Or....  When the police tell you to STOP and GET ON THE GROUND......  Don't run, and then pull a gun on them... even acting like you have a gun, especially in the dark, can get you KILLED... The officers put their lives on the line every day and have a right to defend themselves in the execution of their duties....  Getting arrested if you have done nothing can be worked out later, that's what lawyers are for... Getting your ass shot off when it could have been avoided is just idiotic...

True, but in general there seems to be a problem with police officers in the US who like to pull the trigger. Don't know about this case, we don't know whether he was armed or wheter they thought he was armed.
But it's pretty much rooted in US society. The latest decision from the Supreme Court about strip searches says a lot.

Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders:

"Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders, 10-945 (2012), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that officials may strip-search individuals who have been arrested for any crime before admitting the individuals to jail, even if there is no reason to suspect that the individual is carrying contraband."

The case:

Albert W. Florence was riding in a BMW sport-utility vehicle in New Jersey driven by his wife with their three children when she was pulled over for a traffic offense.[2][3] The officer looked up Florence in the police computer database and discovered an outstanding warrant issued in Essex County. Florence had paid the fine, but the computer erroneously listed an outstanding warrant.[3] Florence was placed under arrest in Burlington County and spent six days in jail before being transferred to Essex County's jail. At both jails, prison guards "conducted a visual inspection of his body, instructing him to open his mouth, lift his tongue, lift his arms, and then lift his genitals."[3] Florence went before a judge and was quickly released from jail.

It's basically a freedom to strip search for law enforcement.

news guy said he was on the phone with lapd dispatcher. so it could be his phone, not a gun. no reason to approach the guy at first and then shoot at him when he's running away.

[Masterful1]

George... I agree with you about this one... but that's not my point...

This is about law enforcement having the right to protect THEMSELVES and other innocents in the area.  We have NO idea what they deal with on a day to day basis, how many times they put their lives on the line just walking up to someone's car window to issue a traffic citation.  In this case, the suspect CLEARLY either has a handgun pointed at the officers or acts like he has one and still points at officers.  The officers, once they feel their life is being threatened, have a right to defend it, and they took appropriate action in this case.  They protect you, me, my kids and every other law abiding citizen EVERY day of their and our lives.  Sitting on the other end of a video and trying to understand what they go through in situations like this one, is near impossible, unless you have been there and done that...  I got a taste of it for one year, in Iraq (albeit, the R.O.E. is different)...  Some of my best friends are Police in different parts of the country, and they sometimes vent to me their frustration at the broad lack of understanding the public, in general, has for any given situation.  Ok, you want to look at it from the suspects view, that's fine, and understandable.... Now put yourself in the shoes of the officer.  You don't know what the suspect is thinking, what he may have for a weapon, why he is running, or anything.  It is dark and he is pointing something at you in a stance normally reserved only for those pointing a handgun.  What would YOUR sphincter be doing right then?  If I was a reviewing officer for this case, I would declare this a clean shooting, because the officers were put in the extraordinary situtation of feeling that their lives were in jeopardy, and they ARE allowed to defend themselves.

Ru - do you POINT a phone with that stance at officers?  Only if you want to die..  My issuing of a Darwin award to this guy stands...

but he was running away! just stay behind your car and guard perimeter till its safe distance. i work in law enforcement, and i think they clearly fucked it up, because they ended up being face to face with him.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a typical police basher, in this case it's possible they were under the impression he was armed. This incident just made me wonder about the lack of limits (in my opinion) US society sets for law enforcement.

[Masterful1]

but he was running away!

Exactly... He was running from cops!  Mistake Number One..  Don't run from cops... if you didnt do anything wrong, let your lawyer hash that out.  PLUS, he was running while pointing something at the officers in a stance like he had a gun, making the officers feel THEIR lives were being threatened.

just stay behind your car and guard perimeter till its safe distance. i work in law enforcement, and i think they clearly fucked it up, because they ended up being face to face with him.

What perimeter?  This guy was LEAVING the scene!  You don't establish a perimeter around a suspect, who has unknown weapons, where bullets can go flying in ANY direction, killing multiple civilians in the area.  You establish a LINE of barrier protection, using your vehicle and yourself as the target of attention for the suspect, minimizing the chance of a civilian getting targeted or hit.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a typical police basher, in this case it's possible they were under the impression he was armed. This incident just made me wonder about the lack of limits (in my opinion) US society sets for law enforcement.

There are TOO many limits placed on law enforcement in my opinion.  But, we can agree to disagree here, guys....  I'm not mad here, I guess I just have a different perspective from you guys about what happened and/or what is acceptable.

I guess we disagree on that point, no problem.

[Spartacus]

You can't argue that there aren't cases whereby excessive force is used.

Besides Zimmerman, the one case that got me was the Kenneth Chamberlain's case.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/...berlain-sr

In the video,it isn't as blatant on whether excessive force was used, but I'm sure that there are grounds for investigation.

I'm not the 'Fuck the Police!' kind of guy.

Even if there was a problem of trigger happy cops, I'll blame it on the system and society motivating their actions.

[_RemiX]

In this instance the police were correct to shoot his dumb ass. Not to say they are always correct, this instance they were. If they had not shot him we might be talking about a fugitive that killed a cop. Any idiot that runs from the police then leaves his car to flee deserves anything he gets. Yes even a bullet in the head.

I just did my active shooter drill, and yes even running suspect has his dangerous zone, perimeter. 3-4 cops played hero.