Community Chat

[Noel7]

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@Puzzle Piece wrote:

He may have held it to where it appeared like a gun.  I am not at all annoyed with Law Enforcement.  Where were the guardians or care takers of the old man??

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Have you ever had to care for someone with Alzheimer's @Puzzle Piece ?

Many wander, they get out of the house, walk, get lost, and sometimes they die out in the cold.

If there is a way to lock them inside, apparently it hasn't been found yet.

[NickNack]

I read that this happened in the middle of the night.  His caregivers were probably asleep.

[Nightowlz]

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@Noel7 wrote:

Mr. Cerna was shot nine times.

Heartbreaking.

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@Noel7 There's just no excuse for that. They don't have to shoot to kill in situations like this. What's wrong with using their taser or at least shoot in a place that won't kill them but stop them so they can arrest them.

Police need new training if they think it's ok to shoot a 73 yr old man they thought had a gun.

[cherry]

If it happened in the middle of the night, it could put a different slant  on it. The police might not have been able to determine what it was in his hand. It might have looked like a gun to him, and he fired rapidly

I don't want to condemn him without all the facts

[Mz iMac]

@Noel7

According to the article you linked....

He did not have Alzheimer's.  He was in the early stages of dementia.  Alzheimers was never mentioned in the article.

911 calls reported man w/gun.

No way for police to know "no gun."  They were going by what was called in to "911."

Man kept hands in pocket & did not respond to police commands.  Kept coming toward them.

How were the police to know this man had dementia????

Most important question of all....

Where were his caretakers?  This "killing" occurred 12:30 AM.

[Noel7]

A point I was trying to make is that people seem to assume so much nowadays, and because of that, this man is dead.  The police seem to have assumed the wild eyed neighbor was right and they shot an old man nine times.

I agree with the poster who said they had other means, a taser. 

[Burnsite]

With my siblings, I shared care of my dad, an Alzheimer's patient, from the 1980s to 2000, when he died.  They do wander, and they might look aggressive to someone not used to the illness, esp. in its early stages.

Once he got away out of the house and police found him and were very kind and brought him home.  This was in a small town.  They knew who he was.  In cities, I think things are so much more complex.  It is a tragedy, for certain.

I read once that Alzheimer's patients roam (especially at sundown) because they are searching for their memories.

[ladyroxanne]

i saw this on the news.  i's such a terrible mistake. 9 bullets is a bit overkill imo.  i wonder how these officers feel after doing such a thing.

[SahmIam]

Mz iMac stated it very well.

Another take on it:

They don't shoot after telling the man to stop, to raise his arms repeatedly. They get close enough to tazer and he pulls a gun and shoots them blank range. Now what?

You see, it's easy to say this and that AFTER the fact but you don't know what's going to happen DURING the situation. Police shoot to kill; two shots. Why? Because you don't want a p*ssed off person with a weapon of any kind coming after you, in a rage and with your death being their #1 priority.

What happened to this man is sad. It's sad for so many reason. To come down on the police as if they WANTED to kill the man is wrong, inaccurate and kind-of baiting. It's always the cops fault, right? At least, until the truth comes out.

[jubilant]

This is tragic, I agree.  Anyone, especially policeman and soldiers, know that often the person who gets the first shot off  lives to see another day. Police officers want to live, too. They know that they are particularly vulnerable now so I think we will see more of this, sad to say.  If that police officer was your son or grandson....how would you feel? How awful do you think he will feel? They are darned if they do and darned if they don't.  If that had been a gun, the officer probably wouldn't be here.  Try to make that decision in a split second and then judge for yourselves.