Police shoot suspect....................er why? (page 27)

ISP

Melmoth you said

ISP: "initially they had this guy down as a suicide bomber"

I'm not claiming they didn't. I'm just saying I haven't seen that anywhere, and I read a lot about the incident at the time (being a former London resident, I was interested), and have searched again today and not found any such official statement. I remember thinking it odd that so little was said Friday, and actually went looking through alternative news sources at the time to see what I could learn.

There was no official statement that he was a suicide bomber because within minutes of killing him they knew he wasn't a suicide bomber. So I fail to see the relevance of your point. They believed he was a bomber and thats why they put 7 shots in his head. They summarily executed the guy because they had to....because he was a suicide bomber...they could not arrest the guy. The fact that you have not seen them say he was a suicide bomber means what?

ISP: "later he was relegated to being directly linked"

No, the shooting was directly linked to the operation, not the person shot - unless you're referring so something other than the transcript you kindly located. That is, it was not police on patrol shooting a random pedestrian - but rather ones conducting surveillance, who followed someone who emerged, unfortunately, from the building being watched.

Don't know what point you are trying to make. 'He' the victim and 'the shooting' are the same. The clear statement from the police chief is that the killing of the man, the shooting, the man himself was connected to the incidents the day before when 4 bombs detonated and the anti-terrorist operation. He was a terrorist or otherwise connected to the London bombings. This is the statement again.......

I can say as part of operations linked to yesterday's incidents, Met police officers have shot a man inside Stockwell Underground Station at approximately 10am this morning. London Ambulance Service and the air ambulance both attended and the man was pronounced dead at the scene. I understand Stockwell tube station remains closed.
The information I have available if that this shooting is directly linked to the ongoing and expanding anti-terrorist operation.

ISP

Simon

I understand your outrage, Simon, but I gotta say, I've been kind of impressed with the reporting I'm getting, at any rate. I think you are getting quicker and better information than we would if this had happened here. We would have had at least several days of character assassination of the victim first.

Yes, at least the media here can and will tell the truth eventually. More and more though they follow the government line and regurgitate the spin they come out with.

Some papers said that we should not even question what had happened ! That is just wron, wrong, wrong, beyond belief.

nilfun

More innocent people may need to be shot in order to make London -- and indeed, the whole world -- a much safer place in which to live.

nilfun

...so says the police.

Englishman

It's just amazing that you guys are so concerned about the guy who was shot in error while at the same time virtually ignoring the 50+ people who died on the tube trains in the earlier bombing incidents. Of course that's the way that folk who are rabidly anti-establishment operate.

Tabloid reasoning at it's worst.

As for Simon's insistence that I imagine it was one of my sons who was shot in error, that just beggars belief. That really is flame mongering IMHO.

A poor show Simon, you do yourself little credit.

Englishman.

LittleToe

One one level this reminds me of the early footage of the war in Iraq, where the US troops were dealing with a sniper on a roof. He was shot and fell off into an alley-way. There was outrage when a soldier went in to finish him off, rather than leaving an injured and potentially still armed and dangerous assailant at their rear.

Media coverage in a time of war doesn't help those trained to protect the innocent to do their job. As for civilian casualties, it isn't nice, but it is a reality of such an occupation.

It's easy to pontificate from our armchairs, with limited and potentially biased information. The guys who have to deal with the reality of it are the armed services.

ellderwho

Media coverage in a time of war doesn't help those trained to protect the innocent to do their job. As for civilian casualties, it isn't nice, but it is a reality of such an occupation.
It's easy to pontificate from our armchairs, with limited and potentially biased information. The guys who have to deal with the reality of it are the armed services.

Well said Mr. Ross, while at a bbq, this weekend I talked with a US Marine who served in Iraq, an her husband is currently in Iraq, she paints a very different picture of the "goings on" then that which is presented in US media. As a US Navy veteran I can relate.

Ew's .02

kgfreeperson

Englishman, I am sorry that in this discussion there seems to be no one concerned about the bombing victims. I'm having trouble, though, seeing how being concerned that the people we count on to keep us safe behave in a way that looks totally over-the-top indicates that we don't care about the bombing victimes. I think with awe about how--at least according to the hated media--emergency personnel, the police and the general public responded with both competence and compassion to the emergency. There is something deeply unsettling that people with that kind of training, character and overall good sense could also get caught up in, essentially, running a man down and executing him. Some of us can imagine people we know attracting the suspicion of the authorities and doing something unwise. It is very upsetting to recognize that a lapse in judgement now might carry the death penalty. Right now, I'm feeling very sorry for the man who did the shooting. I'm also looking forward to what in the world they were being told ("intelligence"?) that led them to this.

It seems to me that some the outrage directed at the police in this situation is that some of us associate England with the competence and compassion that was exhibited on July 7. The police shooting seems evidence that England is becoming "not English." More to the point, becoming American. Or Israeli, where, it is reported, the people have become so inured to terrorism and the state response that they would not be outraged at a posse of non-uniformed police chasing down a terrified immigrant and shooting him 8 times after he had already been subdued (according to witnesses.)

If, however, you and others are reading this as "these idiots care more about one schmo who should have known better than to run from the police than for the people killed, wounded and traumatized by the bombings," I can see that is very confusing and upsetting. I appreciate your comments because it has helped me to understand some of the vitriol in this thread.

I also think we all see our lives being changed in ways we do not want to contemplate and we're being really angry while we try to figure out what to do.

Englishman

Thanks, kgfreeperson.

Yes, it's awful that an innocent person is killed. Mistakes are inevitable, a fact that the bombers would have been well aware of. This says it all:

alt

Englishman.

ISP

It's just amazing that you guys are so concerned about the guy who was shot in error while at the same time virtually ignoring the 50+ people who died on the tube trains in the earlier bombing incidents. Of course that's the way that folk who are rabidly anti-establishment operate.
Tabloid reasoning at it's worst

Nice sweeping statement.........

To question the killing of this man in no way ignores the other victims of the bombings. It is not anti-english or anti-establishment either. In fact to ignore it reduces you to the level of the terrorist who shows no concern over the killing of innocents...as it is all part of his twisted master plan.

If the police killing doesn't bother you are sadly out of touch.

ISP

Police shoot suspect....................er why?

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