Last
week, officer Stephen Stem shot 93-year-old Pearlie Golden in her home due to
the fact that she was brandishing a weapon. Stem purportedly asked Golden to
put the handgun down at least three times before he began firing. He shot three
times and hit Golden twice. Golden was then taken to a hospital where she died
shortly after. Stem had gone to the house due to the fact that the police
department received a phone call from someone they believe to be a relation of
Golden. After the shooting, Stem was dismissed from the police force after the
shooting but is fighting this decision.
It
is very important that the police are allowed to go into a person’s home if
there is reason to believe that that person has caused harm to others or is
going to put others in danger. I believe Stem was in the right to go into
Golden’s home to try to prevent anyone from becoming injured, but I think the
shots were fired prematurely. As far as I have heard, Golden was not about to
harm anyone, so I think Stem should have held off and refrained from firing at
her. However, more details will have to become clear for a conclusive decision
to be made in this situation.
It's understandable that a policeman would draw their weapon if they felt threatened. If the officer asked the woman to put down her weapon multiple times and she didn't, he's technically allowed to fire his gun in defense. However, since the woman was so old there's clearly some controversy as to whether or not the officer's firing was justified or not.
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