re: Body Cam footage of Burger King shooting in Charlotte released

If he would have told them and moved slowly I think he’s still alive. Instead he hesitated, remained silent, and looked to quickly pull the gun out. Yes it looked like he was putting it down, but everything else up to that was classic case of leading to a bad situation

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Watching the video (which no background knowledge) I thought for sure it was going to be a suicide by cop when he wasn’t really reacting to their shouts.

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Same.

And he took so long that I’m not entirely outraged that they shot him.

But they definitely shot him while he was calmly complying with their orders and that’s a problem.

After watching these type videos I know EXACTLY what I’d do if I was in the man’s situation(heaven forbid).

You need to calmly explain exactly where the gun in and explain exactly what your moves are about to be. “Ok the gun in in my left hand/pocket. I’m about to very slowly grab it and place it on the ground. Would you like me to put my hands up first and get on the ground? I’m calm.”

If I get shot because I have a gun on me I’m going to do everything in my power to make it obvious that I wasn’t getting froggy.

I just watched it again. I have no sympathy for him and all the people saying he put it down in a calm manner I must firmly disagree with.

One he didn't comply and even appeared to look away from them. Two he was silent, not telling them what he was doing or thinking. And three I thought he moved really quickly to put the gun down.

If that was me, I would be telling them exactly what I’m doing and I’m moving slower than a damned sloth in an ice storm so there is no doubt my movement is in exact compliance.

Good shoot.

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The guy should have never been in BK with a gun by watching that video it is painfully obvious the female cop was in a situation way over her head. The excuse of “it’s a tense situation” is bullshite. No shite it’s tense, that’s why cops are trained. They should have instructed the perp to lay down and put his hands behind his head.

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I agree with all of this. Still think the guy did everything wrong too

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I agree with all of this. Still think the guy did everything wrong too

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I disagree with this. He was in a deadly game of Simon Sez. They did not tell him to speak. They ask him to do something that was impossible: drop a weapon he was not holding. IMO his movements were slow and calculated nothing like a movement to pull and fire, his body never started to rotate and the gun was not in a firable position in his hand. I honestly see an attempt to comply. While I understand the speed of the entire encounter had the female officer moved to cover it would have been a much safer situation and the added safety may have given her the confidence to allow him to finish putting the gun down.

If lethal force is to be used the knee is not the sweet spot

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After watching these type videos I know EXACTLY what I’d do if I was in the man’s situation(heaven forbid).

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I mean this with all sincerity - I will lean on my white privilege more than ever.

After watching this video multiple times, I am still not sure what to think. Cops repeated orders 30 times for him to drop the weapon, and it looked as if he was just completely ignoring him.

Then it look like he's finally about to drop the weapon, and he gets shot.

To me, it look like the weapon wasn't necessarily in his hands, but rather in either his coat pocket or the gun. I want to feel bad for him, but then again apparently he was threatening people with a gun before police showed, so I don't even know.

What I do know is that God forbid, if I'm ever in a situation like this where I have a gun on me, not in my hands, and the cops guns are all drawn are telling me to drop the weapon. I'm going to be like frick no, I am keeping my hands raised above my head at all times. Please come and disarm me so that you can be sure I am not a threat.

Call me paranoid, but I have seen enough stories of people who weren't threats still being shot while trying to comply.

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What I do know is that God forbid, if I'm ever in a situation like this where I have a gun on me, not in my hands, and the cops guns are all drawn are telling me to drop the weapon. I'm going to be like frick no, I am keeping my hands raised above my head at all times. Please come and disarm me so that you can be sure I am not a threat.

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This is a common sense and also an interesting position. I am beginning to wonder if releasing body cam footage is not a net negative even with the idea that transparency is good, but the genie is out of the bottle.

People keep suggesting to communicate with the officer, but the guy in the hotel hallway taught us to only speak when spoken to or it escalates the officer. If this guy put up his hands like you describe it could be considered non-compliance and the result would possibly be the same. The troubling thing here is when he did comply that is when he was shot as another poster mentioned this may well have happened on the first or second command to place the weapon on the ground as his movement is unlikely to have been different.

The obvious answer to all this is not to be in a position to get confronted by the cops, which most of the time is easy but there are times when people that have committed no crime find themselves in that position.

On my final rewatch of the video I did realize there was one brief moment when this may have gone another way. Before the female officer even had a line of sight to him she commanded him to show his hands which if he had done the rest may not have transpired, though without a line of sight it may not have even been clear to the suspect that she was addressing him.

How do we fix it, I have no idea. I would certainly "accept" one dead criminal (for a crime nowhere near capital) instead of one cop shot but I don't know where that equation ends for me.