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Sniper Attack in Dallas: 5 Cops Dead; 6 More Wounded

posted by takyon on Friday July 08 2016, @03:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the "All-lives-matter."-President-Obama dept.

Snipers in Dallas: [5] Cops Dead; [6] More Cops Wounded

-- OriginalOwner_ writes:

The Atlantic reports:

Two gunmen shot eleven police officers in Dallas, Texas [at 8:58 PM July 7], killing at least four of them.

[...] At a Thursday night press conference, Dallas Police Department Chief David Brown said [...] officers had one of the suspects "cornered", but did not offer further details.

"Tonight, it appears that two snipers shot ten police officers from elevated positions during the protest/rally", Brown said in an initial statement. "Three officers are deceased, two are in surgery, and three are in critical condition. An intensive search for suspect is currently underway." The police department later said an eleventh officer had also been injured and a fourth officer had been killed.

[...] The shootings occurred during a protest against police killings earlier this week in Louisiana and Minnesota. Hundreds rallied in downtown Dallas, near the corner of Main Street and Lamar Street. Local news footage captured what sounds like several gunshots being fired, and the crowd scattering.

[...] No motive has yet been established and it's unclear whether the shooting was related to the protest.

mendax writes:

The New York Times just broke the story about the latest in the police killings of black men. It seems the tide has been turned. [Five] Dallas police officers were killed tonight at a protest in that city over these shootings.

I am not surprised, nor am I particularly shocked. No doubt there will be more to come on this topic as the evening progresses. Hopefully something good comes out of this, but I am inclined to doubt it.

takyon: Some more details: One suspect was killed by an explosion intentionally caused by a police robot. He reportedly told a negotiator that he was upset about Black Lives Matter, the recent police shootings, and wanted to kill white people, especially police officers. He said he was not affiliated with any groups and acted alone. Other suspects have been arrested, and a "person of interest" (often identified as a suspect by the news media) was arrested early in the night after he was photographed with his unloaded AR-15. He handed his weapon to an officer shortly after the shootings, and later turned himself into the police for questioning.

President Obama spoke about the shootings shortly after arriving in Poland for a NATO conference. In part, he mentioned that, "When people say 'black lives matter,' that doesn't mean blue lives don't matter, it just means all lives matter — but right now the big concern is the fact that the data shows black folks are more vulnerable to these kinds of incidents [...] This isn't a matter of us comparing the value of lives. This is recognizing that there is a particular burden that is being placed on a group of our fellow citizens. And we should care about that. And we can't dismiss it. We can't dismiss it."

Original Submission #1  Original Submission #2 

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 08 2016, @06:42PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 08 2016, @06:42PM (#371966)

    There was no explosion. That report was retracted. The gunman was just firing some rounds, and killed himself.

    https://twitter.com/regated/status/751303777341218816 [twitter.com]

  • (Score: 2) by tibman on Friday July 08 2016, @07:58PM

    by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 08 2016, @07:58PM (#372006)

    They blew up the shooter with a bomb attached to the arm of a bomb-disposal robot. Right after 3 minute mark i think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLYk-2d3NMs [youtube.com]

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday July 08 2016, @08:25PM

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Friday July 08 2016, @08:25PM (#372027) Journal

    http://www.snopes.com/2016/07/08/dallas-shooting-suspect-killed-by-bomb-robot/ [snopes.com]

    In the mourning over the murders of five police officers in Dallas, and relief that the standoff had ended, one unusual detail stuck out: the manner in which police killed one suspect after negotiations failed. “We saw no other option but to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was,” Chief David Brown said in a press conference Friday morning. “Other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger. The suspect is deceased … He’s been deceased because of a detonation of the bomb.” That use of a robot raises questions about the way police adopt and use new technologies. While many police forces have adopted robots—or, more accurately, remote-controlled devices—for uses like bomb detonation or delivery of non-lethal force like tear gas, using one to kill a suspect is at least highly unusual and quite possibly unprecedented. “I’m not aware of officers using a remote-controlled device as a delivery mechanism for lethal force,” said Seth Stoughton, an assistant professor of law at the University of South Carolina who is a former police officer and expert on police methods. “This is sort of a new horizon for police technology. Robots have been around for a while, but using them to deliver lethal force raises some new issues.”

    http://www.popsci.com/police-used-bomb-disposal-robot-to-kill-dallas-shooting-suspect [popsci.com]

    POLICE USED BOMB DISPOSAL ROBOT TO KILL A DALLAS SHOOTING SUSPECT
    POTENTIALLY THE FIRST USE OF A ROBOT TO KILL IN AMERICAN POLICING

    Dallas police may be first U.S. law enforcement agency to use a robot to kill a suspect [dallasnews.com]

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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 08 2016, @11:42PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 08 2016, @11:42PM (#372113)

      A bomb was the best option? If the Dallas PD wants an LRAD or ADS they've got the justification for it now...although it sounds like they're having too much fun blowing people up.

      The robot should be called Rubybot...

      • (Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday July 09 2016, @01:20AM

        by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Saturday July 09 2016, @01:20AM (#372152) Journal

        It's a nice story about them taking the option best suited for keeping officers safe, even if that option was a first-of-its-kind robo bombing.

        Believe me, it had nothing to do with the fact that 5 officers were killed. No revenge plot here. It was simple professionalism and the best course of action.

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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 09 2016, @04:42AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 09 2016, @04:42AM (#372224)

      What troubles me about this is that the bomb was premeditated. Where did the bomb come from if not from the suspect? THE POLICE BROUGHT A BOMB TO THE SCENE? THAT'S PART OF STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE? HOLY SHIT!

      Or worse: it's not standard operating procedure, but there was enough time for an IED to be created expressly for the purpose of murdering a suspect? And everyone thought that was a good idea????