Houston officer kills double amputee in wheelchair.

[Ponce]

Posted on September 22, 2012 by NC.

Yahoo News HOUSTON (AP) — A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.

Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said the man cornered the officer in his wheelchair and was making threats while trying to stab the officer with the pen. At the time, the officer did not know what the metal object was that the man was waving, Silva said.


She said the man came “within inches to a foot” of the officer and did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still.

“Fearing for his partner’s safety and his own safety, he discharged his weapon,” Silva told The Associated Press.

Police did not immediately release the name of the man who was killed. They had been called to the home after a caretaker there called and reported that the man in wheelchair was causing a disturbance.

The owner of the group home, John Garcia, told the Houston Chronicle that the man had a history of mental illness and had been living at the house about 18 months. Garcia said the man had told him that he lost a leg above the knee and all of one arm when he was hit by a train.

“He sometimes would go off a bit, but you just ignore it,” Garcia told the newspaper.

Silva identified the officer as Matthew Jacob Marin, a five-year veteran of the department. He was immediately placed on three-day administrative leave, which is standard in all shootings involving officers.

Houston police records indicate that Marin also fatally shot a suspect in 2009. Investigators at the time said Marin came upon a man stabbing his neighbor to death at an apartment complex and opened fired when the suspect refused to drop the knife.

On Saturday, Marin and his partner arrived at the group home around 2:30 a.m. Silva said there were several people at the house at the time. The caretaker who called police waited on the porch while the officers went inside, she said.

“It was close quarters in the area of the house,” Silva said. “The officer was forced into an area where he had no way to get out.”

[Glass]

Easier to shoot someone dead than push them back. Expect Cops to start shooting people who are 100% paralysed out of fear for their lives.

[slowbell]

Easier to shoot someone dead than push them back. Expect Cops to start shooting people who are 100% paralysed out of fear for their lives.

Don't corner a cop, and not give him a way out. Don't corner anyone, that way either.

We always talk about how guns can even the playing field between a 90 year old grandma, and a 300 lb turd. Same goes for anyone with a weapon.

In one training scenario, I had a 'peaceful' guy charge me with a knife from 20 feet away. I got one round off before he was on me, stabbing away.

[Mouse]

All of your fingers are registered deadly weapons. Your cat is a deadly weapon. "Stop petting that deadly cat, or I will be forced to shoot through it and into you, if I don't miss and kill your neighbor instead"

[Serpo]

aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.

[Shami-Amourae]

Wow. Good for the cop. I'm sure he's probably going to get a raise, some medals, and a promotion.

The sad part is I'm not being sarcastic about the previous sentence.

[Down1]

If we only had some politicians with guts stand up to the all powerful pen lobby and ban these things, then this terrible tragedy could have been prevented.

[Ponce]

When someone starts killing those who gets away with murder then the murders will stop.........

First post of the day.........good morning to one and all.

[slowbell]

When someone starts killing those who gets away with murder then the murders will stop..........

Most cops in the country never have to pull the trigger, and are not murderers. Yet, cops get killed all the time. Self defense is not murder. Cops have the same right to self defense as everyone else.

In this case however, I'd like to see how they justify a double amputee holding a pen as a lethal threat. Seems hard to do, but also we don't know exactly what happened anyway.

[mick silver]

bang bang he;s dead thats what happen . a man with a pen . dam boy;s am scare are you boy's scared

[willie pete]

bang bang he;s dead thats what happen . a man with a pen . dam boy;s am scare are you boy's scared

cops have a license to kill, it's just that simple; I'll bet the cases resulting in cops being convicted of killing and greviously injuring civilians in "self-defense" (IN cases like this) is really really low, the only recent case I can think of is the cop in San Francisco shooting in the Back and killing the Handcuffed-Hands-behind-his-back-flat-out-in-a-prone-position teenager, the cop WAS convicted of 2nd Degree manslaughter and did 10 months in COUNTY JAIL...it's absolutely Ridiculous and Disgusting

[Ponce]

Most cops in the country never have to pull the trigger, and are not murderers. Yet, cops get killed all the time. Self defense is not murder. Cops have the same right to self defense as everyone else.

In this case however, I'd like to see how they justify a double amputee holding a pen as a lethal threat. Seems hard to do, but also we don't know exactly what happened anyway.


In that case, take to trial those who murderers are, and then less murders there will be.

[gunDriller]

those amputees can be dangerous - when they're defending themselves against rogue cops.

i feel so much safer now ! /sarc

[slvrbugjim]

Cats do kill mouse's

[Neuro]

Most criminals in the country never have to pull the trigger, and are not murderers. Yet, criminals get killed all the time. Self defense is not murder. Criminals have the same right to self defense as everyone else.

Just wanted to see how this turns out...

[iOWNme]

Cops have the same right to self defense as everyone else.


I agree 100%.

The problem is how is a Cop 'defending' himself when he is using PROACTIVE OFFENSIVE violence?

99% of the time a Cop gets killed AFTER he proactively and offensively acts upon another man. Very rarely is a Cop just minding his own business and gets gunned down in cold blood. Im not saying it doesnt happen, but is the exception to the rule.

Do you think there is a difference between offensive and defensive violence? Please explain......

[slowbell]

I agree 100%.

The problem is how is a Cop 'defending' himself when he is using PROACTIVE OFFENSIVE violence?

99% of the time a Cop gets killed AFTER he proactively and offensively acts upon another man. Very rarely is a Cop just minding his own business and gets gunned down in cold blood. Im not saying it doesnt happen, but is the exception to the rule.

Do you think there is a difference between offensive and defensive violence? Please explain......

Good question. No doubt there's a different, and there's extreme cases on both sides. Several cops were killed awhile back, in Oregon I think, just drinking coffee in a coffee shop. At that time...not asking for trouble. Also, there's the whole Ruby Ridge incident, and what happened to the poor Weaver family.

Consider this, to be a cop, you must 1) love drama. 2) Enjoy butting your nose into other people's business. 3) If you are in a big city, be an adrenalin junky.

That being said, the most dangerous part of being a cop, the highest chance of getting killed, is from traffic stops. You don't know who you are pulling over. The people who kill cops, are the ones who would kill anyone who tries to take their freedom away. It happens to be cops. Most people would grumble and take a traffic ticket. The people who kill cops most of the time are, in fact murderers, who are wanted from committing horrible crimes to normal people, they kill the cops as a last resort, a last attempt to keep their freedom.

You can look at it from both stand points. Cops ask for trouble, offensive violence, on the other hand, you could say they put themselves on the front lines to deal with the folks you and I don't want to have to deal with.

[skidmark]

Garbage men, convenience store clerks and taxi drivers are killed on the job more often than these uniformed thugs. Really tired of hearing how deadly dangerous their jobs are. Deadly spatulas, deadly pens, deadly garden hoses, any excuse will do.