Gary Black faithfully served his country in Vietnam, and he died protecting his family earlier this summer. (Photo: CBS Denver)
A Vietnam War veteran and Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient was laid to rest this weekend after being shot by police defending his grandson from a home intruder.
Richard “Gary” Black, 73, was in his Aurora, Colorado, home around 1:30 a.m. last month when a naked man broke down their front door and began assaulting his grandson. Black shot the intruder, but police shot Black when they arrived at the scene and saw him carrying a handgun and a flashlight.
The incident has been described as one of the most tragic police shootings in the city’s history, according to the Denver Post, and those who were there hailed him as a hero both in the service and at home.
“He was a hero coming out of that war, and he died a hero defending his family,” said Mark Potter, chaplain for American Legion Post 22 in Northglenn, Colorado.
Aurora Police Department Chief Nick Metz, whose officer shot and killed Black, was also in attendance, accompanied by several uniformed officers. Metz hailed Black as a hero for defending his family.
“There’s no doubt in my mind in any shape or form that Mr. Black saved his family’s life that night,” Metz said.
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The incident began when 26-year-old Dajon Harper left a nearby party and, for reasons that remain unclear, broke down Black’s door and grabbed Black’s grandson, who had been sleeping on the couch, according to the Denver Post. Harper took Black’s grandson to the bathroom and tried to drown him, while Black and the boy’s father attempted to wrestle the boy away.
“I won’t go into the graphic details other than to say the child was violently assaulted,” Metz said.
Black was hit in the head with a vase during the course of the fight, and neither man was able to pull Harper off the boy. Black retrieved a 9mm handgun and shot Harper, but by that time other people from the party had arrived at the house.
Metz told reporters earlier this month that his officers arrived to a “violent” and “chaotic” scene, and it isn’t clear from 911 and dispatch calls whether they had been given a clear description of the intruder or the other individuals at the house.
“The 911 telephone call by Mrs. Black was difficult to understand as large portions are unintelligible,” the Black family said in a statement. “The family acknowledges the APD’s position that the responding officers did not receive a description of the intruders.”
SEE ALSO: WATCH: Suspects, Police Exchange Over 60 Rounds in Insane Shootout
Officers observed Black walk around a corner, turn back, and come towards them. Metz says his officers told Black multiple times to drop his weapon, but he also admitted that Black had suffered hearing impairment during his time in the Army.
“For the next 13 seconds, officers continued to give at least five commands to Mr. Black to drop the gun and to show his hands,” Metz said. “We don’t know why, but for whatever reason Mr. Black did not drop the gun.”
Metz admitted that the officers did not identify themselves before firing, but has continued to defend his officers’ actions, even allowing the officers who shot Black to return to work this week.
“There was a reference that our officers acted recklessly,” Metz said. “I dispute that strongly. They were not reckless. They responded how I would expect them to respond given the limited amount of information they were given.”
Gary Black’s wife, Jeanette Black, invited the Aurora police to her husband’s funeral because she wanted her children and grandchildren to respect law enforcement despite what happened.
“They’re still here to protect all of us,” she said. “They’re still representatives of our city.”
As a man who was in Law Enforcement for many years I would never call 911 unless there was an occasion where I absolutely had to shoot someone to protect myself and my family from an intruder or anyone who was a danger to myself or my Family. When making the 911 call I would remain on the phone until the police Officer’s arrived. I would have given the dispatcher a description of myself, I would have unloaded my gun and placed it in plain view at a place not close to me so that the Officers that arrived would know that I wasn’t a danger to them. While I was in law Enforcement learned that there were many people in Law Enforcement who were just itching to have an excuse to shoot someone whether they were the bad Guy or the Good Guy just so they could brag years later that they had shot someone. In all my tears as a Member of Law Enforcement I had pulled my gun many times intending to shoot if I had to but during that time I never shot anyone.
The body cam video has been posted. I’ve seen it, And heard it.
And I do have respect for L.E.
This was murder. And should be prosecuted as just that. Because you wear a badge, Does not give you the right to kill a man unprovoked in his own home. A flashlight is not a threat.
Combine the fact that the man had just defended his grandson from attack ? Makes this travesty all the harder to believe.
Then, The justice system refuses to prosecute the cop for murder ? This is incompetence at it’s finest.
L.E. standing behind a individual as this? Your credibility is now suspect by even the most conservative individual.
L.E. needs to clean up it’s ranks, Before it’s too late. If it isn’t already.
I think it was best said earlier. This decorated war hero clearly was not and would not be pointing his weapon at any LEO, let alone the trigger happy COP who wasted him like some common thug. I hope this COP does time and gets it up the dirty trail and down the hatch every night for as many years that he took away from from Gary. I have friends in law enforcement who agree that this COP was wrong and neither his shield or probable cause is an excuse for a bad shoot. He is entrusted with protecting the honest hard working tax payers that pay his wages, and he needs to pay for his his negligence. I’m sorry isn’t enough. Probable cause isn’t enough. If that weapon was not raised then there is no excuse for that POS cowardly COP to pull the trigger. Had he been old enough to serve in NAM, most likely this cowardly COP would have been an ROTC Lieutenant, and most likely received friendly fire. One thing is for certain, this brave Veteran will not be around to protect his family from any future home invasion. The COP’s will be there, as always, 10 minutes too late with the meat wagon and the body bags. Guess I’m going to get some hearing aides so this never happens to me. STDAT-158 Cambodia 1972-73
Let’s point out the obvious – Black had just discharged a weapon in close quarters, presumably in the bathroom with all its hard surfaces. What little hearing he retained from his military service was now impaired. In addition, he had been struck in the head, so that, combined with the shock of the violence that just dropped in on him lead to an altered state of mental. He was in no way capable of hearing the officer’s orders. His altered state of consciousness probably did not allow him to see beyond a very, very narrow focus. So the police’s excuse is that it was the family’s fault for not provided them with an exact description of all events and players involved????? When has it been the victim’s responsibility to provide exactness in the course of an assault in progress???? Black was executed by the police for being old and for not jumping to commands he could neither hear nor comprehend.
Make a Blue light flashlight so LEO now you are the good guy.Some people put blue lights in there front yards to say they support LEOs.
Can’t support all LEO because many are mentally ill addicted sleaze and/or outright criminals!!! And even more are these days…
I’m not going to point right and wrong as most have done that for me! Bad Shooting period! All of the officers involved in this that pulled the trigger should be on administrative leave and an investigation done into their back ground actions while on the force and actions taken for a psych evaluation of all concerned. This should not happen today, not if those concerned are properly trained and picked in the first place! Too many people these days becoming cops just to have power over the people because they never fit in any where!
Too bad that trigger-happy pig was not wearing a body camera so we can get the straight story. As it usually goes, the one that survives gets to tell the story from their point of view. Way to go pig, congratulations, you got away with yet another cold blooded murder. Don’t forget to high five with your beer swilling buddies and laugh about your kill at the next cookout.
As a retired police officer, and with the way things are going now, when asked what I used to do I tell the questioner that I was a nude dancer at a gay bar. That has more prestige being a police officer any more. Officers are now so afraid that they shoot too soon, or for a non reasonable offense. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good cops still on the streets, but when I served the pay was so low that I worked a full time job on the side to make ends meet. Then you had to want to better your community to do that. I attribute this fear, and trigger happy attitude to lack of proper motivation to the extremely liberal supreme court that passed so many rulings detrimental to officers that the good men who would have applied decided that even though they wanted to serve their community it was not worth the strain put on their wives and children. Now you have people carrying a badge and gun that could never have passed the psychological test in my day. When I became a police officer ,on the average one in over twenty applicants passed the psyc. test.
While I do not condone the shooting of Mr. Black by the officer/s, I do think that we all need to reserve our condemnation of them until all the facts are known. Many times, the dispatchers don’t give the officers full details of what the call is about, which can (and often does) result in the officers not responding properly to the type of incident.
For example: Back in the mid-80’s I was a LEO for the Pomona CA PD. One night, while at the station, I received a call of a ‘loud party’ up in my beat which was on the far north side of the city, through about five miles of city traffic. Since it was a low priority call, I took my time getting there. When I arrived, I was met by a man and woman who had been robbed by a man with a sawed off shotgun. Since this was before the days of cellphones, after the robbery the couple had gone back to the party they’d left to use the phone and the dispatcher couldn’t hear what they were saying, so put it out as a low priority call. I felt bad for not getting there in time to possibly catch the bad guy (turned out he was on foot), but I couldn’t have known the real nature of the call.
So, let’s reserve our judgment for when we have all the facts…which we may never actually have.
This was a terrible tragedy, no doubt, and I imagine the cop/s who killed Mr. Black will regret those actions till the day they die. I pray for comfort for this poor man’s family.
Another murder by cop.. yawn.
We all see it everyday, I served in the military in a combat role, and was an LEO. These police chiefs, and activist judges that justify murderous acts should be held accountable too.
A real problem maybe not known to many is that our American LEO are being trained by Israeli IDF soldiers. They aren’t being taught POLICE tactics anymore, they are being taught OCCUPATION tactics. There us a large training facility that rotates different departments through in New Mexico. We ARE a police state. I hope I never see one of these types of murders (shootings) by an LEO, he will never hear it coming. I don’t care what a person wears to work, you pull a gun and murder someone around me, and there will be rounds going down range. I’m an American citizen that still believes in REAL law and order.
Yawn, another ill informed Antisemite. Very few police are ever trained by in Israel, & when they are it is not by the IDF but with Israeli police.These are common exchange programs that are done with other departments often in Europe. Do some homework and remove the tin foil hat before you open your mouth & prove just how ignorant you obviously are
idf r filthy degenerate inbred communists . they would shoot their mother if it would gain them some shekels
“IF” these trained policemen would of announced who they were first prior to ordering anyone to drop their weapon, just maybe the veteran hero would still be alive. Sick and tired of the sloppy police conduct. They were not trained like that yet make it up as they go. Then any police chief or sheriff always defends their actions.
If this situation had been handled responsibly, this man’s death should never have occurred.
First the Police know through the 911 Operator or PSAP, that they are dispatched to a home invasion.
Second it was mentioned that the 911 Operator had been notified that the home owner had a firearm. At that point the 911 Operator should notify the dispatched officers that the home owner is armed.
Third an officer, unless protecting the lives of others or in immanent danger should be trained not to fire his weapon.
Fourth there is no mention of the officers attempting to contact the home owner by telephone to determine if this is the home owner that is carrying the firearm while they are demanding that he relinquish his weapon.
Fifth this is another reason for all states to enact a castle law insuring the rights of citizens to protect there loved ones and their property.
If the man had put down his gun after the shooting and sat down away from his gun with his hands up he wouldn’t have been shot. If you brandish a gun or knife in front of police you are asking for a problem.
Gandalf, has your gaming takin over your sense of reality. This man that is an honorable vet may have been in a State of Shock And as a hearing impaired vet I don’t know what somebody is yelling at me or not. Thank you for your contribution, if only stated that you don’t care about Mr King at all. You should not contribute to this discussion at all. What you do contribute is what we have all fought against as veterans is bullshit liberalism.
Brandishing? Sounds like he exited the bathroom to check on the rest of the family members, whose house was being flooded by other “party” goers. Let’s see the body cam before we draw any conclusions
There were accounts that the man’s wife called 911 one or more times, telling them what her husband was wearing. Did this happen, and was this info passed on to the officers at the scene?
Irresponsible and irrational US domestic police have killed far more Americans than so-called Sunni Islamic State mercenaries ( who also work for the leading NATO governments ) could ever hope to.
What’s the old saying? ” What goes around, comes around”
Cops just to happy to shoot first and ask questions later. I think it shows the manhood. After all they are the law.
It would be interesting to see how you would react if you were in the res-ponders shoes.
Stop it with the drama, no one falls for the “You don’t know what you would do if you were there” crap! We would do what we were trained to do! Training and attitudes are in the toilet for the USSA Empire stormtroopers. They are being taught, trained and you are being propagandized to believe that their life is so threatened that they need to preemptively strike the smallest threat that comes their way…before it even materializes! LEO danger isn’t even on the top ten for most dangerous jobs. THEY NEED TO CALM DOWN NOW! Failure to do so is going to turn all sentiment against them, and then they will find out just how thin their little blue line is! I hope I’m not around to see the day (they call it the big brown streak then)!
While I support the police, I’m seeing something nasty sprouting here in the U.S. Police enjoy a special place removed from everyday law observation.
They are becoming a “Privileged Class”, not required to observe the same legal restrictions the rest of us do…and it’s getting to them mentally. They expect to be able to do things that we, the average citizens, would be arrested and prosecuted for doing; things that are in no way police-work. In some cities, they act as “Occupying Forces” rather than as civic protectors. We see this in the news almost nightly, where a police officer commits a violent criminal act – and gets away with it because they are the police.
This is a country of “Equal Justice Under Law” and many police departments are making a mockery of this. This needs to change voluntarily before it changes by fiat. The cops have a dangerous job, yes; but they are citizens like the rest of us, not “Princes of the City”. As the abuses mount, the opportunity for reasonable change will be crushed by enforced change, and that is something that nobody wants.
We need Responsible Cops, not the Privileged few with badges.
“The cops have a dangerous job”
Actually, not even in the top 10!
http://time.com/5074471/most-dangerous-jobs/
We can only go by what is reported in the article. The pic it paints is of a fairly large crowd gathered outside, just before 2:00 a.m. Police arrive and see a man walking around with a gun and flashlight. The police already know there has been a shooting. They do NOT identify themselves, while (likely) shouting multiple, possibly conflicting, instructions to the man with the gun. He does not do what they tell him to do, though he also does not raise the gun to fire at them. They kill him.
The end result, while understandable, clearing illustrates the need for far better training of our police.
With any other profession, if you don’t follow policy such as stating your position as a police officer and someone dies, you will be prosecuted. This should be treated as any other case where professional negligence led to a death. We have the right to defend ourself and this man should have been closely observed until more information was gathered. Police have radios, bright lights, and less lethal forms of protection, there is no excuse for this and this is unacceptable even offensive to support this action. Think about if this were you of your family that was gunned down after they just got finished protected a loved one. Maybe he was hearing impaired, this is the responsibility of the police to collect more info, saying you didn’t know isn’t an acceptable excuse in this age.
Seems like a tragedy of errors/lack of better judgement on both sides. I don’t know the results of any lab results on Mr. Black nor the exact degree of chaos still in progress when the police arrived. Still, although hearing impaired, he had to be fully awake/aware after the struggle as described plus in getting/using his weapon, and should have had enough common sense from his military days plus in knowing the police were very likely just moments away, to either secure his weapon in some way or at least had it down at his side in a non-threatening position. The police, after waiting and trying to get his attention several times, for unknown reasons fired. It doesn’t say why…if he turned or gestured toward them in a threatening manner or what…but only if they thought their lives or other’s lives were imminently in danger should they have fired. Hopefully this will come out however it was.
Most sensible comment yet!
All military and police are taught that there are three requirements for use of deadly force, and ALL three requirements must be present at the same time.
1. Means – Mr. Black had the means to cause grievous bodily harm or death. He had a gun.
2. Opportunity – Mr. Black had opportunity to cause grievous bodily harm or death. He was in proximity to others, with a gun.
3. Intent – Failing to drop the gun does not meet the Intent requirement. The story does not indicate that Mr. Black pointed or raised the gun in a threatening matter, or in any other way, displayed Intent, such as verbalizing that he would use the gun.
Absent the “Intent”, deadly force was not justified. Before some arm chair hero starts squawking at me about how I am not a cop and was not there,…well, I’ve been there,…in much tougher circumstances,…and I held my fire. No one died, and me and my troops all came home safely.
This is well put.
The standards for Poiice Officers has been damaged by the lefts demands for equal distribution of jobs to sometimes unqualified candidates. As a former Cop it is a disgrace to see all the border line to unjustified shootings taking place in our country today.
I was not there so don’t know what happened in this case but it just don’t pass the smell test as written.
The family should sue the police for wrongful death
Justice department is a total joke FBI a criminal enterprise judges doing what ever they feel like.
Not a damn bit of any of it Constitutional.
Shut the whole G-D Government down don’t start with the rank and file are OK bullshit
Like my GD Whit trash demorat neighbors are ok if you just get to know them.
Its murder plain and simple the officer must go, what happened to the muslim cop in Minneapolis shot a woman who was just raped.
Screw these bums officials my ass only interested in a free ride.
REAL HEROS DONT BELONG TO LABOR UNIONS.
This fellow seems to have some serious anger issues. I hope he gets help. And as for his “Real Heroes…” rant, I won the Bronze Star in Vietnam and I was in a labor union for most of my life.
Real Heroes use the most effective tools at their disposal to get the job done, Mr.Emmons. Remember that.
The Muslim cop who killed the woman was fired and possibly facing prison time, the woman was not raped, she was reporting an assault in the alley. When she approached the police vehicle, she was shot and killed.
Not enough information from an article written full of bias. This is just a drop in a very big bucket. No one is addressing the real problem and the gun lovers and cop haters are all pushing their own agenda. You all are blind and, well, childish.
“Wake up, America” is a good slogan but no one really knows why. It’s already too late.
What happened at the autopsy?
Who fired the shot?
Why is it always shoot to kill?
He was deaf, from hearing loss during his tour of Vietnam, he was also tone deaf after firing inside the enclosed room. I also suffer being deaf, and if I had fired my weapon in an enclosed room, I wouldn’t be able to hear for awhile. Also, consider the horrendous incident playing before your eyes trying to get that attacker off your grandson, retrieving your weapon, adrenaline going off the charts… I’m not justifying the shooting, but with all those factors going at the same time, it’s a recipe for disaster.
Cops are not being trained properly. With firearms pulled, there is time to assess the situation. Was the pistol at his side, of pointing at the cops? that is the distinction that was overlooked. Most older men have hearing issues. Train and train some more.
While I do strongly back law enforcement, in this matter they were wrong. They should have identified themselves and should not have fired unless fired upon. Especially in an urban setting where there is too much potential for collateral damage. They are issued those bulletproof vests for a reason. As a vet and as someone who has worked hand in hand with police in some pretty dangerous situations I have to say there are too many issues here that need to be addressed. The officers involved should face some sort of disciplinary action, I’m not saying lose their jobs but for sure some additional training and psychological evaluation. If heard gunfire outside my house, lets say maybe even some rounds hit / entered my house, and I go outside armed and see someone walking around my yard with a gun. Regardless of whether I yell some things at him or not, if I was to shoot and kill the person, and they turned out to be innocent, I would be most likely arrested and tried for murder or at least manslaughter. Bottom line is they should not have fired in this situation.
This guy Dave is reallly an asshole for making such a comment about Mr Black. Like the others above said. He has not shot a gun or probably never held one. He sure has never served his country at all or been in any situation where it was a choice of life or death. Maybe someday he will and hope some writes about it. I am a nam vet and serviced my country for 20 years and proud to do it I am proud of all the other vets that have also. This guy Dave must be out of what little mind he has.
What has happened to the quality of training our Law Enforcement is getting? I was a Police Officer in Las Vegas in the late 80’s and the things I am hearing and seeing now is ”’Criminal” The Procedures the cops are using is sloppy and unforgiving..
My wife likes to watch these shows like ”Live PD” and I can’t hardly stand these shows because all I see is bad training and procedure in nearly all cases..
My wife see’s these shows as a joke and a comedy show, I am disgusted and ashamed. I would wrather watch a good drama,scifi or heaven forbid I prefer a good Western… These Law Enforcement Reality shows are an embarasement..
I am also an Army Vet of many years,(Combat Infantry) And when I hear of a bunch of badly trained Cops using worse than poor judgment shooting a veteran to death that had just saved his family and on their own property it makes my blood ”boil” I am a Patriot and a supporter of ””Well, Properly trained Law Enforcement”’ The Police cannot do it all themselves and are there to maintain Law and Order, It is up to all of us to establish it… That is how this country was started… We need to re-establish things and it is not ”rocket science” It is in the 2nd amendment for Gods Sake!!!
What has happened to the quality of Police training? Simple: the City Councils, etc’ who budget the money for training have cut back so they have more money for their pet projects and raises for themselves – not good policing.
Additionally, it seems that the neighborhood bully has discovered Policing as a way to earn an income and to legally bully people around.
What’s needed is (1) Better training with annual updates (CEU’s) and a deeper investigation into the past and personalities of would-be Police officers. Giving a bully a gun and putting them into a “legally protected” profession is the last thing we want to do.
The city council better get their checkbook out as they will be putting this man’s family on “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”.
Cops can never be wrong and rarely held accountable and are considered special. I have seen so much go on with cops being crooked and self serving in my little community alone. I have seen them break the law in numerous ways while off duty and driving their own vehicles and when reported to their superiors all you get is lies and coverups. My respect level remains at zero. They earned it!
Everyone likes to point a finger at the error when a untoward event occurs. Not forgetting the rescue of the victim’s son…good event ….then error made by police ….bad event …no argument here….we hope many planets have to be in alignment for untoward event to occur sad but when dealing with life ending actions we all need to recognise our own actions…and importance of those actions…I would gladly give my life to save my son’s as any father …back story is the sad event and lose it due to any of these reasons …. questions would be age of officer? Tenure? Training? Work load? …we keep revolving our work force and wonder why safety and good judgement lacks….continuity with longevity is not rewarded in our organizations today and we will have to accept less than adequate performance….soon the latest generation will retire with 4 to 5 professions behind them and die a master of not one profession….this is what we need to realize for the future and learn to adapt….
Bad shooting all around. Officer should be publicly identified and face criminal charges. Most cops try to do the right thing. Sometimes a bad apple makes its way into the barrel. This is one example. One of the 10 commandments in gun safety 101 is “identify your target”. Cops go through a good guy, bad guy drill in training. Obviously, this guy wasn’t paying attention.
Whenever a Police officer uses either suppressive force or lethal force, said Officer should be investigated by the District Attorney or the equivalent in the next higher level of government as if that officer is just a plain citizen. Thus a City Cop’s actions would be investigated by the County D.A.; a County cop would be investigated by the State…
One of the guiding principles of this democracy is the republican concept that ALL are EQUAL before the LAW. At the current time, this is not the case and it needs remediation.
Sounds like it was multiple officers that shot him, not just one. This is usually the case. One officer decides to shoot and the rest act with pack mentality. Once again, things get worse once the cops finally show up. These are not Heroes folks. The way police officers are trained today is a danger to the law abiding, armed citizens that are The Ones that are actually stopping the crimes in progress.
Cops seem to go all ape shit when seeing a gun these days. (or see a gun when none is present) This is not the first time we have seen police kill the good guy or gal that have actually (been there) and stopped the actual crime in progress. Police are being trained to see all of us as the enemy…these are not heroes, nor do they actually “put their lives on the line everyday”.
Silver lining….
At least the officer got to go home at the end of the day.
I too am hearing impaired. Not all officers are wanna be heroes. Some have the same morals and fearlessness as we do in defending our families and faith. God bless Mr Black and our police. A great mistake has been made.
Have yet to see all of the details and will remain neutral until I do. LEOs cannot wait to be shot at before shooting. That’s a death sentence for the LEO. Nobody knows what was going through this man’s mind after having to shoot and kill another person, not after being in combat situations and having to kill others. I imagine he was in a kind of state of shock and the memories were pouring in. I too am very hard of hearing from lots of damage in `nam. In the same situation I really don’t have a clue how I would react. If someone comes into my home with intent of evil they will be ventilated severely, no question about it. What would happen afterwards is totally unknown. I’m sure I would be pumped beyond all meaning of the word and would be in a totally different mindset. LEOs seem to be getting sloosed on a daily basis anymore and, yes, they get a little trigger happy. It’s human nature.
If you paid attention you would know the Chief said he did not know if the veteran could id the officers. I’ve been in similar situations but I did’t shoot and I was not special. There are ways to deal with it.
I believe that due to the climate today, some officers are not equipped to handle the mental part of the job much less the speed events occur.
34 year retired officer
As a brother in arms to this hero, and I don’t often use that word, and as a Nam veteran myself, first off my heart goes out to his family.
Now I will get right to this ridiculous murder, and that is exactly what it was. Here you have a man walking around with a flashlight which is on, a firearm in his hand, pointed towards the ground as trained, not at the cop, and because you supposedly told him 5 times to drop the weapon, their version not verified, you open fire and murder this hero. He was not trying to hide or evade, he had the fucking flashlight still turned on, was no threat to you as firearm was again pointed at the ground, not the dumb fuck cop, and because of stupidity, a man who just saved his grandson’s life is now dead. And the asshole cop is back to work, the next week, so he can once again kill another innocent citizen. I don’t know what the fuck has happened to Colorado, but there have been too many things going wrong there lately. This cop should first off been reassigned to desk duty, until a thorough investigation was completed, as is standard protocol in every state after a shooting. He should have been seen by a shrink multiple times to see if you have a walking time bomb in a uniform waiting for another killing to happen. He is undoubtedly trigger happy, and was unable to assess the situation. In other words, he panicked. I don’t know how close he was when he was again supposedly hollering out his commands, but under the conditions, which sounds like it was bedlam, he most likely was too far away and he wasn’t heard. So lets just shoot this guy who isn’t doing a thing as far as threatening this cop. You know karma is a bitch, and this cop will get his just returns for taking a hero’s life. And if I was the family I would file a suet against the city, state, and this dumb fucking cop. We Nam vets are dying fast enough without losing one to stupidity. We are a special breed. We fought when the whole country was against us, and never gave up. The politicians gave up on us, when we were winning that war. God Bless this warrior, may he rest with God and his brother Vietnam veterans.
John, tell us how you really feel. I agree with you. Thank you for your service
John, I’m the generation just after yours and wholeheartedly agree with your assessment. RIP Mr Black. Thanks to both of you for serving against our enemies in that difficult time, and you can bet that “karma” is going to come down hard on these trigger happy cops. Maybe we need to get back to Barney Fife limited to 2 rounds in his pocket…
Seems this is a tragic story in many ways but I agree with others here, police have to defend themselves. But lets be honest even soldiers in Afghanistan can’t shoot til being fired upon. Not saying that’s good tactics but our Policemen are trained more like soldiers than that of our soldiers!! They are supposed to be the more Civic minded of the two and we see way too many cases of shoot first ask questions later. All Im sayin is they accept a certain risk when being sworn in and should be held just as accountable as a citizen is for bad shootings. This case was less cut n dry but Im seeing many that were purely bad shootings. God bless our LEO,s we need them but not all are perfect
“[Chief Nick] Metz admitted that the officers did not identify themselves before firing.”
Well, here we go again. If any citizen had shot and killed the wrong person, you know how sanctimonious the police would be and the Left would be all over that case like a cheap suit. The fact still remains that too many LEOs still show up, either ill-prepared or psychologically ill-suited for the job, and wind up playing Cowboy Bob.
So, the shooting had already taken place, Black was holding his weapon but not responding ……….. as opposed to aiming his weapon or acting hostile, and the LEOs take the ‘shoot anything that moves’ approach and shoot the wrong guy. I think I’ll withhold my taxes for that department and fend for myself.
That was a very bad decision by the officer who shot this hero. WTH? He shot someone who was merely carrying a firearm and a flashlight? It is clear to me that the man was not trying to hide, evade or present a threat to officers, so why did he shoot? Is this officer allowed to continue with a badge, so he can exhibit poor judgement again, and shoot someone else?
Mr. Black was a war hero, but not to bright. Even if hearing impaired, you should know not to walk up to cops with a gun in your hand. RIP…dummy!
Dave… you dummy or (moron) which ever you want to choose is okay by me. So… it’s okay for a police officer to open fire freely and without identifying himself at any time he/she wishes just because someone is holding a firearm. What ever happen to the halt…freeze…stop…drop it…show me your hands… or I’ll shoot command?
What do you call the man that was shot forty-one times for holding his wallet in his hands?
Really, the only dummy here is you for posting such an imbecile comment.
So after being hit in the head with a vase, according to you, you asshole, he is supposed to be coherent enough to hear everything going on around him. Let me see you shoot a firearm indoors with no ear cover, be hit in the head, and then know what is happening around you. I guess you have never been in combat or any kind of adrenaline rush situation that was life or death. I have been in combat, and after a firefight even the most experienced have that rush that takes over your complete being. Your hearing is gone for awhile and you are what is known as shell shock. You are the fucking dummy here, as you most likely have never even fired a weapon, and yet you have the nerve to bad mouth someone who did more in 15 minutes of saving his grandson, then you will ever do in your lifetime, not to mention his war record. You are a complete imbecile, and definitely a dumb fucking liberal.
Amen brother John
Bison, you’re right in that dave is the moron, but get your facts straight. The police did not go in unannounced. They ordered Mr. Black to drop the weapon, but due to his lack of hearing he did not. I’m not defending the cop who shot him, he’s a murdering, trigger happy moron, but the police did indentify themselves and ordered to drop the weapon.
SD… I did get the facts correct, even their commanding officer admitted that they did not identified themselves. They may have asked him to drop his weapon but they never said they were police officers. They were unannounced as police officers.
bison1913 has it right. You are a MORON
He was a combat veteran from about 50 yrs ago, likely familiar with death and who knows how that effected him emotionally. Some will say it is like riding a bike, but having to kill another human, especially one that is violently attacking one of your loved ones, would to me be the most stressful event in my life, even as a combat veteran. As he walked toward the police officers, who knows what state of mind he was in. Probably dazed, confused, possibly in shock. Maybe he heard the officers commands but it wasn’t registering because of the prior events. Heck, he may have had a flashback and was not willing to disarm because of the uncertainty of the situation and trying to mentally sort it out. I don’t know about you dummy Dave, but I think I would cut the guy a little slack.
As you well know: gun’sAmerica can and will “by god” share it all.
Spirit and freedom regard none in the heated situations“underscored” by final, certain truth.Cannot, fervently by personal reservation offer but sigh, sigh, and sigh; hit me in the guts.
Huh?
Only when citizens lives have the same value as police and citizens conducting themselves otherwise lawfully given the right to return police fire will these executions by irresponsible police diminish. This month I have read of two individuals doing nothing wrong who have hearing dysfunction being shot dead by police after failing to respond to voice commands.