What would you do ?

[macFarlaine]

There seems to be more and stories in the media nowadays where the general public don't want to help out a fellow human being when they are in trouble.IE." man has heart attack in busy st,shoppers walk by without offering assistance" or "woman sues good samaritan for giving her the kiss of life,paramedics say man saved womans life".

Scenario:You are taken hostage by crazed gunman,he has already shot two people and is threatning to shoot you.He has a gun pointed at your head and is holding you from behind.The armed police arrive on the scene and approach you and the hostage taker from the front.By now the gunman is sweating, ranting and shaking uncontrolably.The officers raise their firearms and the first shot from the officer hits you in the shoulder,this apparent well aimed shot puts the hostage taker off balance,he is then shot..you are free.
You spend six weeks in hostpital recovering,the officer is hailed a hero,and is telling the media his first shot was deliberate and aimed at you.
What do you do ?

Praise the officer for saving your life..
OR
Sue him and the Police Department for shooting you..

 

[The Annoyed Man]

I don't see an officer EVER taking a deliberate, well-aimed shot at the hostage. Ain't gonna happen. Too much can go wrong.

Regarding CPR, people can sue if they want, but in most cases, the suit will be thrown out by the judge. Most states have a "good Samaritan law" which protects CPR providers from litigation if the patient is found unconscious and in cardiac arrest outside of a hospital setting, where the CPR giver could not possibly have been expected to know the patient's desire to not be resuscitated.

 

[Winchester 73]

I agree with The Annoyed Man.
Working closely with LE for almost 20 years, I don't know of one LEO who would attempt that type of shot in that scenario.

 

[macFarlaine]

It has happened on several occassions in the UK,Japan and in Austria.From what I can remember the UK hostage named her first born after the officer.

 

[lucky_fool]

Even if he did attempt the shot I doubt he'd be telling the media that he intentionally shot a hostage.

Unless he'd watched Speed one too many times.

To answer the question:

If I was accidentally shot by the police during the incident: just bad luck.

If I was shot by a cop on purpose: they'd better be covering my medical bills and firing somebody.

 

[98C5]

You didn't happen to see the movie SWAT last night, did you?



Same scenario. SWAT member shoots hostage in shoulder and the department gets sued.

 

[macFarlaine]

I live in the UK,our terrestriol TV is censored.I live in a village, cable maybe installed in 2025.

 

[lucky_fool]

It has happened on several occassions

Do you have sources for this? I find it hard to believe that "shoot the hostage" is an approved tactic in any department.

 

[macFarlaine]

I read about the incidents from a Polish magazine when in Krakow last month.

 

[NG VI]

i'd definitely be thrilled to make it out alive, but i don't think it would be unreasonable to have the department in question pay for my medical bills

 

[Tommygunn]

I can't see a SWAT officer shooting a hostage in America. Not deliberatly, for sure. Accidently ... maybe. Accidents happen.
If it were me, as long as I got free medical care I wouldn't sue.
I hate courtrooms.

I suppose in some european counries they might have a different perspective on it.
You have to keep in mind that getting shot in the shoulder is not by any means necessarily a "nonfatal" wound. Guns are called "deadly force" for a reason. You could bleed out from the subclavian artery, go into shock and die, the trauma could induce a heart attack, you could get a infection. You could survive the wound and lose an arm in the deal.
Now, on TV the guy would have a band-aid on it by the end of the show and be 100% in next week's episode, but real life ain't TV, and we're not talking about the ubiquitous TV "flesh wound" here .....

 

[Gunnerpalace]

My response during the situation to the police:


"What are you talking to him for shoot him, shoot him!"

That is Exactly what I would be saying, if the cops hit me oh well, I'm alive, the hostage situation in Honolulu illustrated this : hostage and hostage taker start scuffling for the gun, 100 cops around no one does anything after the hostage got away SWAT let him have it, I myself would have been yelling for someone to do something.

 

[pbearperry]

What would I do?

I would start shopping at another store and I would offer the cop with private shooting lessons.lol