Officers seconds away from shooting suspect

[Bruenor]

Talk about poor or total lack of judgement, and common sense.

http://starbeacon.com/local/x1146345118 ... ng-suspect" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A man later identified as Burdine approached Patrolmen Mike Bertolasio and Jesse Lardi in the police station parking lot, telling them he had just received a text message from a female friend asking his help in removing an unwanted man from her Park Avenue apartment.
“I need your help, and if you don’t help me I will take care of it myself,” Burdine told the officers.

The patrolmen advised Burdine to stay put while they investigated. At the woman’s apartment officers encountered an intoxicated man who said he had no place to go. Officers found accommodations for the man, and as he was preparing to leave police noticed the woman talking on a cellular telephone, saying the man wasn’t going to jail “and you need to get down here,” according to the report.

A few minutes later Burdine arrived in a vehicle and emerged carrying a 12-gauge shotgun, police said. He was loading the weapon as he walked, saying “If you’re not going to take care of the problem then I will,” according to the report.
Officers pulled their weapons and ordered Burdine to stop and drop the gun. Burdine kept walking, brandishing the shotgun, police said. After a few more steps he stopped, giving officers a chance to rush forward and secure the suspect, according to a report.

charge of obstructing official business (a fifth-degree felony), as well as misdemeanor charges of inducing panic, aggravated menacing and aggravated disorderly conduct

[58duck]

rough neighborhood . . .

[pleasantguywhopacks]

Machismo, it is often a fatal affliction. He's darn lucky...

[curmudgeon3]

Mr. Burdine is lucky he encountered two competent cops, and didn't end up looking like a sieve as a result of his quixotic bravado.

[MyWifeSaidYes]

I think there is some backstory missing about a relationship between the 'unwanted male' and the lady.

[SigMan]

Machismo, it is often a fatal affliction. He's darn lucky...

+1 I'm inclined to believe the majority of police officers would have shot him dead. Expecially if he was ordered to drop the weapon and he didn't.

[wkdravenna]

I've seen some strange things in that town while I was working it.

[Werz]

I think there is some backstory missing about a relationship between the 'unwanted male' and the lady.

I'm quite sure of it. That is the case quite often ... and more often than many "victims" are readily willing to acknowledge.

[SMMAssociates]

My vote is that there's some backstory there, too....

Buddy of mine, now deceased, was with the local PD.

On his very first night on the road, with an FTO, they get sent to a "man with a shotgun" call, where Dispatch tells them that the guy was going to divorce his wife, Italian style....

So, they arrive and pop out of the Patrol Unit.

My buddy's on the side closest, and sees the guy running towards him (and the other officer), with a shotgun pointed straight at them.

He decides that he's got to STOP the situation, and puts six (revolvers in those days) through the screen door. The guy goes down....

Then, it hits him: "My first night on the job and I've killed somebody. How am I going to explain that, or even live with it?"

Then a small voice: "Please, don't shoot me.... I'm sorry.... Don't shoot...."

The guy had managed to slip and fall on his face (no idea why the shotgun didn't discharge) just before my buddy fired....

The homeowner got to cool down in the greybar. The screen door needed emergency repairs, but survived.....

My buddy's since passed on, but was a magnet. He was placed on the desk to keep him out of trouble. Desk duty long enough that every time he took out a car, he'd wreck it!

(We won't talk about the one-way street debacle....)

And, no, my first duty weapon (semi-retired rent-a-cop, among other things) was not a matchlock....

Regards,

[Tourist]

Percussion cap?

[carmen fovozzo]

Machismo, it is often a fatal affliction. He's darn lucky...

+1 I'm inclined to believe the majority of police officers would have shot him dead. Especially if he was ordered to drop the weapon and he didn't.

Your certainly entitled to your opinion, but I think other wise......Most LEOS are trained to help a situation, not escalate it...IMO

[pleasantguywhopacks]

Machismo, it is often a fatal affliction. He's darn lucky...

+1 I'm inclined to believe the majority of police officers would have shot him dead. Especially if he was ordered to drop the weapon and he didn't.

Your certainly entitled to your opinion, but I think other wise......Most LEOS are trained to help a situation, not escalate it...IMO

Been my experience that most LEO's want to go home at night and would be more likely to assure that. Take a few classes run by LE and former LE and see what they say about guns and finding people with guns in hands when you arrive on scene. TDI shows examples of actual off duty LE responding to and getting involved in a shoot out, ditching their weapons so they themselves won't be shot by uniformed officers on scene. Actually throwing the gun.

While I expect LE to use common sense, I also expect the civilians to use it as well. All situations are dynamic but this guy was a freaking chest thumper in my opinion.