So Thanksgiving evening, there was a shooting at the local mall

Two people wounded

The police said that they killed the shooter

Flash forward a few days

The truth starts coming out

The young man they shot was not the shooter but a 21-year-old military officer home for the holiday while he awaited his long-term assignment

His father was former military and a current police officer

They said he seemed like a threat because he was coming from the direction of the shooting with his gun drawn

oh jeez, that was local for you? I'd been following the story

Yep

I love 15 minutes from that mall

I'm sorry, I can imagine how much harder that makes it

I used to work at the Sears there

I still shop there and my work has me picking up and delivering food there

My uncle used to work at that Belk

I just found out today from a friend that the young man did NOT have his gun drawn at all

He was running from the gunshots with everyone else

The police didn’t bother to secure the scene at all

They didn’t speak to him first

One of his fellow officers was with him

The police forced him to the ground and, iirc, they cuffed him immediately after killing his friend

I just...

I respect the police in general

We need them

I have known several who are good people

But then you have these...

I can’t even think of an appropriate word for them

Who clearly don’t care about the law

Don’t care about the fact that they are undermining the public’s trust in any and all law enforcement

Don’t care that they are making their fellow officers’ jobs more dangerous

Don’t care that they’re putting their own families at greater risk by failing to do their job

Sure, I’m a woman and most people assume I’m white

But this bs doesn’t just effect one race

I’m not afraid the cops will decide I’m a threat to them

But I don’t feel safe when they knowingly shoot the wrong person and say the shooter is dead instead of actually trying to find the real shooter before he comes back and actually does kill people the next time

And if that had happened, those lives would be on the hands of Hoover PD as much as their direct victim’s

I’m glad they caught the actual shooter before he could try again

But, oh, wait

That wasn’t Hoover PD

That was some precinct in Georgia

I really hope this goes to trial

And not only for the cop who committed the murder

Everyone who helped try to cover it up should be indicted for a minimum of obstruction of justice

Also for aiding and abetting

Possibly even conspiracy

yes.

I don’t care what they think about race

They want to just blame the first black guy?

Guess what, they’re not just putting black people in danger

And that’s beyond how unjust and evil that is

I just...

Even a racist asshole should be able to figure this out

And, yeah, I bet you any money that if he’d been white and the actual shooter, he would have been taken alive

Based on how badly they botched everything

I find it very difficult to believe that race was not a factor here

There was literally no other apparent motive

Unless the cops involved had some kind of history with the two men

In which case they neglected their jobs for the sake of a personal vendetta

Which might almost be even worse

Men and women like that should not be allowed to wear a badge

Their job is directly stated in the polo motto: To protect and serve

These cops did the exact opposite

there are good cops out there but those who are bad...way out number therm i feel

but I'm sorry this was so close to home

It’s weird

I’ve seen the stories in the national news

But this is the first time it’s been local for me

And...

It feels like some cops are almost like two different people, potentially

Most of my interactions with them have been pretty positive

But now I look at the cops doing security at the library and have to wonder if they were involved

It’s unsettling

yep that's. common

I just... how do they not see they’re endangering people who they don’t necessarily look down on?

How do they not realize they are creating an atmosphere where people will take the law into their own hands rather than call the authorities?

How do they not see they’re making their fellow officers’ jobs more dangerous?

If nothing else, they should at least care about that!

group think, the psychology of people, especially men, who want to become cops, and the indoctrination in their training

And now their victim’s mother has had a heart attack

poor family

Yeah...