Police shoot pregnant woman dead (USA)

[SuddenlyOld]

Ok America, since when did it become normal for police officers to point guns at pregnant women accused of shoplifting?
She didn't have a weapon or get violent. Turns out she hadn't stolen anything either.
If I was black in America I'd be scared to go out 😪😪😪
This is probably the worst thing I've seen ever.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66690408

Event heard of proportionate response? Risk assessment?

I really don't understand these comments. Because of the gun culture the risk assessment is the perpetrator is likely to have a weapon & their proportionate response is completely different to ours.
Obviously the women should not have been shot but this will keep happening when you have a gun culture like the US.

Well, this is what the police would think, I suppose.
It’s always good in situations like this to wait for details before making assumptions about the case.

I really don’t understand a lot of these replies. It is exceptionally rare for someone who stops, listens and does as the police tell them to come to harm. If she hadn’t been shoplifting, I’m pretty confident it could have been resolved quite quickly.

Instead this woman drove at a police officer. The consequences of doing so are entirely obviously, particularly in the US. The onus isn’t on the police to run out of the way.

You don't get in front of the car to begin with , if you're so afraid for your life.

You get out of the way.

That’s absolutely horrific, I’m so sorry for what her family are going through. Those poor wee children left behind 😢

That was exactly what the person i was responding to was saying....

But this is all classic mums net, people are not able to comprehend an opinion from another perspective/ devils advocate.

Ultimately the police officer probably thought he was about to be run over.
The police in the US are a very different breed tot he police here in the UK, you dont fuck with them.

Its very sad she died, but she should have just stopped the damn car.

@Proudgypsy the woman was innocent, and the news should absolutely be making this a race issue. This IS a race issue. She was shot and killed because she was black. It is disgusting that you feel the need to minimise and condone that kind of behaviour, especially if you are a proud gypsy. You’ll be well aware of the hate and violence aimed at minority groups.

Poor woman and baba 😢

It says they were there for an unrelated call?
so how did they know she was shoplifting or did I miss that part?
was she armed?

Ultimately the police officer probably thought he was about to be run over.
The police in the US are a very different breed tot he police here in the UK, you dont fuck with them

And that's what leads to such incidents.
Draw guns
A gun culture.

Who gives a shit if someone gets killed? Just another statistic

No, the problem is that they have to treat every suspect as a potential gun owner who will shoot them. Because of their gun culture. Go onto YouTube and have a look at the numerous videos of police stopping people for driving offences, and then having to deal with them trying to pull a concealed weapon. If the gun culture is such that every citizen is likely to be armed, then the police have to be armed too.

Exactly this

To those saying this lady was shot and killed because she was black, please can you provide some examples of white people driving at police officers and not being shot?

i would have got out of the car the very first time someone pointed a gun at me to be honest.

not saying the police officers were in any way justified mind you

She deliberately drove a car directly at an armed police officer who had repeatedly and clearly asked her to get out, it's hardly a surprise she got shot. She could easily have avoided her fate.

Of course in a civilised country this would never have happened because the police don't need to approach every interaction with an aggressive armed maximum force approach because the assumption is the public are not armed. As long as guns are rife in America (so forever) this will continue happening.

I don't understand why everyone is questioning her innocence.

It really doesn't matter if she was a black Rosemary West. At the moment that she was murdered by the very people sworn to protect her she was not a threat. That should be all that matters.

The car inched forward so slowly that the officer was able to walk backward with it. All he had to do was step out of the way, take her license plate, and follow up later.

This excuse is used far too often in cases like this. George Floyd had previous convictions... So fucking what? At the moment he was murdered he was on the ground begging for his life. What he did or did not do years prior to that moment does not fucking matter.

Philando Castile was a suspected gang member? So fucking what? At the time he was murdered, he was unarmed, sat in his car with his 4-year-old child trying to reach for his ID.

And on and on and on.

How many more black people have to die needlessly at the hands of the Police before something is done? And how many more before people stop tying themselves in knots trying to blame the victims?

@Balhammom

Can you find me some examples of white people being held at gunpoint under suspicion of shoplifting?

A lot of white people get shot in the USA too. The most common factor is being poor - that is likely to get you killed. Black and poor - double your odds of being shot.

Even if she had been shoplifting, even if she tried to drive off there’s no way she should have been shot. There’ll be cctv from the store so they will be able to see whether or not she was shoplifting. Take her number plate and pay her a visit later. It’s a minor crime.

it’s not hard. Those police officers are murderers and should be tried as such.

@millymog11

So would I but I'm white and live in the UK where police officers don't tend to wrestle people to the ground when no violence or failure to comply is shown and don't even carry guns, let alone draw them over a shop lifting accusation.

I’ve been pulled by the police in the US, as part of a traffic stop. Hands on guns, as that’s their normal procedure. Did I argue? Nope. Did I drive off, let alone with one in front of me? Nope. I did as I was told, had a courteous interaction and was thanked and waved off after a few minutes.

In the USA, just get out of your car, or do whatever you are told to do. Don't look as though you are reaching for a gun, keep your hands visible. I'm not saying that she should have been shot, but if you know that police officers have guns , why would anyone not just stop the car and get out? She was told many times what to do and didn't.

Really terrible. Now there are two children left without a mother. The guns need to go

This is very sad and a horrendous thing to watch. That poor woman, and her family, its just.... overwhelming, the problems they have with their police force there. I can't imagine living there and having to be afraid they'll shoot you, for suspected shoplifting- only if you're black of course. I hope the officer gets jail time, but I won't hold my breath. How terrifying. Why be aggressive over shoplifting? Why? wtf is wrong with them.