What Exactly Does Brandishing A Knife Mean And What Ever Happened To.....

[cvoogt]

58. Well ..

I heard on Twitter the victim was brandishing a butter knife or small pocket knife. Have seen no corroboration on that. Dude was acting erratic and may have had mental issues. There was a similar case where I live last year (Virginia); employee at Costco's seafood department had a knife (because she guts fish for a living) and had a mental breakdown. Cops came, one of them said "we don't have time for this" and shot her dead. Problem solved, I guess.

My point is, being a cop is dangerous for sure, but more and more it seems there is an inclination to prefer killing even in cases where less-than-lethal force could have been tried first. An erratic guy with a maybe 3-inch blade (or even perhaps a butterknife as I have seen rumored on the web) is a different story from a focused psycho with a machete. Many of our militarized cops won't risk scuffing up their jackboots though, and instead shoot to kill at the slightest justification.