HOUSTON (AP) — A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.
Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said the man cornered the officer in his wheelchair and was making threats while trying to stab the officer with the pen. At the time, the officer did not know what the metal object was that the man was waving, Silva said.
She said the man came "within inches to a foot" of the officer and did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still.
"Fearing for his partner's safety and his own safety, he discharged his weapon," Silva told The Associated Press.
Police did not immediately release the name of the man who was killed. They had been called to the home after a caretaker there called and reported that the man in wheelchair was causing a disturbance.
The owner of the group home, John Garcia, told the Houston Chronicle that the man had a history of mental illness and had been living at the house about 18 months. Garcia said the man had told him that he lost a leg above the knee and all of one arm when he was hit by a train.
"He sometimes would go off a bit, but you just ignore it," Garcia told the newspaper.
Silva identified the officer as Matthew Jacob Marin, a five-year veteran of the department. He was immediately placed on three-day administrative leave, which is standard in all shootings involving officers.
Houston police records indicate that Marin also fatally shot a suspect in 2009. Investigators at the time said Marin came upon a man stabbing his neighbor to death at an apartment complex and opened fired when the suspect refused to drop the knife.
On Saturday, Marin and his partner arrived at the group home around 2:30 a.m. Silva said there were several people at the house at the time. The caretaker who called police waited on the porch while the officers went inside, she said.
"It was close quarters in the area of the house," Silva said. "The officer was forced into an area where he had no way to get out."



http://im02.wallpapers76.com/fullNews/10...wheelchair

OMG! I don't know what to say .....

Why were the police called in the first place?  Sounds like someone was trying to commit murder by police.  This guy was known to flip out from time to time, who would expect him to follow orders to calm down?

Police killing and/or innocent people happens far too often.

Fair enough; if someone's trying to stab you, what other options do you have? I fully support the officer at the moment, unless further evidence causes me to change my opinion.

The officer doesn't appear to be trigger happy.

It isn't always necessary to kill someone to save your own life, even if they're trying to kill you.  How much damage do people think a double-amputee with a pen can really do?

How much damage do you think someone wielding a knife in their one good arm could do? Quite a lot, I imagine. The officer didn't know it wasn't a knife.

Sure, he probably could have taken a non-lethal option of using his nightstick. Then again, if you were being attacked by a one armed man who you think is armed with a knife...

Disarming someone of a knife really isn't that hard if you know what you're doing. The cop clearly overreacted.

sounds like the officer has PTSD from his neighbor being stabbed, he'll probably have to retire because of it, because it means he is likely to shoot and kill any time he is in a situation which remotely resembles it.

Wow, It looks like Texas and Oklahoma share the same compassion for disabled people..... That's another thing, most Aspies living in Oklahoma end up in a group home as well get misdiagnosed and isn't getting the best medical benefits they should be getting...

I don't know what to say...

I hope so.  I hope it was an obedience killing.

I wouldn't be overly intimidated by a double amputee, even with a knife. A gun, yes, but a knife?

Can't have been THAT hard to dis-arm the guy (pun semi-intended)

What a brave porker.

Come on, guys - we all know the pen is mightier than the sword, right?

Do remember, the guy wasn't unarmed. He did have one...

I would have punned before, but it didn't seem quite appropriate...