Florida police reportedly gunned down a man carrying a toy rifle. Police got a number of calls reporting a man walking around with a rifle and aiming it at dogs. When police came to confront the man he acted in a way that made the police feel threatened and fire shots at the man. Only then did they realize that the gun was a fake. The family of the man told officials that the man was mentally disabled. The family also believes that it was wrong of the police to shoot the man.
I can agree with both parties on this story. Yes it was wrong of the police to kill a man for carrying a toy gun, and had they conversed with the man they would have realized that he was mentally disabled. They should have talked him into putting the gun down then arrested him. However, if the man aimed the gun at the police, threatened to shoot them, and refused to drop the gun, what other choice did the police have? Toy guns are made to look so real these days, maybe the makers of such toys should take this story into consideration of making toy guns look more like toys and not the real thing.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44353153/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44353153/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44353153/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
It's an unfortunate story. I feel for the mentally disabled man, however, the police are just doing their job, and they have to protect themselves.
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