Police are investigating the firey death of a man who burst into flames after dousing himself in petrol and then being shot with a taser gun. Juan Flores Lopez, 47, died on Tuesday at a hospital in Texas.
Police initially used pepper spray when they tried to take Lopez into custody. Then they used the Taser. Some stun guns emit an electric spark when they deliver the jolt of electricity.
| Taser? Emit a spark? All I can say is, “Duh!” |
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Does anyone anywhere want someone THAT stupid on a police force? The inquiry should last no more than 10 seconds….
>>> Did you use your taser on a man soaked in gasoline?
It is very easy to criticize….
1. with 20/20 hindsight
2. when you you weren’t there and don’t know the circumstances.
I don’t and so I’m not going to jump on the bandwagon
Questions I’d want to ask before I leapt in and made a judgement:-
Why were the police called there in the first place?
What was the man doing when they arrived?
Did they know he was doused in petrol?
If they did was the man threatening other people?
Had he got the means to carry out those threats?
Did it look like he was about to carry out these threats
Yes this man’s life was precious and he had every right to expect it to continue
But say for the sake of argument he had threatened to set himself alight and grab hold of his wife or one of his children and he had the means to carry out this threat then the police had every right to take the risk in an attempt save further loss of life.
I am so pissed with the acceptance that wacko men kill themselves and take other poor innocent (usually female) family members with them
Hey, maybe the officer couldn’t smell the gasoline. Maybe he didn’t care. Maybe he should have just pumped fifty or so bullets into the guy instead.
Or maybe the police officer should have gone in there and tried to talk to the person, and maybe, if that failed, he could have had another officer help restrain the person, non-lethally.
The best part about this inquiry is that they are trying to find other reasons he may have burst into flames at the moment he was tazed – such as the cigarette lighter on the porch.
#2 – It is also very easy to criticize when police fire a taser at a man soaked with gasoline.
Rather than speculate why not read.
1 The man was suicidal and despondent over a possible pending divorce.
2 The man was covered in gas and holding a lighter at one point.
3 He tossed gas in the direction of the police at one point.
http://tinyurl.com/27ylvc
http://tinyurl.com/ynu5d2
[Please use TinyUrl.com – ed.]
The above links are from the coverage on my blog. When I read it I had to know more. Regardless there had to be a better way to handle it.
[Duplicate post. – ed.]
#2, blah, blah, blah
Any way I look at the situation I come to only one conclusion:
MURDER by stupidity.
[Duplicate post. – ed.]
#2 Is probably the most correct out of the responses we are likely to see here.
I wasn’t there so I can’t comment on the circumstances surrounding the man’s death.
#3 It’s obvious from watching cops that asking another (singular) officer doesn’t work with someone who doesn’t want to be taken, just watch Cops. Nothing worse than trying to take someone in who doesn’t want to go and has nothing to lose.
steve
#9 – Well, you posted the same thing to this lame blog three times. I am now going to have to shoot you with a taser as you are obviously a danger to to the other posters and editors here.
(Fixed it. – ed.)
The trouble with life & death situations is that it can cause the thinking part of the brain to short circuit. That’s where repetitive training comes into play. If this particular senario wasn’t trained for, the cops could have done everything by the book and what you end up with is “the officers operated within policy guidelines.” So everyone should be happy, right?
RBG
The answer is don’t use a taser in any explosive (literally) situation.
#12 and #13 – I think its becomeing clear that the taser isn’t the safe and effective solution we thought it was…
Because its perceived as non-lethal, cops are using it abusively (for example in the UCLA Library situation).
Because it actually can be lethal, innocent people are being killed.
This guy was a troubled guy for whom the deal of life’s cards had pushed him to rock bottom and he was despondent. There but for the grace of God go I… You know?
Texas Rangers are investigating if there was a lighter on the porch? Good Christ, I hope they broke out some blue flashlights and did some spectrographic analysis of that riddle… This guy needed to be tackled and subdued, then hospitalized, stabilized, and given psych services.
Instead he was killed… And rightfully so, the taxpayer is gonna eat the cost of a justifiable lawsuit.
13. Hey give the cop a break, he had only 10 minutes to complete the arrest and get to Dunkin Donuts BEFORE they closed. Man, you guys are heartless.
#10 (steve) wrote:
Except, perhaps, being burned to death whilst making a cry for help?
#14, OFTLO, right on. Some of the other opinions here are hilarious.
… If he was close enough to grab his wife and kids or some bystander, they should taser the gassed soaked MF???
I vote that they bring back the lasso. Round ’em up boys.
I use to think the Tazer was a good idea. But with these mounting problems, I’m having second thoughts. If it’s not so powerful that it causes heart attacks, it’s igniting gas or fuel vapors.
So the police tried “pepper spray” first. What happened to mace? I think that almost anyone could tolerate pepper spray. And why aren’t rubber bullets an alternative in this country. Those things can really hurt! But it seems the GOUSA authorities have something against ammo that doesn’t penetrate brick walls and kill people.
19. You can up or lower the potency of pepper spray (as you can Tasers) to where you want it. Rubber bullets kill too.
I’d rather take my chances with less-than lethal measures than a hand anywhere near a gun as a serious option.
For those who have such views, the cops still get to have their perverse little jollies but usually no one gets killed.
RBG
#18 – I think you are onto something with that lasso idea 🙂 I’m betting Gene Autry could have diffused this situation and been a hero.
#2 atari42 and #10 Steve “obvious from watching cops” responses are a hilarious riot, if not so sad 🙁 A very obvious and lame attempt to distract with irrelevant questions to excuse very low IQ actions.
The only right correct response is #13 hhopper
“The answer is don’t use a taser in any explosive (literally) situation.”
Nuf said.
This is where the blame goes…
“he doused himself with gasoline”
Moral of the story: don’t douse yourself with gasoline.
Police need to be trained that Taser = Deadly Force. It is not to be used to subdue an unruly suspect except in cases that said suspect threatens the safety of others. Dozens of “accidental” deaths by taser are recorded each year.
#4 Matthew “inquiry is that they are trying to find other reasons he may have burst into flames at the moment he was tazed”
Another example of how our Government security apparatus will lie to the public to get what it wants. Sad thing the majority of Americans are too damn gullible and ignorant (too much time watching cops).
The ongoing vortex of Government security apparatus lies:
IRAQ has Nukes
IRAQ has Biologicals
IRAQ has Terrorist
IRAQ trains Terrorist
Tasers don’t kill
Duke lacrosse players are rapist
Scooter Libby only speaks the truth
lies and deception during Vietnam ….
If I had time I could go on.
25.
Iraq invades US ally
All the left-wing horrific debacles.
Tinky Winky is gay
Yes, if I had time, I could go on too.
RBG
#12
In other words, when in doubt Kill the suspect?
Fine by me.
Fight with the cops and you just may end up dead.
He wouldn’t be any less dead if they had shot him with a .38
#26, Tinky Winky is still gay? I thought he went into a Christian Rehab Center and was reprogrammed straight.
Shoot, the stuff you learn at DU.
#10, I wasn’t there so I can’t comment on the circumstances surrounding the man’s death.
Then why bother?
…just watch Cops …
Cops is an edited, sanitized, and partially staged show. It is NOT how every day police work is conducted. If challenged, half the arrests they make are bad collars anyway and would be thrown out if challenged. Only most are too poor to afford lawyers.