Houston officer kills double amputee in wheelchair

Yahoo News  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.”

NC

23 thoughts on “Houston officer kills double amputee in wheelchair

  1. I still think that cops should only carry a .22 LR if that even considering how they act with fire arms.. A 22 if shot in the knees or shoulder or a few shots else where would be more than enough fire power for the cops.

  2. No matter what I say it would never reflect my real feeling about this case.
    Have you ever seen an Arab or a terrorist do that to anyone?, yes the will blow up if you are around but not kill you for holding a pen…….the future will be a black one for the American people if they continued to allowed the law enforces to get away with murder in this country…..even in Communist Cuba I have never seen anything like this.

  3. How in the hell does a person w / 2good legs get cornered by a person bound to a wheelchair ? And then lets the problem escalate to the point of using ” deadly force ” . Obviously , the so-called police officers training wasn’t worth a bowel movement .

    And they call this ” KEEPING THE PEACE “. Who’s kidding who ?

  4. Obviously, this policeman enjoys killing people. It must fulfill a need in him.

    He needs to be removed from his job ASAP.

  5. A Thrill Kill LEO? I wasn’t there, but something is not right with the story of a double amputee in a wheelchair putting a LEO at risk with a pen for the LEO to even draw his sidearm. Close quarters? From the story, there seems to have been ample time to deploy a Taser, Pepper Spray or a beanbag round. Something not right with this. Turds like this is what puts the few good LEO in jepordy with the public. Makes a pretty good case for the public to handle every encounter with LEO as a 50/50 chance they could wind up dead.

    1. Very true . And then they wonder why the citizens are kind of leery about co-operating w / them . How many times does one have to be hit up side the head w / a 2 by 4 to finally realize that it hurts .

      You co-operate w/ them at your own risk .

  6. It’s the training alright, but “THEY” are training us! The message? WHENEVER in the same arena of a cop, IMMEDIATELY SURRENDER … it doesn’t even matter that you’ve done nothing wrong. When approaching a cop? ALWAYS LOOK DOWN! Splay your fingers out with your arms down at your sides. BEG FOR HIS IMMEDIATE FORGIVENESS. Pray to him that he will let you live.

    THEN? He may only shoot you in the foot simply for being there. That’s how these scat-droppings figure public servants such as themselves should be whorshipped by their victim-populations. Sociopathic self-idolators … the whole lot of them.

    DanD

  7. “…the man did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still.” That is why the police officer shot him. Waving the pen, “cornering” the officer “within inches — or a foot” is all just rationalizing. The cop killed the double-amputee in the wheelchair for not doing what he was told.

    We need to recruit police officers who are not afraid for their lives at the least provocation.

  8. And the truly sad thing is our hard earned tax dollars are paying these piss-ants salaries. So , in effect ; we are paying these @#$%^& to kill us . WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT PICTURE ?

    This is what you get when society is effing stupid to want security over freedom .
    You get neither!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  9. You see, police are no longer protectors of the public, nowadays they are simply “revenoors.” They collect money from the general public so that they and their political crime bosses can live comfortable middle-class and OPULENT lives off the (dwindling) wealth of the general population. Ultimately, the autocrats hide in their gated communities and the cops surround them for a mutual protection … from the general population.

    This is post-republic Amerikkka.

    DanD

  10. Spread the word, “COPS ARE NOW AFRAID OF PENS!!!!!”.

    I guess this cop took it literally and was terrified when he heard the saying, “the pen is truly mightier than the sword.”

    I bet the cop probably went back and told his story to the chief and the first thing that came out of his cowardly mouth was, “It wasn’t me. It was the one armed man.”

    OMG, if this cop is that afraid of every little thing like a handicapped person with a pen, call me crazy, but I don’t think he is mentally fit to be a police officer. Just sayin’.

    The wheel-chaired guy probably threatened that he would write his name on paper with that very pen and then post it online and sell it to Al-Qaeda like the dumb, pathetic cop in the L.A. subway video said that was posted a few days ago.

    Bottom line. Take the law into your own hands. Don’t call the police. They will only get you killed or tased. Take it from someone who was tased for defending himself against an attacker. They are as dumb and ignorant as the cops in the movie, “Idiocracy”. It’s better to ask your dog or cat for help than them.

    Like #1NWOHatr said, “After restraining your attacker, just call some of your friends to help you escort the attacker to the police station and then just drop him off at the doorstep.”

    I would just add one thing, since Christmas season is coming around, when you do that, make sure he’s gift wrapped with a nice red bow on top and card that says, “Merry Christmas. I sent this lump of coal just for you. Coldest wishes, Santa Claus.” LOL

    1. You’ve got something there, NC, about whipping out a pen & jotting down the name/badge number. Makes me wonder about those using cell phone cams too. Pretty good excuse for a LEO “looked like he was drawing/pointing a weapon” shooting & IA closes the case PDQ with a big “Justified”. With all the firearms floating around from various sting ops, I start wondering how many “armed” perps were actually armed before they were blasted to hell.

  11. A cripple in a wheelchair waving a pen around is a FAR cry from a guy actually stabbing his neighbor to death with a REAL knife.

    @sswipe piss-poor excuse for a human being.

  12. Will somebody please tell me how a man with one arm was able to back an officer into a corner and wave a pen around at the same time?

  13. 1. THERE ARE CHANCES THIS STORY IS FAKE FOR OBVIOUS REASONS.
    2. THERE ARE CHANCES THERE’S MORE TO THIS STORY, OF COURSE
    FINAL CONCLUSION: SHEEPLE GET MANIPULATED LIKE USUAL….

  14. If you have accidentally killed someone then you must pay a price! This could be anything from the death penalty, prison, a lifetimes worth of earnings (of the victim) to be paid to the victim’s family, or even become a servant to the victim’s family for the rest of his life, or until he is pardoned by the victim’s family.
    This sentenced to be determined by the victims family! – – – Sounds fair to me!

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