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[Jmanunknown]

It was not yet dawn when the armored vehicles, black and hulking like Batmobiles, rumbled into the residential neighborhood in Compton, Calif. A carjacker had stolen a vehicle in Los Angeles, exchanged gunfire with sheriff’s deputies and then ditched his prize, disappearing on foot into a dense patchwork quilt of pink houses.

The armored vehicles — and the heavily armed deputies inside them — were there to find and capture the armed carjacker.

As the carjacker hid in a house several blocks away, Thompson slept in a stranger’s yard. He was 27 years old but possessed the mental faculties of a much younger man. He loved Uno, Michael Jackson and the Lakers. He was so gentle and shy he went by the nickname Little Bo Peep, his family told the Los Angeles Times. He had a clean record and was unarmed.


From inside one of the armored vehicles, however, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies knew none of this. When Thompson didn’t respond to commands, the deputies detonated flash-bangs. When he still didn’t move, they hit him with foam bullets.

And when he allegedly ran toward them, a deputy atop the armored vehicle opened fire with an assault rifle, striking Thompson twice in the torso.

Thompson died. At almost the same instant, the real carjacker was arrested.

That was July 28. For almost two weeks, the Sheriff’s Department insisted that Thompson was a second suspect in the carjacking.

On Tuesday, the department admitted it had killed an innocent man.

“No question this is a terribly devastating event,” Capt. Steve Katz said during a news conference. He said there was “no physical evidence” connecting Thompson to the carjacking or shootout and promised a “thorough” and “complete” investigation into the shooting, according to the Associated Press.

Thompson’s relatives said they wanted more than an investigation, however. They wanted charges for the deputy who killed Thompson.

The tragedy began in the early hours of July 28 when Robert Alexander, 24, allegedly stole a Honda Civic in Los Angeles, taking the car at gunpoint from its owner.

Fifteen miles to the south, in Compton, a sheriff’s deputy later spotted the Civic traveling erratically and decided to pull it over, according to the Los Angeles Times. The license plate showed the car was stolen. As a second patrol car arrived, the Civic drove off, punching through an elementary school’s fence.

As the car sped through Compton, Alexander allegedly shot at deputies, causing them to return fire. After the Civic crashed into a parked car, Alexander escaped on foot.

As he ran along Slater Street, the carjacker threatened two people on a front porch, according to the Times. He then entered the house, threw his gun under a couch, took his clothes off and climbed into a bed where an elderly woman — a complete stranger — was sleeping.

Despite the ruse, deputies found him and arrested him at 4:59 a.m.

Seconds later, a man living a few blocks away called 911. He told dispatchers he was taking out his trash when he spotted a figure lying in his front yard, the Times reported.

Although authorities already had Alexander in custody, there was confusion over whether he was the carjacker. A deputy who responded to the 911 call, meanwhile, saw that the figure in the man’s front yard resembled the carjacking suspect: a black man between the ages of 20 and 30 wearing dark pants or shorts and a basketball jersey.

The deputy radioed that he had found the carjacker who had fired at police, and the armored vehicles quickly arrived.


Thompson didn’t respond to commands, instead remaining motionless with one hand under his head and another concealed near his waist. An object that looked like a gun lay nearby, Katz said. When flash-bang explosives failed to wake Thompson, SWAT deputies shot him with foam bullets.

At that point, Thompson suddenly pushed himself to his feet and ran toward an armored vehicle, Katz said. An officer in the vehicle’s turret shot Thompson twice in the upper torso with an M4 assault rifle, the Times reported.

Adding to concerns over the incident, however, are two other shootings of unarmed men by the same department in the past two weeks. A homeless man was shot on Aug. 2 while running from deputies. And a man caught tagging a house with graffiti was shot while hiding in a shower. Those shootings are also under investigation, the Times reported.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ficials-say/?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_3_na

This is sad just sad.

 

[wesleyshark]

Wall o' text.

But damn. This is shit.

 

[phaonaut]

Terrible I bet nothing comes of this, also how did he sleep through flash bangs.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Post reporting is basically lifted wholesale from the la times reporting, so here's a link to that.

Sheriff’s officials said Thompson was unarmed but did not follow deputies’ orders when they found him and may have reached for his waistband as he ran toward an armored vehicle. Deputies used less-lethal weapons as they tried to subdue him, but Thompson was shot when he charged toward them, officials said.

Let's just get the boilerplate 'he was uncooperative and his hands were within 6 inches of his waistband' law enforcement narrative for why they shot yet another unarmed black man dead.

And are you ready for the reason why no action will be taken against this senseless killing?

The fact that Thompson was not the carjacker would have no bearing on whether the shooting was legally justified, experts said. Ed Obayashi, a Plumas County sheriff’s deputy and attorney who serves as a legal advisor to several law enforcement agencies in California, said more important is the perception of the deputy who opened fire. Law enforcement officers can legally use deadly force if they believe they are reacting to an imminent threat to their lives or the lives of others.

Because cops have unlimited latitude in determining for themselves what constitutes a threat to life, in this case a disoriented, developmentally disabled man they just flashbanged and peppered with foam bullets ran in a random direction once he had been attacked in his sleep. Better make sure you kill him is standard operating procedure.

 

[Ultryx]

This is unfortunate. Such a bummer they used flash bangs and foam bullets and then he charged towards them.

For a shit head carjacker. Grr.

 

[LiK]

stop shooting unarmed people

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Terrible I bet nothing comes of this, also how did he sleep through flash bangs.

Most people don't fall asleep in random yards either, I'm going to guess he was impaired more than usual from a substance.

This is unfortunate. Such a bummer they used flash bangs and foam bullets and then he charged towards them.

For a shit head carjacker. Grr.

That had a gun and was firing shots at the police.

 

[CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls]

An innocent man with an intellectual disability to boot. Dude ran to police thinking he was probably being attacked by someone else. Probably thought he was running to safety.

 

[Ultryx]

Most people don't fall asleep in random yards either, I'm going to guess he was impaired more than usual from a substance.



That had a gun and was firing shots at the police.

Yeah I know. I'm just saying this whole thing went down because of the car jacker. Pisses me off.

 

[bman94]

You fucking kidding me? Cause dude charged at you, you fucking fired at him? Was tackling or restraining him outta the question?

Edit: Really want to know the description of the car jacker and if they even match up AT ALL.

 

[Nastrodamous]

where were the good ones?

 

[old manatee]

Fire them all, jail half, start over.

 

[Septimus Prime]

When LAPD rolls out SWAT, it is friggin' insane. I remember once I was stuck on the freeway and saw like ten helicopters flying about. And then shortly after that, I saw the armored trucks and battering rams roll out, and there were a bunch of them.

I think it's like this because of some bank robbers in the 90s who wore body armor and carried assault rifles.

 

[The Jackdog]

You fucking kidding me? Cause dude charged at you, you fucking fired at him? Was tackling or restraining him outta the question?

Edit: Really want to know the description of the car jacker and if they even match up AT ALL.

not when your trained to shoot first ask later

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

Fuckers said he was an accomplice for 2 weeks.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Always with the "he was reaching for something" bullshit. He was unarmed. He wasn't reaching for shit unless it was a cellphone or wallet.

where were the good ones?

Staying quiet cause they don't want to rock the boat cause the bad ones will give them a REALLY hard time for betraying "the brotherhood". Cowards.

 

[Angelus Errare]

Heavily armored, geared men fear a developmentally disabled who ran to them.

And people will justify this.

 

[Ultryx]

not when your trained to shoot first ask later

Really? They used two forms of non-lethal before that happened.

 

[The Jackdog]

Really? They used two forms of non-lethal before that happened.

If you flash banged me and shot me full of rubber bullets i probably wouldnt know wtf was happening and start running around too

 

[gamechanger87]

You fucking kidding me? Cause dude charged at you, you fucking fired at him? Was tackling or restraining him outta the question?

Edit: Really want to know the description of the car jacker and if they even match up AT ALL.

I mean they flashbanged him and used LTL and he didn't go down. I assume you will be the hero that will rush forward and tackle a potentially armed suspect who isn't responding to commands nor pulling his hands out of his waistband?

Police armchair gaf is the best gaf.

 

[kirblar]

Because cops have unlimited latitude in determining for themselves what constitutes a threat to life, in this case a disoriented, developmentally disabled man they just flashbanged and peppered with foam bullets ran in a random direction once he had been attacked in his sleep. Better make sure you kill him is standard operating procedure.

It doesn't matter because it's not information they had or should have reasonably had access too. They knew none of that, and can't be blamed for unknown information in a chaotic situation.

This is a terrible situation, but it appears to be a conflux of a lot of horrible coincidences rather than incompetence or malice.

 

[mjc]

Really? They used two forms of non-lethal before that happened.

Are you suggesting that someone who's been flashbanged and shot with foam bullets wouldn't be disoriented and possibly try to run?

Come on man.

 

[canoli2006]

Just keep scrolling...just keep scrolling...

Oh look! Swedish Fish Oreos! How nice.

 

[cdyhybrid]

Fuckers said he was an accomplice for 2 weeks.

Gotta protect the badge above all else.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

It doesn't matter because it's not information they had or should have reasonably had access too. They knew none of that, and can't be blamed for unknown information in a chaotic situation.

This is a terrible situation, but it appears to be a conflux of a lot of horrible coincidences rather than incompetence or malice.

Pretty sure we spend a lot of time and money training these people to identify their targets before firing lethally at them. They had no idea who they were attacking and as a result killed an innocent man.

 

[The Jackdog]

I mean they flashbanged him and used LTL and he didn't go down. I assume you will be the hero that will rush forward and tackle a potentially armed suspect who isn't responding to commands nor pulling his hands out of his waistband?

Police armchair gaf is the best gaf.

this only happens here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0f_nFKVoyQ

it doesnt happen anywhere else. stop trying to pretend other police forces dont deal with deadly situations every day in other countries and gun them down too. its an american police problem.

 

[CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls]

It doesn't matter because it's not information they had or should have reasonably had access too. They knew none of that, and can't be blamed for unknown information in a chaotic situation.

This is a terrible situation, but it appears to be a conflux of a lot of horrible coincidences rather than incompetence or malice.

The SWAT team fucking created that chaos! The actual perp was being taken into custody at the same time SWAT decided to yell at, flash bang, and shoot a dude laying on the ground. You know, that prone position that officers usually ask people to form into when under arrest?

 

[gamechanger87]

It doesn't matter because it's not information they had or should have reasonably had access too. They knew none of that, and can't be blamed for unknown information in a chaotic situation.

This is a terrible situation, but it appears to be a conflux of a lot of horrible coincidences rather than incompetence or malice.

Correct. It's an awful situation, but they didn't shoot first ask questions later. They literally used less-than-lethal options to no avail on a suspect they thought may be armed and wasn't responding to any commands. He then rushed at them.

 

[Ethelwulf]

because apologizing and calling it a "terrible mistake" and saying "we are looking into it" is always enough. so sad...

 

[RedAssedApe]

they really need to develop some other non-lethal ways of incapacitating someone :[

 

[Lambtron]

He then allegedly rushed at them.

Fixed that because, well, cops lie.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Heavily armored, geared men fear a developmentally disabled who ran to them.

And people will justify this.

Some will celebrate it. When your worldview is that Blacks are inherently evil, violent and inferior the notion of "one less on welfare" isn't just emotionally satisfying...it's logical to people with that mentality.

Ugh.

 

[bman94]

I mean they flashbanged him and used LTL and he didn't go down. I assume you will be the hero that will rush forward and tackle a potentially armed suspect who isn't responding to commands nor pulling his hands out of his waistband?

Police armchair gaf is the best gaf.

What do you mean he didn't go down? He was already down. He wasn't up to begin with when they used the flash bangs and non lethal bullets. It wasn't until he actually moves that they shot him. You don't find it strange if someone got flashed banged, hit with non lethal and still didn't move?

 

[gamechanger87]

Fixed that because, well, cops lie.

Glad to see you are taking the high road here. It's fairly easy to figure out. The flashbangs will be near where he was and if where he ended up getting shot isn't near there then he obviously moved.

 

[kirblar]

Pretty sure we spend a lot of time and money training these people to identify their targets before firing lethally at them. They had no idea who they were attacking and as a result killed an innocent man.

And this is going to happen in chaotic situations. There's not a way around it- accidents and fuck-ups will occur even when there are good intentions and proper training. There was a horrible incident years back where a stabbing victim ran out of his apartment with a knife in his hand, straight at a cop that shot him because he thought the victim was the attacker and was charging him. The cop did nothing wrong there given the circumstances, but it resulted in tragedy nonetheless.

They had a carjacker escape into a neighborhood where a mentally impaired man was sleeping outside in a neighbor's yard, someone who likely wasn't able to respond in a normal fashion to force or commands because of the impairment. It's a horrible, fucked up situation, but you can't be results-based, you have to look at the process that got them to that point and see if anything went wrong there.

 

[M0nochromatic]

An unarmed, extremely and factually disoriented man runs at an armored vehicle full of fucking SWAT dudes

Yeah what a huge threat I'm sure they had to shoot.

 

[NastyBook]

Correct. It's an awful situation, but they didn't shoot first ask questions later. They literally used less-than-lethal options to no avail on a suspect they thought may be armed and wasn't responding to any commands. He then rushed at them.

Does this excuse their terrible way of handling the situation? From this now dead INNOCENT man's perspective, he was being attacked by a group of incompetent assholes.

 

[levious]

Some will celebrate it. When your worldview is that Blacks are inherently evil, violent and inferior the notion of "one less on welfare" isn't just emotionally satisfying...it's logical to people with that mentality.

Ugh.

Someone in this thread already suggested he was on drugs.

 

[linsivvi]

The police apologists have arrived.

The SWAT team was well protected from gunfire by the armored vehicles, but the deputy shot Thompson out of concern that he would run into the neighborhood and harm residents, Corina said.

This is the police statement. The murderers weren't under threat at all, but the victim was a threat to others because he's black and he's running.

 

[CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls]

Someone in this thread already suggested he was on drugs.

That's because they didn't have enough reading comprehension to see that the man was IDD and instead pinned it all on substance use.

 

[SoulUnison]

You fucking kidding me? Cause dude charged at you, you fucking fired at him? Was tackling or restraining him outta the question?

Edit: Really want to know the description of the car jacker and if they even match up AT ALL.

Unarmed man runs confusedly towards an armored vehicle with a mounted gun manned by trained law enforcement officials kitted out with defensive attire and, presumably, both lethal and non-lethal submission methods.

...They jump fire an assault rifle at him.

What could he have seriously done?
What did they think the worst case scenario here was?
They could have just sat in the vehicle and rolled the windows up while he, what, ripped it apart with his bare hands?

How could they reasonably have even thought they were in any real danger?

 

[BreezyLimbo]

Fuck the police in this instance.

Seriously. A poor soul shouldnt have been punished for incompetence.

 

[Dai101]

where were the good ones?

There's no such thing.

 

[Ultryx]

If you flash banged me and shot me full of rubber bullets i probably wouldnt know wtf was happening and start running around too

Are you suggesting that someone who's been flashbanged and shot with foam bullets wouldn't be disoriented and possibly try to run?

Come on man.

Nope. Just sayin' it's not like they went there hunting the dude down with no questions asked. There were a few lines of non-lethal methods in place before that happened. Not saying it makes it better.

Getting sick of all the fucking hate though for police.

 

[commedieu]

Are we more feared than spiders at this point?

Fuck rip. You can't have peace when this shit is happening hourly.

Nope. Just sayin' it's not like they went there hunting the dude down with no questions asked. There were a few lines of non-lethal methods in place before that happened. Not saying it makes it better.

Getting sick of all the fucking hate though for police.

Must be nice to be alive to feel baseless emotions. How about be sick that police have shitty training, and are cowards afraid of anything brown.

Or innocent victims getting shot during their garbage ass training. Pathetic the whole fucking lot and the silent good cops that are afraid of police as well.

Fuck them. If you're sick of it, do something about it. Demand change in police training so they don't keep upsetting people when they execute innocent people every day and face no significant penalties.

Must be so hard on you.

 

[jordan0386]

At some point, you have to consider that they are taking out as many as they can.

It just can't be an accident every week.

 

[Stinkles]

Crazy incompetence. Wrong guy. Wrong place. Shitty info. Again the ONE thing we should be able to do with Police is enforce more rigid standards of training, possibly at a federal level. Just a baseline of agreed upon standards and protocols.

However what is up with the writing in that story?

It was not yet dawn when the armored vehicles, black and hulking like Batmobiles

It's not a screenplay brah.

 

[Snkfanatic]

Shot him from inside the vehicle while he ran at a vehicle full of people with guns....while he was unarmed. Just what the fuck did these cops think this guy could even possibly do to them to justify this kind of ridiculous response.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Someone in this thread already suggested he was on drugs.

You can never know what those violent negroes hopped up on reefer will do....

Meanwhile Kyle has a heroin problem...he needs compassion and treatment!

/s

Ugh.

 

[Snkfanatic]

Nope. Just sayin' it's not like they went there hunting the dude down with no questions asked. There were a few lines of non-lethal methods in place before that happened. Not saying it makes it better.

Getting sick of all the fucking hate though for police.

Yeah and most people are getting fucking sick of all the innocent people getting murdered but hey, people hating on cops is the bigger issue I suppose....