Police officer fired for not shooting man who had unloaded gun

[Reptile]

A West Virginia police officer who refused to shoot a man holding an unloaded gun was fired for not pulling the trigger, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

Then-Weirton police officer Stephen Mader was let go after a May 6 incident in which he said he tried to talk Ronald D. “R.J.” Williams Jr. out of harming himself.

“I thought I was going to be able to talk to him and deescalate it,” Mader, an ex-Marine, told The Post-Gazette. “I knew it was suicide-by-cop.”

Mader said even though he didn’t know Williams Jr.’s gun was unloaded at the time, the man had the gun at his side and was not pointing it at the officer. He also knew that he had been called to the scene because of a domestic disturbance and Williams Jr. had only threatened to hurt himself.

“I told him, ‘Put down the gun,’ and he’s like, ‘Just shoot me.’ And I told him, ‘I’m not going to shoot you brother,’” Mader said.

Eventually, two other officers arrived and one of them shot and killed Williams Jr., hitting him in the back of the head, just behind his right ear, The Post-Gazette reported.

The shooting was deemed justified, but Mader was terminated because he “failed to eliminate a threat,”
according to his June 6 termination letter. Mader is now working toward getting a commercial license to drive trucks.

City officials did not return calls from The Post-Gazette seeking comment.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/09/1...or-not-shooting-man-who-had-unloaded-gun.html

Eliminate the threat!!!

 

[Hoon]

That's insane.

If I remember the story correctly, the cop had prior experience with this mentally unstable individual and knew he was not likely to harm anyone.

 

[mikem317]

So he was fired for not shooting a guy with a gun that wasn't pointed at him. Wow.

 

[noxin]

Seriously, this is why there are so few of the "Good Cops" on the police force. He does the right thing by NOT just shooting someone for failing to obey and they fire him.

 

[cb1]

Using common sense to assess the nature of the situation? -- check.
Deesculating the situation? -- check.
Showing concern for the well-being of others? -- check.

The guy should have been promoted.

 

[not new guy]

Using common sense to assess the nature of the situation? -- check.
Deesculating the situation? -- check.
Showing concern for the well-being of others? -- check.

The guy should have been promoted.

Nah, he made the rest of them look bad. Can't have that.

 

[oldguy68]

This is the sad state of law enforcement policies.
Where is the police union now?
WTF is wrong when he made the correct decision and another officer just shoots the guy like a notch on his bed post!
We are soo f-cked as a country!

 

[Junior314]

This is the sad state of law enforcement policies.
Where is the police union now?
WTF is wrong when he made the correct decision and another officer just shoots the guy like a notch on his bed post!
We are soo f-cked as a country!

I'd be willing to bet this officer wasn't willing to put something in the report following the shooting that was in line with the two responding officers. Unreal.

 

[AntiHippie]

I hope there's more to the story.

 

[Dadstoys]

I'd be willing to bet this officer wasn't willing to put something in the report following the shooting that was in line with the two responding officers. Unreal.

That seems a more likely scenario.
Cover Itchy Mctriggerfinger's ass.
Nope
Bye.

 

[Fixxah]

Sad in so many ways. The dude got his wish anyways. RIP

As for the Marine, he will sleep well knowing he did the right thing.

 

[KBCraig]

While he was deescalating, the other two showed up and immediately obliged Williams' request to escalate and create a reason to indulge his suicide-by-cop wish.

A longer version that I read earlier today said Williams was holding the pistol down at his side and kept twitching his wrist in an attempt to get Mader to shoot, but Mader took the (apparently unacceptable) route of waiting until there was an immediate threat.

 

[Picton]

And, of course, they shot him from behind. Oh, the courage!

 

[MAGA99]

they should have just shot the gun out of his hand!!!!!


It's a shame that the good cop is no longer a cop.

 

[fishgutzy]

Had he shot him the public would have demanded his head "because he knew the man and knew he was in distress."

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[DarkRyu]

I guess in today's society for cops its damned if you do and damned if you dont.

 

[M60]

Rep point for police officer Stephan Mader.

 

[weekendracer]

I guess in today's society for cops its damned if you do and damned if you dont.

Between you and your avatar, you said a mouthful.

 

[stinx]

While he was deescalating, the other two showed up and immediately obliged Williams' request to escalate and create a reason to indulge his suicide-by-cop wish.

A longer version that I read earlier today said Williams was holding the pistol down at his side and kept twitching his wrist in an attempt to get Mader to shoot, but Mader took the (apparently unacceptable) route of waiting until there was an immediate threat.

A pistol in someones hand, assuming your in pistol range is an immediate threat even if its not pointed at you. In a second or less the person holding the gun could have it pointed at you.

 

[Cloverleaf Firearms Group]

A pistol in someones hand, assuming your in pistol range is an immediate threat even if its not pointed at you. In a second or less the person holding the gun could have it pointed at you.

If I'm on a call with my gun out, sights aligned and pointing at center of available mass (and assuming I've moved to some mediocre cover/concealment), I don't care how fast you are... I'm hitting you first.

From the brief information that I've read so far, I think that officer did a great job in line with what he was processing in front of him. We lost a good one in my opinion.

 

[Gammon]

Nah, he made the rest of them look bad. Can't have that.

+1. If the shooting was "justified" then the officer who refused to "do his duty" has to be punished. If no one was killed he probably would still have his job. If the victim was black he would be a national hero.

 

[DMX]

+1. If the shooting was "justified" then the officer who refused to "do his duty" has to be punished. If no one was killed he probably would still have his job. If the victim was black he would be a national hero.

The victim is black and he's portrayed as such by most people doing a story on this, but his ethnicity doesn't matter.

 

[Dadstoys]

I would certainly never second guess the guy.
He was willing to put his life at risk to avoid taking someone else's.
If it was a case of the armed guy was about to shoot an innocent and he failed to do his job that's another thing but does not appear to be the case here.
I get a feeling his department is about to get buried in backlash.

 

[Bonesinium]

Sadly this isn't the first time we've seen stuff like this. Often when cops refuse to escalate or assist in unneeded violence or other situations where other cops do use force and violence, they are the ones in trouble. It's the same thing to them as crossing the blue line. They are a "threat to officer safety."

It's like the NJ cop who actually stepped in and stopped a cop from attacking a kid. She was the one fired.


It's examples like this why there can be no good cops. The system itself ensures of it. By firing all the good ones. Or worse, like that Philly cop.

 

[otasan]

Remind me to stay the hell out of W. VA.

 

[Bonesinium]

Remind me to stay the hell out of W. VA.

Bad news for you pal, this sort of thing is nation wide.

 

[Gammon]

The victim is black and he's portrayed as such by most people doing a story on this, but his ethnicity doesn't matter.

Wow! I had no idea. I think we are going to hear a lot more about this.

 

[Bonesinium]

Wow! I had no idea. I think we are going to hear a lot more about this.

Maybe, maybe not. For whatever reason, blacklivesmatter likes to focus on the shooting of black men who are actual criminals. The unjustified killing of law abiding people, not so much.

 

[PilotRPI]

Good thing they fired him. Sounds like he's too intelligent to be a cop.

 

[SpaceCritter]

Good thing they fired him. Sounds like he's too intelligent to be a cop.

http://politicalblindspot.com/police-officially-refuse-to-hire-applicants-with-high-iq-scores/