It's been, um, an interesting few months for body cam footage.
And now we can add another entry to that list:
The big takeaway: Violent people in the grip of psychosis are not slowed down by sprays and tasers. Only one thing stops them.
This is something that cops have known for decades: When someone is charging at you, out of their mind, with intent to kill you, you pretty much have one decision: Shoot them or risk serious injury or death.
For background: Police were responding to calls from residents in the New Brunswick apartment complex alleging that Deborah Terrell was exhibiting disturbing behavior:
Officers unsuccessfully attempted to speak with Terrell, as she refused to speak with officers or open her apartment door. Later, at 7:32 a.m., officers were again dispatched to the same apartment, after a 911 call reporting that Terrell was repeatedly going in and out of her apartment and threatening other tenants with a knife.
Police "sent officers to Terrell's apartment and contacted emergency medical services, requesting that EMTs be positioned outside the apartment building for a potential evaluation." They then attempted to engage her through her door, leading to her attempting to attack the officers; when non-lethal options failed, one officer shot her twice with his service firearm.
As is always the case, such an incident inspired outraged reactions from the local community, many of whom alleged that the shooting was somehow unjustified.
Incredibly, one civil rights activists suggested that police should have somehow "subdued" the woman waving the foot-long knife around while charging them:
Please explain how you are supposed to subdue someone like this without getting your face cut open or your heart slashed:
As is becoming common, body cam footage — something that Black Lives Matter activists and left-wing agitators have demanded for years — has once again disproven allegations of police brutality and racist overreach.
It is, of course, tragic when anyone loses their lives in the grip of a mental crisis. If we had a functioning mental health system that could medically incarcerate people who have become unstable and dangerous, then many cases like this would never come to the shooting point.
But when the knives come out, the time for tasers and pepper spray is over. Don't take our word for it — the body cam footage always tells the truth.
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Not the Bee or any of its affiliates.
