In a split second, a decision had to be made. A decision that meant the possible life or death for many individuals.
When it comes to moments like this police officers don’t have the time to determine if a weapon is real or fake. Such is the case last week when a teenager was killed after pointing a replica gun at an officer.
As soon as the door swung open the man, Michael Brand, pointed some sort of weapon at the officers outside his door. Judging that the threat was real the officers opened fire on the man.
The Salt Lake City Tribune wrote,
The Salt Lake City police department showed that body camera footage during a Friday news conference. Three officers were there at the July 15 confrontation at Sunrise Metro apartments, 580 S. 500 West, and all recorded it.
The videos are the first look at how police responded to the subject, who they knew was mentally ill. He’s also the second person to be shot and killed by Salt Lake City police this year, said Capt. Ty Farillas.
Brand died from his injuries. The officer who was hit has since recovered, though both he and the officer who fired his gun are on paid administrative leave from the department while the case is investigated. Farillas said that will be handled by Unified Police.
…..
“He f—— opened the door with a gun in our face,” the officer tells the other resident, who says he wasn’t involved. The officer responds that he knows that, but that he’s alone and needs to restrain him anyway. He can’t get the handcuffs to work, so he tells the resident to stay put while he grabs another pair.
It’s a very sad and unfortunate situation that a man had to lose his life and an officer was injured. It’s never a good idea to act suspiciously, quickly, or confrontationally with officers.