Watching The Cops
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Title: Texas cops shooting man with raised hands
Source:
Ars Technica
URL Source: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/ ... hooting-man-with-raised-hands/
Published: Sep 2, 2015
Author: David Kravets
Post Date: 2015-09-02 10:34:43 by Tooconservative
Keywords: None
Views: 2705
Comments: 14
A Texas broadcaster has published video captured from a viewer's mobile phone that shows San Antonio police shoot and kill a man with his hands up. "He put his hands in the air and then he had his hands up for a few seconds and the cops shot him twice," Michael Thomas, the man who filmed the video, told CNN. The recorded incident highlights again a YouTube society of sorts where the public, seemingly uneasy with the police because of a raft of shootings, is filming officer activity more and more with their mobile phones. All the while, police departments are embracing body and dash cams to film the public. "I thought with everything going on in the world, with police shootings and everything, I thought I would record what was happening," Thomas said. "The deputies who were involved have families, and at this point, these deputies are still considered innocent until proven guilty," James Keith, a Bexar County Sheriff's Office spokesman, said. The sheriff's office tweeted Monday that KSAT was paid $100 for the video. "...[W]e're asking for calm..." the department tweeted. The deputies who fired have been identified as Greg Vasquez and Robert Sanchez. The pair is on paid leave, standard protocol following an officer-involved shooting. The video was shot Friday from afar, and the authorities said they are examining the footage. "We are aware that there is recorded video which appears to show the final moments of this deputy-involved shooting," Bexar County Sheriff Susan Pamerleau told a news conference. "It's among many pieces of evidence that we are collecting to determine what happened." The authorities said they were responding to a domestic disturbance call made from Flores' residence. Pamerleau said a woman was found with a cut on her head, and a baby appeared to be injured. She said Flores resisted arrest and that stun guns did not subdue him. The Bexar County district attorney told KSAT that there is another video, taken from closer range, that investigators are examining. KSAT said that the victim's criminal record "includes a 2003 aggravated robbery charge and a 1999 criminal trespass charge." Poster Comment: Well, at least it isn't FreeThoughtProject. The suspect has his hands raised but seems to drop his hands, maybe reaching for his waistband, just before (or as) the shots ring out. The shooting happened several hundred yards from the camera and these cellphones don't always have perfect sync between audio and video. I'm trying to point out that the sound of gunshot will take over a tenth of a second to travel 200 yards.
Graphic scene at 56 seconds. 
The video, published Monday, shows deputies shoot 41-year-old Gilbert Flores outside a house where police were responding to a domestic disturbance call.
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#3. To: TooConservative (#0)
Hard to tell. It appears as though he dropped his hands to his waistband before the shots. But given the distance (and the speed of sound), it's a toss up. Hard to believe a cop would risk his career (and freedom) and murder a guy with his hands up, in broad daylight, surrounded by an unknown number of witnesses and an unknown number of cameras.
Obviously, I was focused on that tenth of a second. Usually in these cop-shoots-little-old-Sunday-school-teacher stories, the video is 50 yards or less. But this distance starts to raise questions about the speed of sound and audio/video sync on some crappy cellphone. To me, that starts to look a lot like reasonable doubt in any trial of the two cops. We may get more video from the cops or their cars that will make the circumstances clearer. Something about the way the guy dropped his hands made it look like his hands were going to his waistband. And his hands took only one-tenth to two-tenths of a second to drop with the sound of the shot arriving at the cameraphone after his hands had dropped. My rule of thumb is that when cops have drawn on you and have said "You're under arrest", you don't make any sudden moves or they will ventilate your carcass. In recent years, people seem to think that cops have lost their lawful authority to take people into custody and that the laws give them a lot of leeway in their judgments. And the cop wins nearly every battle for supremacy on the street. Don't tempt the cops to shoot, especially if their guns are drawn and pointing at your torso.
#7. To: TooConservative (#5)
True. But they didn't find any weapon in his waistband. Which is bothersome. Another explanation is that he was shot and he dropped his hands to cover the wound. Accidental discharge? Even with the video, it's hard to draw a firm conclusion.
Something about the way the guy dropped his hands made it look like his hands were going to his waistband. And his hands took only one-tenth to two-tenths of a second to drop with the sound of the shot arriving at the cameraphone after his hands had dropped. Given the speed of sound / delay, if there were no sync issues with the phone recording, then he was shot before the shots were heard on the video, not after. His hands moving to his belly is consistent with a reaction to being shot, and the timing seems to support that. But the DA said he has much better video he's not showing yet, likely from the cops cars or body cams that should clear up the matter. From what he says, it seems the cops are in deep do-do.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest"The suspect has his hands raised but seems to drop his hands, maybe reaching for his waistband, just before (or as) the shots ring out."
#5. To: misterwhite, GrandIsland (#3)
But given the distance (and the speed of sound), it's a toss up.
Replies to Comment # 5. "Something about the way the guy dropped his hands made it look like his hands were going to his waistband."
#11. To: TooConservative (#5)
Obviously, I was focused on that tenth of a second. Usually in these cop-shoots-little-old-Sunday-school-teacher stories, the video is 50 yards or less. But this distance starts to raise questions about the speed of sound and audio/video sync on some crappy cellphone. To me, that starts to look a lot like reasonable doubt in any trial of the two cops. We may get more video from the cops or their cars that will make the circumstances clearer.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 5.
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