Is it legal for an officer to shoot a woman in the head when she is running with a knife toward the officer?

Question

Note:there is much distance between the two

Answer 1

She would first be warned, then ordered but if she still came at him he would draw his firearm, if she tried to attack him then she would be shot in the Torso as it's a bigger mass and easier to hit.

Answer 2

a police officer can use deadly force when encountered with deadly force. running towards a police officer with a knife is considered deadly force.

Answer 3

Any person who is in danger would be allowed to protect themselves, officer or not.  So the simple answer to your question is:  OF COURSE.

Answer 4

Yes. It meets the criteria of Weapon, Intent and Delivery system. A response of Deadly Force is more than appropriate!  

But an Officer able to make a head shot in the situation you have presented would be unlikely and pure luck if it happened.

Answer 5

It is, or should be, legal for ANYONE to use whatever force is required to stop anyone in the process of attacking them.  Someone running toward you with a knife meats that standard.  There are only to places you can shoot and be reasonably assured of stopping an attacker.  Both are fatal.  They are the head and the heart.

Answer 6

The answer is, it depends on the distance between the Officer and the woman. In NYC, police recruits are shown a training video about how to deal with a perpetrator with a knife.

It has been mathematically proven, that in order to survive a knife attack, an Officer needs a minimum of 21 feet between him or her self in order to safely discharge his/her firearm and be able to step out of the way of a knife wielding attacker. Anything less than that equals the Officer being stabbed.

Also, NYPD teaches its recruits to shoot for center mass as it's the easiest & largest target to strike and head shots usually only used when an Officer has already discharged their firearm to the center mass with no visible stopping of the threat.

Answer 7

Yes Thank God Why do you worry about a person running at a police officer with a knife? '' I'll defend her right to try and kill a policeman with my life''

Y'all so silly A man is defending himself so he can go home to his wife and kids that night Not to please you sense of Justus

Answer 8

I guess it is when he was protecting himself from a woman with a knife when he's a trained officer carrying a gun...why did he shoot her in the head and kill her like that when he could of shot her in the leg...i knew an officer who shot a man who had come at him with a knife. the cop shot him in the leg but the man still bled out and died but at least he gave the man a chance...but i guess as long as he had the right to shoot her its okay (not). well, sh*t happens...

Answer 9

if she was brazilian and boarding a tube train in London  definatly

Answer 10

Yes it is...

Answer 11

YES! It says in the penal code that ANY amount of force needed to protect yourself is justified in the penal code. Meaning if it takes an officer to kill someone to protect himself and stop the threat it is totally justified.  

Answer 12

Yes.  

Answer 13

Yes, there is a training segment known as a Tueller Drill, where officers learn that in the ~1.5sec it takes an officer to draw, aim, & fire his sidearm that an individual armed with a knife could cover 21 feet or more. The old adage of "Never bring a knife to a gun fight." isn't always true.

For more info see-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tueller_Dri...

"The Tueller Drill is a self-defense training exercise to prepare against a short-range knife attack when armed only with a holstered handgun.

One would think that a gun beats a knife every time. With superior weaponry, the fight should be easily won. But Sergeant Dennis Tueller, of the Salt Lake City, Utah Police Department, showed that it was not that simple."

http://www.patc.com/weeklyarticles/21foo...

- David

Answer 14

She would have been ordered (with authority) to drop the weapon -- at least twice.  If she continued coming toward the officer, the officer might have tried tazer (but not all municipalities carry tazers).-- so sorry.

Answer 15

Yes..however its likely the officer is shooting center mass and just happened to hit her in the head. Sometimes cops get lucky too

Answer 16

Instead of trying to shoot the woman in the head, I thought the officer would try to shoot the woman in the trunk or torso so he won't miss.