The incident unfolded on Aug. 2, 2022, after police received several 911 calls saying a man had broken into the municipal building and set several fires inside.
Officers arrived to find the suspect still inside the building, armed with a large machete.
Two officers armed with Anti Riot Weapon Enfield (ARWEN) devices shot the suspect nine times over the course of 35 minutes.
Despite undergoing surgery, the man lost one testicle. The other was injured and only a portion could be saved.
As always, ACAB.
What would you have them do differently here? Just wait patiently for the building to burn down? Wait until the man escapes the scene and threatens the public with a machete?
If they had a half hour to use the guy for target practice, they could have used that time to talk him down instead.
Or does that make too much sense?
They were attempting to talk him down throughout the entire engagement. They don’t just shoot nonlethal without giving instructions. They also warn saying things like “drop the machete or you will be tazed/bean bagged/pepperballed.” Eventually he did drop the machete, and the pain from nonlethal may have contributed to that. I’d rather the suspect be in pain than be shot to death.
If the suspect was still inside the burning building, there was likely a sense of urgency to get him out before smoke inhalation, high heat, or building collapse became a significant threat to his life.
