Police Shoots Double Amputee Who Wielded A Pen

HOUSTON — A Houston police officer has fatally shot a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair after police say the double amputee waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.

Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva says man cornered the officer early Saturday inside a group home after police were called about a disturbance there.

Silva says the man was making threats while trying to stab the officer with the pen. She says the officer did not know what the metal object was at the time.

Silva says the man came "within inches to a foot" of the officer and did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still.

For such a short clip, there's a lot of disturbing stuff here.

First, and I mean this with no disrespect towards the handicapped, if the officer was cornered by a man with one arm and one leg maneuvering a wheelchair, he's not very smart.  Or could it be that he was in the victim's personal space, getting in a little too close to intimidate?  While the thought makes me sick, it's the only way I can make that work out.

The victim threatened him with a pen.  If he couldn't tell it was a pen, how could he tell it was a threatening object?  No matter what, it did not deserve a fatal response from the officer.  This guy was at such a clear physical disadvantage, the officer could have removed himself from danger.  He could have walked away but he shot the man instead.

But finally, the thing that maybe sticks in my craw the most, is the phrase "did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still."  This man had a history of being difficult, according to employees.  You know what, I think I would be too if I were in his circumstances.  I've worked in group homes, and I can tell you that the idea of these people as American citizens with the rights and values like everyone else just disappears.  In the flurry of meals, medicine and job duties, these people are herded like cattle with little to no regard for them as people.  I worked in dozens of locations, the utter lack of humanity was the one thing every place had in common.  It is why I work in a different field.

To fail to follow instructions to calm down and remain still, for a person who is agitated by nature and condition, is expected.  Cops are trained (supposedly) to lower tensions.  Perhaps by giving this man some personal space the cop could have done a better job.

Either way, a man is dead and a cop is an asshole.  Surprise, surprise.