(MO) Officer's Shooting Of Man Armed With Grenade 'Justified'

[Steve in PA]

No mention of where the grenade came from.......

http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/2649842/detail.html

Officer's Shooting Of Man Armed With Grenade 'Justified'
Grenade Explodes After Officer Shoots, Kills Man

POSTED: 3:01 p.m. CST November 19, 2003
UPDATED: 3:19 p.m. CST November 19, 2003

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Platte County prosecutor announced Wednesday that a Kansas City, Mo., police officer's shooting of a man armed with a grenade was "reasonable and justified."

Chad E. Seymour, 26, of Kansas City, was shot July 12 in the 8700 block of North Chatham Avenue during a standoff with police. Officers were called to the area on a domestic disturbance.

Police negotiated with Seymour for a couple of hours when he apparently started walking toward an officer with a grenade. He allegedly told the officer to go ahead and shoot because they both would die.

Another officer shot and killed Seymour, who fell on top of the grenade. The grenade later exploded when a robot moved in to disarm the grenade. The blast blew off the robot's retrieval claw, arm and remote camera.

"It is very sad that someone died during this incident," prosecutor Eric Zahnd said in a press release. "However, this man ultimately refused to negotiate with police and threatened to explode a live grenade. Many more people could have been injured or killed had it not been for the decisive actions of police that night."

 

[TheeBadOne]

Unusual shooting scenario

(MO) Officer's Shooting Of Man Armed With Grenade 'Justified'

Officer's Shooting Of Man Armed With Grenade 'Justified'
Grenade Explodes After Officer Shoots, Kills Man

POSTED: 3:01 p.m. CST November 19, 2003
UPDATED: 3:19 p.m. CST November 19, 2003

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Platte County prosecutor announced Wednesday that a Kansas City, Mo., police officer's shooting of a man armed with a grenade was "reasonable and justified."

Chad E. Seymour, 26, of Kansas City, was shot July 12 in the 8700 block of North Chatham Avenue during a standoff with police. Officers were called to the area on a domestic disturbance.

Police negotiated with Seymour for a couple of hours when he apparently started walking toward an officer with a grenade. He allegedly told the officer to go ahead and shoot because they both would die.

Another officer shot and killed Seymour, who fell on top of the grenade. The grenade later exploded when a robot moved in to disarm the grenade. The blast blew off the robot's retrieval claw, arm and remote camera.

"It is very sad that someone died during this incident," prosecutor Eric Zahnd said in a press release. "However, this man ultimately refused to negotiate with police and threatened to explode a live grenade. Many more people could have been injured or killed had it not been for the decisive actions of police that night."

http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/2649842/detail.html
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We prepare for robbery scenarios, whether at the ATM or at the front door of our home. We prepare for attacks by either gun or knife, but how many have every thought about a grenade?!!! I think the 21 foot rule for knives would be a tad inadaquate. What would the distance rule be? What about his ability to toss it at you quickly? What if he hides it to let the spoon flip off and "cook" it off for a few seconds before tossing it so it explodes in the air right in front of you! If he presents it and threatens you with it, then "pockets" it, do you shoot or take the chance he's not cooking it off?

 

[Preacherman]

Rule of thumb: if I'm holding someone at gunpoint, he/she obeys my orders. If he/she disobeys and starts moving toward me, or makes some other suspicious movement, I have to assume that he/she has a weapon, or has some other reason to think they can take me - so I'll take 'em first. No question about it.

PS: Duplicate threads merged.

 

[DMK]

Wow, that's a very bad situation that could have gotten worse in a hurry.

Kudos to the officers for the way they handled that one. I'll bet the pucker factor was quite high.

 

[Matt G]

Wish they'd been more descriptive, for example, in detailing the possible type of grenade, if known. Also, distances and weapons used. Such is not as important to most news reporters.

The threat from a frag grenade is still very real at 50 yards. If the officer is convinced that the guy has a grenade, and the fellow refuses to put it down, and insists on moving toward anyone else, I can't see how the officer has any choice but to take the shot.

How could this be taken as anything but a good shoot?

(Answer: if the grenade had been disarmed or was a dummy, people would have been crying "bad shoot, against a clearly distraught and mentally unstable individual.")

 

[Standing Wolf]

The article left out the required "But the police shouldn't have shot to kill him because he was a good boy who always helped me wash the dishes, and I'm hiring a lawyer."

 

[BluesBear]

BOOM, BOOM

Out Go The Lights




Er Uh.... where was the grenade when they removed the body?

 

[striker3]

Well if it was an M-67, the kill radius would be ~5m and the Casualty radius would be ~15m.

Frag can fly farther, but these are the "accepted" distances. Also, the average person can throw a grenade 40m or so, so if someone has a grenade and is within that distance of you, I would be shooting...

 

[greyhound]

How the heck do regular people get hold of grenades? Stolen from the army then sold on the black market?

Good grief, you can make anything illegal but some enterprising no- goodnick is always gonna figure out how to get hold of it!