17June06

Knife Attack in Nicaragua, 15 Feb 2006:

"The suspect arrived at the police station, shouting threats, among which was, 'Fifty police cannot stop what I am going to do.' Poli ce had been at this man's house many times on domestic disputes and were familiar w ith him. The suspect had a large knife which he was displaying threateningly.

Uniformed officers poured out of the station and surrounded the suspect. The captain took charge and attempted to negotiate, commanding repeatedly t hat the suspect drop his knife. While so doing, the captain was holding a Kalashnikov rifle and had it pointed in the suspect's direction.

The Captain then moved closer, continuing to repeat his commands. He tripped over a wire, and, as he attempted to regain his balance, the suspe ct quickly moved forward and drove his knife into the captain's neck. The blade entered the captain's heart, mortally wounding him. The attack hap pened so fast the captain was unable to use his rifle to defend himself. He never fired a shot. Two other officers, rushing to the captain's aid, were also ruinously cut. Both went down, unable to continue defending themselves. Neither of them fired a shot either. One was cut severely on the face and neck as wel l as stabbed in the back. The second was cut on both arms and stabbed in the chest. Both survived but sustained permanent disability and disfigurement .

The suspect then stood back up and was immediately greeted by a fusillade o f bullets from the balance of the officers. He died several minutes after arriving at the ER."

Lesson: I don't know how many times this has to happen before we firmly establish the policy that the only appropriate force response to a suspect threatening at close range with a knife is gunfire, immediate and copious.

Dangerous suspects need to be evaluated based on capability, not intent. " Negotiating" with a knife-armed suspect at close range is tantamount to suicide. These folks obviously watch too much American television!

/John