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General discussion (archive)SWAT team takes down man armed with LEGO gun(43 posts)(43 posts)
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Posted January 15, 2010
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/12/swat-team-takes-down-man-armed-with-lego-gun/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wiredgeekdad+%28Blog+-+GeekDad%29
Only in Americ ...... Canada !?
Posted January 15, 2010
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stonebro: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/12/swat-team-takes-down-man-armed-with-lego-gun/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wiredgeekdad+%28Blog+-+GeekDad%29
Only in Americ ...... Canada !?

That's a pretty good advert for BrickGun. "Even fools SWAT teams." LOL
Posted January 15, 2010
That IS a sweet replica though and there's no good in taking a chance on stuff like this. Hopefully they all ended up having a laugh over it
maybe it was a misunderstanding, they were asking them to come and check out the sweet lego replica gun
Post edited January 15, 2010 by Aliasalpha
Posted January 15, 2010
Humorous, but think about it this way:
Guy with gun in office. As far as the police are concerned, they might be catching a whackjob BEFORE he blows everyone away.
So they prep the SWAT team and do a quick and non-lethal takedown.
What would have happened if they asked "is that a real gun"?
Guy would have known police were there. If he were a "bad man", he might have opened fire, injuring/killing himself, a SWAT officer, or a co-worker.
That being said, that IS a really cool lego gun. I might have to order one (and now, we all know that we should ship these things to our home addresses :p).
Posted January 15, 2010
the article said no charges pending.
charges should be pending on maybe a couple of people.
the dude who got arrested against the swat officers, the swat against the dude who called in the silly report.
Posted January 15, 2010
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Weclock: the article said no charges pending.
charges should be pending on maybe a couple of people.
the dude who got arrested against the swat officers, the swat against the dude who called in the silly report.

How is calling in a potential guy with a gun a "silly report"?
The guy who called it in was from a neighboring building. He probably got bored, looked out his window, saw a guy in an office with what looked like a gun on his desk.
Seriously, how is it silly to call the cops?
As for the guy with the fake-gun suing the cops: he probably could. He has no right to do so, but he could. And that is why the legal system is such a mess.
Posted January 15, 2010
The guy who got busted by the SWAT officers should be charged? Why? He didn't do anything wrong.
On a side note, this is a HUGE overreaction for any police force. Typically you send in on duty officers that are close to the area first to assess the situation, THEN call in a SWAT/EST team. While calling in a SWAT team could be considered a preventative and safety measure, then I also point out that they are complete morons for not using spotters to check out the office prior to barging in and pinning him up to a wall.
Posted January 15, 2010
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Wraith: The guy who got busted by the SWAT officers should be charged? Why? He didn't do anything wrong.
On a side note, this is a HUGE overreaction for any police force. Typically you send in on duty officers that are close to the area first to assess the situation, THEN call in a SWAT/EST team. While calling in a SWAT team could be considered a preventative and safety measure, then I also point out that they are complete morons for not using spotters to check out the office prior to barging in and pinning him up to a wall.

That is why I think nobody should really be charged in this fiasco. I just think it is idiotic to think that the guy calling it in should be penalized for being a concerned citizen.
And reading the actual article, it sounds more like this happened:
Guy played with toy and left it on the desk.
Someone called it in.
Guy put toy back in box.
Cops got there.
SWAT temporarily arrested him to handle the situation.
We don't know all the details. For all we know, as the voyeur was calling, toy-man was putting the toy in its box. That would make scouting out the area pointless, but if it were a real gun, it would be a threat.
Without further detail, we can't really determine if it was an overreaction or not. But either way, I still say nothing wrong was done (unless the company has a policy against bringing toys, and since they were all playing Modern Warfare 2, I doubt it :p).
Posted January 15, 2010
The guy who got arrested actually posted in the comments and described what happened in his blog. By the time the cops arrived, the gun had been dismantled and put back in it's box. He gives a few more details not written in the article.
I still think the cops did the right thing. They get called in about an armed man in an office, why would they take things lightly? Why should they be optimistic it's probably his gun and he has a permit? They're not going to ask the caller if he's waving it around or if someone's being threatened. Unless you're the security guard, guns and offices don't mix well and as soon as they found out it was a lego gun, they took the cuffs off and let him go.
I'd recommend blinders on the windows. He's got nosy neighbors.
Posted January 15, 2010
National Post: "It was the end of the day so Mr. Bell and a few colleagues decided to wind down by playing a few rounds of the video game Modern Warfare 2 at the office before heading home. A little while later, sudden, intense yelling filled the office hallways."
I would like to work at this company.
Posted January 15, 2010
I think the cops reacting to that situation was good as there are enough whackjobs running around a stick=up or hostage situation could occur. But SWAT that quick? They should've sent a patrol on by and the guy could have easily told them it was a fake gun or the police would have discerned in a matter of minutes it was a fake gun. SWAT as the first response overkill, I don't see them busting into houses at every domestic violence call or every time a shoplifting happens. Reason why? Because that is overkill and wastes resources.
Posted January 15, 2010
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Wraith: The guy who got busted by the SWAT officers should be charged? Why? He didn't do anything wrong.
On a side note, this is a HUGE overreaction for any police force. Typically you send in on duty officers that are close to the area first to assess the situation, THEN call in a SWAT/EST team. While calling in a SWAT team could be considered a preventative and safety measure, then I also point out that they are complete morons for not using spotters to check out the office prior to barging in and pinning him up to a wall.

Not only that but they cuffed him and then threw him against the wall in a stairwell. His he hit the wall incorrectly, he could have had a head injury and rights to sue swat for abuse. Same with the guy outside who was thrown against a van. I do have to say it is was kind of suspicious that the police knew his name and knew he had the lego gun. I have to wonder what the person told the police. They too could get into big trouble if they falsified the extravagance of the danger. Swat sounded angst in the blog so they should chill before they hurt someone in an adrenalin rage.
Posted January 15, 2010
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StealthKnight: Swat sounded angst in the blog so they should chill before they hurt someone in an adrenalin rage.

This needs to be the tagline for the next SWAT game.
Posted January 15, 2010
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tb87670: I think the cops reacting to that situation was good as there are enough whackjobs running around a stick=up or hostage situation could occur.

Actually the number of whackjobs running around who are going to start shooting people is incredibly small. When a random person observes what appears to be a gun (even if it turns out to be a real gun) the situation is usually entirely innocent with no laws being broken and no threat being posed to anyone. This is not to say that cops shouldn't respond to such reports, but the nature of their response should reflect the actual chances of what the situation will turn out to be. Sending 2-4 cops by to inquire as to what is actually going on would be a reasonable and proportionate response. Having SWAT storm in, slam the guy into a wall and cuff him is neither reasonable nor proportionate, and whoever decided on that response should be fired from the police force immediately. The simple fact is that these kinds of stupid reactions are likely to account for more injuries and deaths than the rare cases when a proportionate response would prove inadequate (and this isn't even counting the various psychological effects these kinds of responses have).
Posted January 16, 2010
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DarrkPhoenix: Actually the number of whackjobs running around who are going to start shooting people is incredibly small. When a random person observes what appears to be a gun (even if it turns out to be a real gun) the situation is usually entirely innocent with no laws being broken and no threat being posed to anyone. This is not to say that cops shouldn't respond to such reports, but the nature of their response should reflect the actual chances of what the situation will turn out to be. Sending 2-4 cops by to inquire as to what is actually going on would be a reasonable and proportionate response. Having SWAT storm in, slam the guy into a wall and cuff him is neither reasonable nor proportionate, and whoever decided on that response should be fired from the police force immediately. The simple fact is that these kinds of stupid reactions are likely to account for more injuries and deaths than the rare cases when a proportionate response would prove inadequate (and this isn't even counting the various psychological effects these kinds of responses have).

Ditto, about what I said. I am sure there are not plenty of whackjobs but then again I've seen my fair share in a small town, can't imagine a large city.
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General discussion (archive)SWAT team takes down man armed with LEGO gun(43 posts)(43 posts)
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