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[Parallax]

Cannot make this shit up.

Yeah you can. Something similar happened in casino, only it was a sandwich.

Fucking disgusting nonetheless

 

[Eye for an Eye]

You mean like the cops themselves?
People with dementia or Alzheimer's escape from their households in a relatively normal basis. They aren't treated as prisoners, and sometimes wander off. They shouldn't be murdered by police because of that.

This was not the first encounter with a neighbor or police. It's stated above that he would take late night walks if he couldn't sleep that the son allowed.

In the second incident, Mr Serna approached two female neighbours in their driveway shortly after midnight and demanded to see inside their vehicle.

Serna’s son said his father was showing the early signs of dementia and occasionally experienced delusions. The elder Serna also had difficulty sleeping and frequently went on late-night walks to tire himself out before bed, his son said.

Bakersfield police had visited Francisco Serna’s home at least two times before because his father would become confused and activate a medical alarm, Rogelio Serna said.

There were issues going on before this that should've raised concern before the father got himself into a deadly situation.

 

[A Fish Aficionado]

This was not the first encounter with a neighbor or police. It's stated above that he would take late night walks if he couldn't sleep that the son allowed.


There were issues going on before this that should've raised concern before the father got himself into a deadly situation.

This doesn't dismiss the fact that an armed police response was not needed.

Only that a mental health quick response team should be fitted to operating emergency contact systems.

 

[Eye for an Eye]

This doesn't dismiss the fact that an armed police response was not needed.

Only that a mental health quick response team should be fitted to operating emergency contact systems.

He approached two women yelling at them at midnight when they arrived home. They called police. They were afraid of this man. If they had known him or that he had dementia, then maybe they could have remained calm and understanding, but they didn't know him or why he was acting that way.

A big guy approaches you in the middle of the night and you're not going to be afraid??

I've never said I condoned the actions of the police, but they weren't aware of who they were approaching or his mental inability to comply. I'm well aware of excessive police force. I'm well aware of the shootings. Many of those cases didn't even warrant a gun pull because the suspect was acting as they requested. This man was incapable of it. But looking at the whole situation raises more questions.

 

[Nemesis121]

Shoot first, get immunity later....my condolences to his family..

 

[adamsappel]

When was this? Police brutality has always existed and hell it's probably getting ever so slightly better than it was before.

Oh, this was police brutality, too. I recall an old woman tased during a traffic stop, an old naked man tased who fell off a balcony, "Don't tase me, bro!", a few times people died from the shocks. It was definitely a thing. Usually accompanied by the same victim blaming.

 

[JaseC]

I was really confused. Your title makes it sound like they shot a dead unarmed man suffering from dementia.

Incidentally, shooting criminals -> shooting innocents -> shooting corpses does strike me as a logical progression for US police.

 

[Mechanized]

No tasers? Non-lethal rounds?

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

A big guy approaches you in the middle of the night and you're not going to be afraid??

Not if I'm a fully armed police officer with backup.

 

[Starviper]

I'm not one to side with the police normally but if the guy was reported to police as trying to start fights and kept his hand on an object in his pocket the whole time I can see why they would think he's armed, and going off the report they wouldn't have known he had dementia.

Shot seven times because police are trained to unload a clip once they start firing. Terrible situation for sure.

 

[bonesmccoy]

Unbelievable. 7 officers present, and the guy is shot to death *seconds* after this neighbour points him out.

 

[Khaz]

I've never said I condoned the actions of the police, but they weren't aware of who they were approaching or his mental inability to comply. I'm well aware of excessive police force. I'm well aware of the shootings. Many of those cases didn't even warrant a gun pull because the suspect was acting as they requested. This man was incapable of it. But looking at the whole situation raises more questions.

Questions like why isn't the police force better prepared for these kinds of encounters, surely? Or why aren't they taught better gun control? Or why can't they work as a group to control a single person? Or should their sight get checked more often, with silhouettes of weapons instead of letters on the eye chart?

What sort of questions do you have in mind?

 

[UltraMav]

As a news producer working in Bakersfield I was a bit surprised that national media is latching onto this. We just have so many officer-involved shootings in Kern County (and homicides) that I'm always shocked when outlets outside our little bubble of hell take notice.