Hofstra Shooting investigation - college girl shot by cop

[Deerthug]

My prayers and thoughts go out to the family of Andrea Rebello for her senseless death.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57585197/long-island-police-defend-hofstra-student-killing/

That being said, according to what I read, the forensics investigation revealed that the cop put seven rounds in the dirtbag's chest who was holding Andrea in a headlock, and one bullet in her head.

I don't know what this cop was thinking. I know he was in the heat of the moment, but I think all cops need to be put through some serious situational training on a regular basis. I don't think we'll ever know when the last time it was that he actually drew his firearm on the job let alone at the range. I know the facts are not all there yet or what his experience was in these situations other than being a 12 year veteran. All I know is that the dirtbag is dead which is good, but Andrea's death may have been prevented with better police training.

With the past few officers being shot or killed, I think panic set in and this cop just pulled the trigger. There is no info yet on whether the dirtbag shot first or just threatened the cop by pointing the gun at him. Interesting to see how this will turn out with IAD. I know for certain, one family has been destroyed and I would not be surprised if this cop goes off the deep end.

Edited May 19, 2013 by Deerthug

[sits in trees]

Terrible, In a perfect world the cop would have backed out. But who knows how it really transpired.

[Early]

Terrible outcome to a bad situation.  Cannot help but fault the cops....an innocent citizen, in this case a hostage, of sorts, was killed by a cop.  That should NOT happen.

[Deerthug]

Who knows. Maybe it was a "me first" or dirty-harry complex thinking. Truly a tragedy.

[ANTLERS]

If she was rescued he's a hero but because it turned out the way it did it's his  fault."Back out","More training"?.All the training in the world doesnt prevent the Air Force from dropping a bomb on friendly troops below,Which happened numerous times in Iraq.Its so easy to monday morning quarterback when you werent there.Who's at fault? The NYS Parole board for once again letting a violent criminal out early.This officer has to live with this for the rest of his life,Thats punishment enough.

Edited May 19, 2013 by ANTLERS

[orion]

"or just threatened the cop by pointing the gun at him"

 

So you don't think he should shoot?  Should he wait

until he gets shot at?

 

What would you all have done?

[Deerthug]

"or just threatened the cop by pointing the gun at him"

So you don't think he should shoot? Should he wait

until he gets shot at?

What would you all have done?

No one will know what really happened other than the cop, Andrea and the dead scum. Never said that he should not have shot. Just saying that perhaps better training on a more frequent basis may have allowed him to place one or two more accurate shots in this guy to incapacitate him rather than 8 shots.

[Deerthug]

If she was rescued he's a hero but because it turned out the way it did it's his fault."Back out","More training"?.All the training in the world doesnt prevent the Air Force from dropping a bomb on friendly troops below,Which happened numerous times in Iraq.Its so easy to monday morning quarterback when you werent there.Who's at fault? The NYS Parole board for once again letting a violent criminal out early.This officer has to live with this for the rest of his life,Thats punishment enough.

You are right. The system failed Andrea by letting the dirtbag roam the streets with such an extensive rap sheet. But you cannot compare a situation where a plane flying so high dropping bombs on its own troops not knowing whether the movement the bomber sees on his radar are good guys or bad guys, to a situation on the ground where a cop finds himself confronted with a hostage situation. Nevertheless, i don't know for sure if better training would have saved this girl but who's to say it would not have given her a better chance at survival if one or two properly placed shots were made by this cop.

[ANTLERS]

It's not a Dirty Harry movie or a video game where you can just shoot the gun out of his hand,He's required by NYS law to requalify twice a year and that doesnt include any practice he does on his own time.The average gun fight last less than 3 seconds.He walks into a situation,Has to access it very quickly and make the decision to fire his weapon.The Governor of the state has all the time in the world to decide if someone gets a stay of execution or the death penalty,This cop had 3 seconds to make that decision,and God help him if he makes the wrong choice.The number of shots fired is irrelevant,You fire until the threat is over.This guy was on parole,He knew if he gets caught he's going back to jail plus time added for this crime,He wasnt going down peaceably.It's a tragedy all around,But NYS is to blame.

[pistolp71]

It's not a Dirty Harry movie or a video game where you can just shoot the gun out of his hand,He's required by NYS law to requalify twice a year and that doesnt include any practice he does on his own time.The average gun fight last less than 3 seconds.He walks into a situation,Has to access it very quickly and make the decision to fire his weapon.The Governor of the state has all the time in the world to decide if someone gets a stay of execution or the death penalty,This cop had 3 seconds to make that decision,and God help him if he makes the wrong choice.The number of shots fired is irrelevant,You fire until the threat is over.This guy was on parole,He knew if he gets caught he's going back to jail plus time added for this crime,He wasnt going down peaceably.It's a tragedy all around,But NYS is to blame.

 

Exactly. Some people are quick to judge but were not there and have no clue.

[Geno C]

wow that is truly sad... thats a tough spot to be in for a cop, damned if you damned if you dont. unforuntly, it wasnt a happy day to be a cop and im sure will not be an easy ordeal for him to live with. shooting like that is a low percentage shot eitherway you slice it.

 

one can only know what its like in a situation like that having lived it...

[Early]

Cop kills an innocent civilian....No excuse for such an action is even remotely acceptable.  Cops are killing too many citizens (63 in Chicago alone, last year).  Remember...these are the same cops who will be enforcing NY's SAFE Act....Hey, they might shoot you!

[blackradio]

really sad. Really tough situation.

[shawnhu]

If she was rescued he's a hero but because it turned out the way it did it's his fault."Back out","More training"?.All the training in the world doesnt prevent the Air Force from dropping a bomb on friendly troops below,Which happened numerous times in Iraq.Its so easy to monday morning quarterback when you werent there.Who's at fault? The NYS Parole board for once again letting a violent criminal out early.This officer has to live with this for the rest of his life,Thats punishment enough.

Its the officer's duty to protect and serve, not shoot and kill hostages. I can't see how this was not the fault of a untrained officer.

[rudyvasquez]

 If a cop walks into a situation where a man has a gun to someone's head threatening to kill that person and then turns the gun on the cop, the cop has to shoot. However, if a cop knows that there is a man with a gun to someone's head inside a dwelling, which this cop did because the girl who escaped informed 911 of that fact, then the cop shouldn't enter the dwelling and provoke a  confrontation. They aren't trained for that- that's what swat teams are for.

 

 The question as to the guilt of the cop is whether he entered the dwelling to apprehend the suspect or whether the suspect inadvertently approached the cop.

[PREDATE]

hmmm, I wonder if while feeling overwhelmed by guilt, the cop put a few more into the guy after he was already down. Who knows, maybe the girl was the very first shot!

He's definately got some tough times ahead of him.

Tragic to say the least!

[rudyvasquez]

 The girl was most likely shot first because the shitbag was using her as a human shield. the fact that she wasn't hit by any more rounds indicates she was on the ground when the cop was firing. Also, the fact that the suspect didn't return fire givse indication that his gun wasn't loaded. If that is the case, the girl would still be alive if the cop had followed protocol and called for backup rather than rushing in like dirty harry.

 

 However, we don't know the facts of the case yet. It's equally possible that the cop did the only thing he could or he cost the girl her life because of his foolishness.

[Ford]

A very sad tragedy. That said, I like some of the Monday morning quarterbacking...Brilliant.

 

And some peoples ignorance on use of force policy regarding LEO's is well, just ignorant.

 

It is unfortunate. The whole thing.

[Elmo]

People watch too many movies or something and get into this falsehood that every cop out there is a John McClane or Robocop or something.  Truth is cops have more training than the average joe but in the end, they are still human beings who makes human mistakes.  Once they're exposed to be only human, those same people treat those cops as if they're even less than that.

 

For that, I don't understand why some people will get other opinions when they're doctor tells them bad news because they don't trust the doctor 100% yet they trust cops 100%.  They'll take their medical health into their own hands but refuse to take their own personal protection into their own hands.

[Doc]

How on earth do we ever get people to serve as law enforcement officers? I can't imagine doing such a job. It seems like there are way too many no-win situations that they have to get involved with. Also, there seems to be an awful lot of peple who simply hate cops (why, I can't figure out) and are hoping that they screw up. The assumption always seems to be that the cop messed up. You couldn't pay me enough money to take on that job.

[ants]

This is a tragedy and we don't know all of the facts. What we do know is that the cop was in a near impossible situation with just a few seconds to react. When the s..t hits the fan its not like being in some kind of role playing training or like punching paper targets at the range. I think that, at this time, focusing all of the blame on the cop and barely mentioning the career criminal, life long victimizer scum bag, is in poor taste. But most of that is coming from the usual cop bashers.