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Philadelphia Officer Shot Dead While Trying to Stop Robbery

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by YankeeFan, Mar 5, 2015.

  1. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Father of two young children:

    A Philadelphia police officer was shot in the head and killed after he and his partner exchanged gunfire with two suspects trying to rob a video game store, city officials said Thursday.

    The slain officer, Robert Wilson III, fired back even as he was being shot by suspects on either side of him. One was struck and taken to a hospital while the other was in custody, police said.

    Philadelphia Officer Shot Dead While Trying to Stop Robbery - ABC News
     
  2. DeskMonkey1

    DeskMonkey1 Active Member

    I won't get into the pro-cop, anti-cop fight but, a cop being killed while responding to a robbery in Philadelphia isn't exactly a rarity. Hate it for the family but why is this one newsworthy but not the other hundreds killed in the line of duty?
     
  3. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    If it's not a rarity, then Philadelphia cops are extremely underpaid.
     
  4. Mr. Sunshine

    Mr. Sunshine Well-Known Member

    Good question.
     
  5. Riptide

    Riptide Well-Known Member

    Maybe the shooters were from Chicago.
     
  6. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Actually, it is a rarity. They had a bad run from 2007-09 (a total of seven in about 18 months), but all told a total of 260 Philadelphia police officers have been killed in the line of duty -- since 1828. The last one was in 2012.
    The last one killed responding to a robbery call was in 2008.

    Philadelphia Police Department, Pennsylvania, Fallen Officers

    By comparison, New York has had 828 line of duty deaths since 1806 (almost 100 of those related to 9/11). The NYPD counts deaths from 9/11 related illnesses as being in the line of duty, so the last ones actually killed on the job were the two shot in their patrol car in December.
    Chicago has had 524 since 1853, with the last coming in 2011.
    Nationwide, there were 124 line of duty deaths last year. Only four were in Pennsylvania, and one of those was killed on a training exercise.
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2015
  7. DeskMonkey1

    DeskMonkey1 Active Member

    OK, I will amend my comment. An officer being killed in the line of duty in a major metropolitan is not a rarity. I hate it for those two kids but why is this death worthy of a thread but not the rest?
     
  8. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Why does any individual killing merit a thread?
     
  9. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    Because he was assassinated!!! (cue dramatic music)

    I really don't know, but my theory is that is cop killing have become a "thing" amongst conservatives. And that they believe that cops are America's "soldiers" protecting the homeland and that they should be celebrated as such. It is a weird intersection of the militarization of the police and respect the uniform mentality.

    I've noticed it on Facebook with the more conservative types. You know the ones, the people you went to high school with and haven't spoken to in 20 years and they're the ones who post Bible verses [/cross-threaad] in their feed and have immaculately groomed family photos wearing matching outfits at the beach.

    Curiously when cops get killed by home-grown terrorists like the sovereign citizens, that never seems to make it
     
  10. ColdCat

    ColdCat Well-Known Member

    Though strangely conservatives never were that interested in honoring actual soldiers. When Michigan's Democratic governor Jennifer Granholm wanted to lower flags to half staff to honor any serviceman from Michigan killed in action, it was Republicans in the state legislature that pushed back.
     
  11. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Yes. I've found this to be the case as well.

    Lots of examples of it.
     
  12. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Interesting.

    It's almost like you are saying that some killings attract attention because they can be used by some to advance a political agenda.

    I hadn't thought of that.

    Conservatives need to come up with better narrative writers though if they are going to mount political campaigns based on these kinds of events.
     
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