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VMI77 wrote: What "conspiracy" theories? According to the link I provided an old man got killed inside his garage by police officers responding to a burglar alarm? The guy either committed suicide by cop or he didn't realize he was confronting police officers until it was too late. How can any plausible "conspiracy" be developed out of that?

Its not a conspiracy, when it's true
http://www.erikbscott.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just saying.. there are more than the two scenarios then you have proposed..

He realised it was LEO's.. and they engaged anyway...

Two officers, but reasonable inexperienced, and both likely highly animated in there attempt to control the situation...

STOP
GET DOWN
DON'T MOVE
RAISE YOUR HANDS
GET ON THE GROUND
DROP THE GUN
DON'T MOVE
GET DOWN....

BANG, BANG< BANG< BANGBANG....Bang.....
Because once that point is reached,, you fire until the perceived threat is no longer a threat..... ie not moving or physically separated from the gun. .. Preferable both.

I'm not going all nuts so and claiming it was intentional or murder.... Not even saying it was the officer's fault at all.... or the decedent. Just that there are many possibilities in addition to He knew it was a cop and wanted to die, or did not know it was a cop.

Time and an independent investigation MAY tell us more.. or it may not vis vis Erik Scott

talltex wrote:The department should have announced they were having an outside agency conduct an investigation immediately. Their failure to do so just fuels the fire that this incident has created, and every day that they continue to delay doing so, further undermines the FWPD's credibilty with the people they are sworn to "protect and serve". They are in a public relations nightmare, and their insistence that they are conducting a "thorough and transparent" investigation "in-house" just fans the flames of public suspicion and distrust which will continue for weeks or months until the results are released. They may very well conduct an exemplary investigation themselves, but regardless of their conclusion, the damage to their image and the ill will generated from now until it is completed, will be tremendous. Possibly, the department is "too close to the trees to see the forest" because they view it as a personal attack on their integrity. If so, the Mayor and City Council need to step in and insist they back away and let someone else take charge of it, in the best interest of everyone.

This with an add.... Even after the internal investigation has completed, unless there are criminal charges recommended, the results will be viewed as suspicious by many..

Though honestly, it matters not who does the investigation, if the LEOs involved come out with a clean shoot..... even if the investigation is done by the Texas Rangers, FBI, there will be some that will continue to cry foul. This is a no win for the officer that fired his weapon, department, the citizens and of course, the deceased.

Ericstac wrote:Someone mentioned the 6/6 shots the officer made and I have to agree. I don't see how this cop could be searching this property and shoot some old man 6/6 times. Are cops not trained to get a visual of your target before firing? Surely they are and if so what was going through his mind when he got his visual of a 72 year old man.

Okay, let's say the victim was confused and didn't put the gun down, and worse, aimed it at the cops thinking they were bad guys... SIX times? Really Mr. copper? Does anyone really think having a visual on a 72 yr old man who is obviously confused warrants six shots to the chest... No. Single..maybe a double tap and I could say yeah this was an error.. But to do six shots is just nonsense and shows this cop, who obviously trains with his weapon a lot, wanted more than to stop this poor old man.

You have never shot at, or shot a human have you

Just a guess.... but that sir is the only takeaway from your post I can gather.

baldeagle wrote: Again, as I've repeatedly stated, we don't have enough facts to make any judgments about what happened,

I respectfully disagree...

We use the AVAILABLE facts, even if limited at the time to make sound and reasonable judgments. That is what good critical thinking does for you.
Your argument that there are not enough facts to make a opinion or judgment is simply not so.. and that same argument and position can be said to counter anything... When someone wish to ignore the information available and not come to a conclusion they do not wish to be true,, you will often read them spout.. NOT ENOUGH FACTS...
But when the limited facts available NOW support what they want to be true,, suddenly.. those same limited facts are gospel... Thats not intellectually honest.. IMHO.

I'll agree, that the facts at hand, and facts that may come later, may (are likely) to change a later opinion or judgment that was considered relevant and factually correct today..

I guess as well.. we have to make sure we are defining terms consistently and the same between readers.. If one were to say.. there are not enough publically stated facts on this event for a Judge and jury to pass judgment.. I would agree wholeheartedly.

If another does not assign the same meaning to the word "Judgment" they might conclude the available facts allow them to come to a judgment based on what IS known.

Me?... I think a collection of mistakes and coincidence, coupled with the type and procedure and mindset of today's LEO's is the root cause for this event.

Criminals, thugs, elderly and youngins are more likely to shoot than say 30 years ago.. likewise, LEO,s are more likely to assume an active aggressive posture against a perceived threat.. which has a much lower threshold than 30 years ago.... That together .. mean more folks are getting shot, killed than ever before.. when the reality is... they were not a threat, or even the intended target of the LEO activity. Hard to fault the officer on the street for that.... the issue is MUCH larger.

jayinsat wrote:My take away from this story so far: I am not a LEO. I will not go investigating my neighbors burglar alarm. I will report and observe as a good citizen.

If as the story has been reported holds true.. The victim here was doing just as you suggested.. Not "going and investigating his neighbors burglar alarm" But in his own garage perhaps protecting his own life and property.

Should I hear my neighbors burglar alarm go off.. I will certainly lend hand in helping my neighbor.... Hiding out and letting others be taken advantage of is not in my nature,

But I don't live in one of them Big cities like some of you do...perhaps that is the way it's done there.. In rural Texas (and OR, AK, SC, NC, CA where I have also lived) we tend to be neighborly assisting, helping, watching out for each other as best we can.

Thats not a derogatory comment on those that choose to not,, just not how I was raised, nor how my Family and I see things in our chosen environment.