News of a police shooting in Missouri has shocked many readers.
Chilling body camera footage captures a Missouri mom holding her baby as she lunges with a huge kitchen knife at cops who then shoot them both dead.
The newly released footage shows officers — called to a reported family assault — initially talking calmly to mom Maria Pike, 34, as she holds her 2-month-old daughter Destinii Hope while standing inside a closet at her home in Independence.
Eleven minutes into the footage, Pike can be seen suddenly grabbing a large knife from a bedside table and lunging toward an officer.
There's more at the link, including video footage.
I'm sure the police officers are just as traumatized by what happened as the deceased lady's husband. Sadly, they had no time to think, no time to plan - particularly for a situation like that. They could only react, and defend their own lives.
It's not the first time I've come across something like that. I've mentioned before on this blog an incident in South Africa, one where I was an eye-witness.
I was present when a vehicle-mounted patrol was passing through a very volatile area. A woman rushed out from behind a hut, with a baby strapped to her chest in the typical African manner. She charged the lead vehicle, holding a Molotov cocktail in either hand, their fuses lit. The soldiers on the vehicle had a very simple binary choice. Shoot her - which meant snap-shooting, probably through the baby on her chest, because there was no time to take careful aim and avoid it - or be immolated when the gasoline bombs exploded inside the load bed of the patrol vehicle. You can imagine their feelings . . . but they were left with no other options. She, and her baby, died. Whose fault was that baby's death? Not the soldiers', I would argue.
Again, more at the link.
What causes a mother to "snap" like that? How can she even think of endangering her own child in order to attack others? I don't know . . . for that matter, I don't suppose anyone knows. For the deceased mother's sake, I can only hope that there was some sort of mental illness or aberration involved - because I can't imagine any mother making a sane, rational choice to act like that. It's beyond comprehension.
Say a prayer, if you'll be so kind, for the souls of that mother and her child - and for the sanity of her husband, who had to watch that happen. I don't know if he'll ever be the same man again. Also, of course, pray for the officers involved, who have to be carrying all sorts of emotional guilt, even though they must know intellectually that she left them with no choice. Believe me when I say that, even if one hasn't pulled a trigger, the emotional guilt of such an experience takes decades to subside, and is never completely forgotten.
Peter
A lot of cops quit after a lethal use of force; it is psychologically traumatic. Sadly, the cop will probably spend the rest of his life wishing he took the cut and saved the child. Police are now getting less training so they are less practiced and less skilled in use of force.
ReplyDeletePrayers for the officers involved.
the overriding, immediate question in my mind, upon seeing her hairdo, is: How many sessions of EST has she had?
ReplyDeletePost partum depression.
ReplyDelete"What causes a mother to "snap" like that? How can she even think of endangering her own child in order to attack others?"
ReplyDeleteUninformed opinion here (as you know) but I think she didn't think at all. She was just reacting to something real or imagined. She wasn't capable of logical, coherent thought or the whole situation wouldn't have happened.
Souls' fates do not change after death. Gone is gone.
ReplyDeleteThe husband was there...what was his role?
And the popo, True Profeshernels™, Only Wunz©, the only response to a freaked out woman with a cooking knife wielded in incompetent rage is a fusillade of shots. No situational awareness by the popo, no bravery or competence despite ballistic plates and stab vests and tactical gloves? Nightstick to the face after shattering the ineptly brandished likely blunt non optimised for penetration device.
Bah.
Yup. Tuesday morning quarterbacking is always easy and everything works out.
DeleteSo the cops should die to protect her?
DeleteA weapon is a weapon.
And in the wonderful world of hostage taking, which the baby was, well, it sucks to be a hostage.
So the next time there's a school attacker, are you willing to let the cops stand back and do nothing or possibly shoot a kid or two while taking out the perp?
Taser, Baton, Pepper Spray and lot's of it, All 3 at the same time. Plenty of non lethal options before killing a child.
ReplyDeleteI'm 73, the last real training I had, was in 1962, when I was 11, judo. If I was dressed in cop gear, I could have subdued her with a blanket. Nobody would have died. Cops are cowardly scum. Chant the Magic Mantra "Officer Safety!", free pass for murder. If your only training and tools involver hammers, your response spectrum is truncated to the point of useless for MOST encounters. Expletives deleted those murdering thugs.
ReplyDeleteBecause all cops carry blankets when responding to a call.
DeleteCould be post partum depression...
ReplyDeleteWhen your only tool is a gun all problems require shooting. They could have simply stepped back....put more distance between them. But the automatic response is always SHOOT. The problem is the crappy training at the academy plus little to no ongoing training afterwards. Add in the ingrained "go home at the end of your shift NO MATTER WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO" mentality and you have a recipe for disaster....on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteYeah...you try backpedaling when someone charges at you and see how far you get.
DeleteIt seems like police are no longer trained to de-escalate a situation. It is always one step up the ladder to ensure "compliance". Maybe that is what happens when they are Law Enforcement Officers instead of Peace Officers.
ReplyDeleteNot a huge fan of the proverbial blue-and-bronze, but the cop didn't have a lot of time to think. And it's not his fault the woman used her baby as a human shield.
ReplyDeleteTragic all around, but she bears the brunt of the blame for what happened.