was still a probationary employee in an “at-will” state, he could be fired for any reason and there was no point in fighting the city.
One attorney told him the best he could hope for was to ask to resign instead of being terminated.
“But I told [the attorney] ‘Look, I don’t want to admit guilt. I’ll take the termination instead of the resignation because I didn’t do anything wrong,’ ” Mr. Mader said. “To resign and admit I did something wrong here would have ate at me. I think I’m right in what I did. I’ll take it to the grave.”

Over the weekend, the New York Times ran an article about the longstanding problem in which even the rare bad cops who do get fired are often able to quickly find work at another policy agency. Mader, who served a tour in Afghanistan and has two sons under five-years-old, told the Post-Gazette that he’s now studying for a commercial truck driving license, but he’d consider another job in law enforcement if he were offered one. I hope that happens. I hope he’s given the same second chance that corrupt, trigger-happy cops are given. My hunch is that he’ll be driving trucks.

Oh and the man he refused to shoot?

Unfortunately, two more cops then showed up, and quickly shot Williams dead.
...

As it turns out, Williams’s gun wasn’t loaded. There’s no way any of the police officers could have known that. But it does show that Mader had read Williams correctly — he wasn’t actually a threat to anyone but himself. His life could have been saved.

 

[jett]

What a infuriating and depressing story. The Police system in America is just fucked up.

 

[Ahasverus]

Of all the police stories I've read this is the most fucked up one. FUCK.

 

[tomtom94]

This is what people are talking about when they say there is an institutional problem with the police. Not all cops are assholes. But all cops are complicit in a system where they protect their own at the expense of the public they are supposed to serve.

 

[ryutaro's mama]

Ugh.

 

[frontovik]

That's so sad. Officer Mader should've been commended as a hero.

 

[TheOMan]

He failed his initiation.

 

[kirblar]

Of all the police stories I've read this is the most fucked up one. FUCK.

It's an even more shitty version of high performers out via IQ tests.

Horrible and fucked up situation.

 

[LookAtMeGo]

How is this even real?

 

[ezekial45]

Police culture and the institution itself is fucking toxic. This is a disgusting story.

 

[The Kree]

He should find a profession worthy of having him. American law enforcement clearly sucks dick and isn't attractive work to decent people.

 

[JustenP88]

They've got to weed out the good ones, apparently. Fired for "failing to eliminate a threat"... Are these law enforcement officers or enemy combatants?

 

[flkraven]

Jesus Christ what a terrible story.

 

[B-Dubs]

That is one of the most fucked up things I have read in a while. The dude literally did everything right and he gets fired for it.

 

[BitStyle]

That's absolutely fucked.

He's the kind of individual who should be a police officer. Really shows the system for the absolute farce it is.

 

[Mr. X]

"We gotta terminate the dude with a heart and brain right away"

 

[Izuna]

... didn't expect that ending... guy died anyway =(

 

[shintoki]

Sounds like Firefighter or EMT. The real heroes.

 

[capitalCORN]

How in the FUCK! There's absolutely no justice left.

 

[Bilix]

This and a couple other stories have proven that if someone is threatening their own life with a gun, NEVER call the cops unless you want that person dead.

 

[JHoNNy1OoO]

No good deed goes unpunished.

 

[Eidan]

This shit turns my fucking stomach.

 

[Ziltoidia 9]

Sounds like the other 2 officers are just mad they were the ones that shot him, and looking for someone to blame.

 

[Sami+]

Unbelievable. How did things get this bad?

 

[ColdPizza]

What in the actual fuck?

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

If I saw this as a synopsis of a scene in a South Park episode, I wouldn't bat an eye.

Jesus Christ.

 

[DragonSworne]

All police chiefs across the nation need to be investigated and charged with crimes. It's getting ridiculous. The issue is clearly stemming from leadership and the union leaders.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Is this satire or are american cops clowns? Aside from mader ofc.

 

[B-Dubs]

Is this satire or are american cops clowns?

Unfortunately the Washington Post doesn't do satire...

 

[Sifl]

"If you don't want to be part of this hivemind, I'm afraid you can't be a cop anymore"

 

[Strike]

Wow. That's some serious bullshit right there.

 

[PulseONE]

He did everything RIGHT WTF

America's police force is in a frightening state

 

[excelsiorlef]

Also where's the police union now eh?

 

[HvySky]

"Failed to eliminate a threat"? Fucking seriously? The man was clearly depressed and a threat to nobody but himself and these cops act as if the only way to handle the situation is to murder everyone involved.

 

[DragonSworne]

We really need to classify US law enforcement as a terrorist organization and enact marhsal law.

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

Fucking figures.

This man is too good to be a cop.

 

[Kinyou]

it turns out, Williams’s gun wasn’t loaded. There’s no way any of the police officers could have known that. But it does show that Mader had read Williams correctly — he wasn’t actually a threat to anyone but himself. His life could have been saved.

Sounds like this guy should train other police officers, not get fired.

Seriously, this is fucked up. So you don't just have trigger happy cops, you actually have departments who urge them to be that way.

 

[Incendiary]

Holy shit this is one of the most infuriating stories I've read regarding police in America. Jesus.

 

[RMI]

when your only tool is a hammer, treat everything like a nail :-(

 

[Memory]

You have got to be shitting me...

 

[Iksenpets]

This attitude that the an officer's highest duty is to protect himself and other officers rather than the people is so insane. Yes, protecting people requires putting officers at risk. Stop acting like any risk for officers is unacceptable.

Also worth noting that the guy had military training. So many police officers want military-style power without having to have military-style discipline.

 

[Davidion]

Fucking what...

 

[Walpurgis]

Not all cops. /s

 

[Beartruck]

Not even surprised. I have a friend who was a cop who left the force because he couldn't stand the toxic culture there.

You can say its just a few bad apples, but thats a problem when the bad can oust the good.

 

[supermarioworldE]

Naturally the armed gunman (without bullets) was shot dead anyway.

This country is a fucking joke.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Where's the GoFundMe

 

[Mechanized]

Are you FUCKING kidding me?! Fuck this world.

 

[Jotaka]

This is fucked up in so many levels...

 

[LucidMomentum]

Where's the GoFundMe for this guy?

The GOP support?

The NRA support?

SMH.

 

[Omegasquash]

Not all cops. /s

Good ones are few and very far between, but don't worry, they'll find them and quickly remove them the second they do something right.