On the heels of Brian Cardall’s death by taser comes the demise of Manny Morales in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Depressed and suicidal, after losing custody of his four kids as well as his job, he locked himself in a room and started drinking. His sister Angie was worried for him, so she sought help.
According to police, Manny was first tased and then shot twice in the abdomen. The media reports are sparse on details, with the police saying that he was “armed”. The family said that there was a BB gun in the house, but no other weapons. Of course, a man with a BB gun can look sufficiently armed to cause an officer to pull his weapon out and protect himself. Yet that doesn’t appear to be what happened.
According to WPTV News :
According to police, Manny was first tased and then shot twice in the abdomen. The media reports are sparse on details, with the police saying that he was “armed”. The family said that there was a BB gun in the house, but no other weapons. Of course, a man with a BB gun can look sufficiently armed to cause an officer to pull his weapon out and protect himself. Yet that doesn’t appear to be what happened.
According to WPTV News :
“They gave him several commands,” said Tom Nichols with the Port St. Lucie Police Department. “He didn’t comply and the officers felt their life was in jeopardy.”
If Manny had a gun, even if only a BB gun, you can bet big money that Nichols would have said so. Few would seriously question a cop facing a gun and acting upon it. When the reports are limited only to the vague term “armed”, it’s because whatever “weapon” he was supposedly holding would be more embarrassing if disclosed than concealed.
But the point isn’t whether the shooting was justified. The officer involved, Albert Riccardi, has been placed on administrative leave and is under investigation. No doubt he wishes he could take those two rounds back, for his own sake if not Manny’s. But it’s done. He’s tainted for life and Manny Morales is dead.
The irony is that we still believe that when we are in need of assistance, we can turn to police, close our eyes, click our heels twice, and believe that they will arrive, exercise intelligence, discretion and, dare I say it, empathy, and help us. We believe that our loved one will weather the encounter alive.
When someone you care about is suffering from psychological distress, think twice about who you call. Once for Brian Cardall. Once for Manny Morales. Once the call is made, there’s no going back.
But the point isn’t whether the shooting was justified. The officer involved, Albert Riccardi, has been placed on administrative leave and is under investigation. No doubt he wishes he could take those two rounds back, for his own sake if not Manny’s. But it’s done. He’s tainted for life and Manny Morales is dead.
“We didn’t want to shoot anybody,” Nichols said. “But at the end of the day our responsibility is to protect and serve.”Therein lies the problem. By some tacit twist of logic, the death of a psychologically disturbed man falls into the “protect and serve” hole. What he means to say is that, at the end of the day, stercus accidit, and the world of policing moves on.
The irony is that we still believe that when we are in need of assistance, we can turn to police, close our eyes, click our heels twice, and believe that they will arrive, exercise intelligence, discretion and, dare I say it, empathy, and help us. We believe that our loved one will weather the encounter alive.
When someone you care about is suffering from psychological distress, think twice about who you call. Once for Brian Cardall. Once for Manny Morales. Once the call is made, there’s no going back.
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