Poor Baby shot

[Kameko]

The cop that accidentally shot the baby is probably suffering enough as it is with guilt and I'm sure all the people who are berating him for it aren't making the situation any better.

Exactly. Nobody seems to have stopped and thought about how bad that guy must be feeling. He had to make an extremely difficult choice, and no matter what decision he made, the outcome probably would have haunted him.

Thank you Tiff and peach! I'm majoring in Criminal Investigations and probably will have to deal with stuff like this in the future. All of my professors were police officers at one point. All of them have said that you have to make split-second decisions in situations like these without knowing all the facts. You cannot sit there and ponder about your options, you have to act NOW, not later. The longer the cop waits the higher the chance someone is going to be hurt, possibly even killed. Unlike the cop in this situation, we have hindsight. We also have not been in situations like this so for us to say what the cop should have done is ridiculous. Ideally, the baby doesn't die but in police work the chances of an ideal situation is slim to none. Comments like Starchild's doesn't not make it any easier.

[jupiter23]

The cop that accidentally shot the baby is probably suffering enough as it is with guilt and I'm sure all the people who are berating him for it aren't making the situation any better.

Exactly. Nobody seems to have stopped and thought about how bad that guy must be feeling. He had to make an extremely difficult choice, and no matter what decision he made, the outcome probably would have haunted him.

Thank you Tiff and peach! I'm majoring in Criminal Investigations and probably will have to deal with stuff like this in the future. All of my professors were police officers at one point. All of them have said that you have to make split-second decisions in situations like these without knowing all the facts. You cannot sit there and ponder about your options, you have to act NOW, not later. The longer the cop waits the higher the chance someone is going to be hurt, possibly even killed. Unlike the cop in this situation, we have hindsight. We also have not been in situations like this so for us to say what the cop should have done is ridiculous. Ideally, the baby doesn't die but in police work the chances of an ideal situation is slim to none. Comments like Starchild's doesn't not make it any easier.

I'm also a Criminal Justice major, and I have been told the same thing in my classes as you have heard. One of my teachers last semester was a retired State Trooper. He pretty much said that even cops will do things that they regret later, despite the fact that it was part of their job. And, no, people berating them for the split-second decision they have to make doesn't make them feel any better about what they have to do. Like Tiff-san said, he was doing his job, and any way out of it very likely would have resulted in someone getting killed. I'm sorry it was a child too, but it doesn't do any good to anyone to sit around and dwell on that.

[Tiff]

*Nods* Exactly. A cop doesn't have time to sit there, and think to himself "Hmmmm...now let's see...if I shoot at THIS angle..I MIGHT miss this random civilian..oooh look. He has a gun, too. Damn, Well let's see..what's the probability of me NOT hitting the baby...Okay, if he's about 20 feet from me, and I'm behind this car....*does high school algebra*....oh. Shit. He just shot someone. Crap."

It doesn't work that way. He's got to decide right then and there, and use his best judgement with what he's got. I think he used his best judgement. IT's sad. It's tragic. But it's life. These things happen.