Bodycam Footage Shows Cop Shooting Man, It’s What Happened Before That’s Earning Him Praise
No one can argue differently, the police in America have an incredibly tough job.
Everyday they put their lives on the line never knowing if their next patrol is going to be their last.
Part of the reason the recent spate of “police shootings” that make it onto the news are so disturbing is because we’re seeing police shoot first and ask questions later. it’s something we’re not accustomed to seeing and it makes us nervous.
Well consider how fast a situation can go from seemingly non-threatening to the red zone.
It takes only moments.
As this footage from an officer’s body cam shows, it doesn’t take long, and a decision has to be made without hesitation.
The local CBS affiliate gives us the whole story:
The Palestine Police Department released video Tuesday afternoon showing the moments that led up to the fatal shooting of 47-year-old James Bushey on the evening of May 31. Sergeant Gabriel Green and Officer Kaylyn Griffin were the officers involved.
The video was taken from the officers’ body cam and begins a few minutes prior to the fatal shooting when Green and Griffin had cornered Bushey inside the restroom at Palestine’s Applebee’s as part of their investigation into his theft of beer from the neighboring Walmart.
“What do you need?” Bushey asks.
“You’re a suspect in reference to a theft case. I need you to step out please,” Sergeant Green says. “Don’t act dumb for me. Come on and step out. Okay? You’re on video.”
As they escorted him out, Green and Griffin were already scanning for danger. Green knocked some knives sitting on a table and out of Bushey’s reach as they passed by.
Outside, the officers tried to play it by the book.
“Do you have your ID on you sir?” Griffin asked Bushey.
Moments later, Bushey can be seen drawing what appears to be a handgun toward Officer Griffin. Sergeant Green immediately opened fire on the suspect.
“It’s very unfortunate that the police officers were put in this position,” Palestine Police Captain James Muniz said Tuesday. “They felt that they had no choice but to defend themselves at that time.”
Muniz praised the actions Green and Griffin took that night. He said any questions over the importance of body cameras were wiped away in the nine seconds it took for a theft investigation to turn into an officer-involved shooting.
“[It’s important] to have a real personal look at exactly what an officer sees in real time and how quick things happen,” he said.
Bushey’s handgun turned out to be a pellet gun following a full investigation. It was styled to look like a 9mm handgun.
Officer Griffin and Sergeant Green were on paid administrative leave following the shooting. They have since returned to duty.
There’s no way around it.
The shooting was justified and anyone who would try and argue differently doesn’t have a brain capable of formulating an ounce of logic.
This is why police shootings continue, and we hope the trend declines in the future.
Poster Comment:
The bad guy made a big mistake by drawing his weapon on the cops.
Once he was on the ground the pig should have stop shooting, this is not right.
The armchair jury is in. I see.
No amount of training can really prepare anyone for a 100% leak-proof defense in a self-defense action like this.
Ten shots in all. (That copper was going to be home to the missus that night.)
Seven as the guy was going down. Two or three more as the guy was rolling over, and the remaining couple of shots as the perp rolls away from his weapon. Only then is it clear that the alleged shoplifter and would be gunfighter has been separated from his weapon. ET around five seconds.
Five seconds is the blink of an eye in what must be perceived as a survival situation. I would have done the same as the cop did.
Bushey was an idiot to draw down on two cops with a pellet gun. All other idiots should be on notice.
I think this simple solution here is to OBEY THE LAW.
I think you mean "OBEY THE POLICE". Not all laws deserve to be obeyed, and as some have pointed out, most Americans commit several felonies a day without even knowing it.