Australians see woman's shooting by police as a U.S. nightmare

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

SYDNEY — Half a world from where an Australian woman was shot dead by a Minneapolis police officer, Tuesday's front-page headline in her hometown Sydney newspaper summarized Australia's reaction in blunt terms: "AMERICAN NIGHTMARE."

In Justine Damond's native country, news of the meditation teacher's baffling death has dominated the airwaves, newspapers and websites for days, feeding into Australians' long-held fears about America's notorious culture of gun violence.

"The country is infested with possibly more guns than people," said Philip Alpers, a gun policy analyst with the University of Sydney who has studied the stark differences in gun laws between the nations. "We see America as a very risky place in terms of gun violence — and so does the rest of the world."

While police officers carry guns in Australia, deadly shootings by police are exceedingly rare; there are only a handful reported each year, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology. And though the U.S. doesn't keep a national database of deadly police-involved shootings, even incomplete statistics show there are hundreds every year.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/australians-see-womans-shooting-by-police-as-a-us-nightmare/ar-BBEEKRq?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=edgsp

[MineralMan]

1. So do people living in Minnesota.

As more comes out about it, the shock is growing at this homicide against someone who was guilty only of calling 911 to report a possible sexual assault near her home. As she came up to the police car, the officer in the passenger seat shot her dead.

There is no possible excuse for this shooting. None.

[JoeStuckInOH]

2. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop...

there has to be some, albeit stupid, reasoning for the cop's actions. So far what I've read of the story has been fantastically absurd in the facts & events presented.

Basically: Lady calls cops to report concern then the cops show up and shoot her. To me, that is beyond believable and bizarre. Not that I'm trying to defend any such actions by police... but surely there must be some other information or piece of the story we're not getting. Like the cop was speed balling or on LSD and tripping balls... something!?!?

[MineralMan]

3. My guess is that she was running up to the squad car

to talk to the cops that responded to her 911 call. So, that one cop shot her dead. He was, you know, "In fear for his life..."

I don't know that to be the case, but it's the scenario that makes the most sense to me. She may have been carrying her cell phone in one hand, as well, as people seem to do.

Whatever the case, she was not a threat to anyone. She was the person who called them. And now, she's dead.

The City of Minneapolis is going to pay dearly for this incident, in money and in loss of trust of the MPD, which is already having trouble maintaining trust.

[uponit7771]

10. He's going to do the same thing Wilson did and not say anything until a really good backed up

... excuse comes his way.

The city pays for unprofessional LEO's who are scared of their own shaddows

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

16. I understand the cop is a Somali immigrant.

Not that it makes the shooting any less tragic.

[MineralMan]

17. He is, yes. But I don't see any connection to this, really, in that.

[cwydro]

5. Not only that...

But they're saying he shot across his partner while he was in the passenger seat.

Something odd here.

[JoeStuckInOH]

6. Yes, all very bizzare. Shouldn't there be a 9-1-1 recording of the incident up to the shots?

Typically, when you call 9-1-1 and the incident is noteworthy enough to actually send a patrol unit out, then the dispatcher on the phone will have the caller stay on the line for continued support and direction. That way the dispatcher can advise the patrol unit about the scene of the call all the up to the unit's arrival.

So shouldn't there be a 9-1-1 recording of this incident up to (or nearly up to) the moment of the shots fired?

There's more to this story that the police are withholding.

[cwydro]

7. That's a great point.

Odd that we've not heard one.

[cwydro]

4. Thanks for posting this.

It is a nightmare .

[workinclasszero]

8. People in other civilized countries in this world

Need to wake up to the fact that the USA is a dangerous place to visit or live in.

In many states there are absolutely no restrictions on carrying a loaded weapon concealed on your person 24/7.

The police are out of control, shoot first ask questions later and 'forget' to turn on their body cams at will.

All this goes triple if your skin color is not white.

The crazy starts with the barbarian in the white house and spreads down.

[cwydro]

9. Yup.

What you said.

[EX500rider]

12. Actually the US is less dangerous then avg.

The US is below both avg and median for homicides worldwide.
It's also the safest country in the America's besides Canada.

The homicide rate in the EU is 3.0 per 100,000, the US rate is 4.8.
The world avg rate is 6.2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

[LanternWaste]

13. I believe the median changes when removing "all countries" and replace with "civilized countries"

I believe the median and the average changes dramatically when removing "all countries" and replace with "civilized countries" (first world, as I read) as was qualified...

[EX500rider]

14. What qualifies as "civilized" exactly?

"First World" "3rd World" etc. are archaic cold war terms.

Is Brazil not civilized?
They produce jets and cars these days and host Olympics.

Jamaica? Bahamas? Costa Rica? All barbaric? lol

And as I said, the US homicide rate isn't that much bigger then the EU's.
Yes you can cherry pick certain countries in the EU with a lower avg, I can do that in the US too, New Hampshire has a rate 1.1
Maine, bigger then Ireland, is 1.7.

[Egnever]

11. Many of us in America have been seeing this as a nightmare

For years.

Police shootings have been out of control for decades now.

Hopefully international pressure will work where domestic protests have not.

[workinclasszero]

15. How often do crimes like this happen in the EU?

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