Shoot to Stop or Kill....

It’s no surprise that the Philadelphia police use excessive force to subdue and arrest a man or young adult considered to be a suspect of a crime committed.  We see it on the local news and read about it in the newspapers all the time. The year of 2013 displayed many examples of the “shoot first, ask questions later” term. It was also a year of clarity for those who do not know that there is no such thing as a shoot to wound rule. “Shoot to stop”, however, is the rule exercised by the officers of the Philadelphia Police Department who are trained to fire center mass (torso) when eliminating a situation involving an alleged suspect with a weapon…  or not. But for some reason or another, these young men aren't just being shot to be stopped, they’re being shot to death. The excuse for shots fired used by those who serve and protect citizens is that these victims all brandished a lethal weapon threatening bodily harm to them. Now maybe I’m a little slow but even the dumbest person knows that if you point a gun at a cop (not to mention discharge) chances are you’re going to get shot. “Man pulls gun, we fired back”. That was the headline of a news article published by the Philadelphia Daily News concerning a 21-year-old male who was shot five times, once in the back and four times in the legs… the back of his legs.

The news article states, “Police heard gunfire and spotted a male running with a gun in hand. Officers ordered him to drop the gun several times, he refused and instead ran towards officers with the gun pointed in their direction and they fired for fear of their safety”. Fortunately, this victim, among the seven shot by police during that week survived the ordeal. I am not excluding the fact that the victim(s) were armed with automatic weapons illegally, but right is right and wrong is wrong. If he was running toward officers he would have been shot in his body’s front and not back. There wasn't anyone else in the vicinity that was shot or injured but the victim in this confrontation, and he has been charged with assault on two police officers, without firing a shot at authorities. His bail is at $1,000,000 because police have painted the picture of him attempting to fire upon them.  Within the last five years there have been eight cops shot in this corrupt city, yet within the last three years there have been 88 police shootings. The Commissioner says “assaults on officers are factors that cause police to shoot first”. He says “shoot to kill is a myth” but I say it exist.

A gun is a lethal weapon, so when it’s extracted from the holster and fired when you’re not at a firing range… the intent is to kill.