Looks Like He Took It After All…
That guy in Lakeview, the one the SWAT team went to visit yesterday, is now dead.
A man was reportedly shot and killed by New Orleans police SWAT officers after a 10-hour standoff in which he barricaded himself in his FEMA trailer in Lakeview, according to police.
The confrontation began after the man, wearing a gun in his waistband, chased away FEMA workers who were attempting to reclaim the trailer in which he was living, police said.
The standoff ended Wednesday morning when police shot him after using several canisters of tear gas trying to draw him out. Associated Press reports say paramedics took him to a hospital, where he later died.
Now here is the interesting quote a few paragraphs down:
Though he didn’t actually draw his gun, he placed his hand on it near his waistband while ordering the FEMA workers to leave the trailer, the workers told police.
The things that really gets me about this is that so many of the lives lost to flying bullets merit no more than a blurb. This guy was colorful and dramatic enough for the news, but what about the ongoing spate of death that infects our city like the plague?
-Loki, HumidCity Founder
June 4th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Completely uneccessary killing. They could have waited him out or used gas, etc. It was the cops that forced the situation into a battle.
If the man was related to any of the cops it would not have ended like it did.
Are these the same cops that ran away during the hurricane or the ones that were robbing houses by gun point.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
“Police got in downstairs, but the man shot at them twice”
Completely unnecessary killing!! I think not!
“Now here is the interesting quote a few paragraphs down:
Though he didn’t actually draw his gun, he placed his hand on it near his waistband while ordering the FEMA workers to leave the trailer, the workers told police.”
No he didn’t shot at the FEMA workers, he shot twice at the cops!!!
Quit making excusses and actually read the whole article!! The cops don’t shot people just because! And besides that, just because they are cops doesn’t make them invincible, what would you be saying if he had actually shot one of the cops?
June 4th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
It’s a trailer, for Pete’s sake! A mentally ill man in a trailer. Did he have to die over a piece of tin? Why is it that the powers that be can’t get it together? Must each encounter with law enforcement end in someome’s death, mostly over trivial stuff? I am so sad for this gentleman as well as his family and those who knew him. They should have just left this one man alone.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
He shot at the cops when they tried to invade what was left of his house. I don’t know what kind of negotiation they call that, but it sounds more like a vigilante raid to me.
My favorite part is the “peaceful apprehension” bit.
Furthermore, I think this also says a lot about the way the city handles not only its residents, but particularly its mentally ill residents, like the people on Magazine Street who were kicked out of their house. More could be done for these people and wasn’t, nor were other options considered.
Another question: would this be included in the Stacy Head definition of “lifestyle choices?”
June 10th, 2008 at 8:47 am
When we first heard of this, we thought for sure it was this mentally ill man who about a year ago, tore his dog apart with an axe, because the dog was trying to get away from him, the abusive owner. He lives right near where this happened, in a fema trailer.
He decided to dissect his pet, and he was also mentally ill… That person is probably out and about again, since the system fails to put him in an institution. He has burned his mothers house to the ground, thinking she was leaving it to his sisters, when in fact, she just wanted to have the house sold after passing. I now wait to see if this person ends up in this same situation.
I don’t know what to think of this… It reminds me of the guy uptown after the storm who was shot. He had mental issues, and nowhere to turn. He ended up shot and killed by NOPD.
We just seem to have this system overload, and that includes the powers that be, and solutions can be made if people were to work together instead of making it more difficult. So difficult someone is dead!
Mental Illness isn’t going to go away, and with the current health crisis, seems that they have no place to run to. No help on the horizon. Sometimes all they needed was someone to issue an OPC. order of protective custody, to keep them from harming themselves or others. Some folks are afraid to call it in, but in truth, I did it for a friend. Had I not, maybe that person wouldn’t be the healthy person they are now. Most likely, they would’ve been shot as well by now. An OPC isn’t a hard thing to do. You have to find the city coroner who issues the order, then you have 36 hours to find the person and have them taken to the hospital, where they run tests and decide if this person needs help. It isn’t a cruel decision, rather one that can save someones life.
However, I don’t know if this person in lakeview had anyone around him to do it for him. You don’t have to be related, you just have to care. Very sad situation.