"I Feared For My Life.....so I shot to Kill, the Dog/Person"

The police state is meant to control lower middle class and poor so the 2% can feel safe and happy.

The police actually exist to protect the 2% from the rest of us...

Sure, lots of person-hours are spent in neighborhoods where there are no rich people, but the overall job is to make sure the violence that is inherent with poverty doesnt spread out to the rich and powerful.

The woman was identified by relatives as Yanira Serrano. Serrano had special needs and was armed with a knife during the confrontation, relatives told reporters, but they had hoped she would receive medical help because she was off her medication."

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Woman-18-shot-dead-by-San-Mateo-sheriff-s-deputy-5527706.php

they find a wrongful shooting....

Of course many of them were, common sense dictates.

We are in the police state I mentioned, I wonder if this was a Woman of color, that would of course increase her chances of being shot long before a white person would.

have been preferable to disable the young girl.

I just don't get this. The cop wasn't alone, the article says "deputies responded", she had a knife. So two or more deputies with tazers, nightsticks, and hand to hand combat training are "afraid for their lives" from a small 18 year old girl with a knife?!

Truly disgusting.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tueller_Drill which established the distance. That rules out baton, chemical spray and bare hands. The maximum effective range of a taser appears to be 35 feet.

Certainly this is an unfortunate tragedy and details are sparse, if the shooting incident occurred inside, she was probably closer then 21 foot threshold that is referenced in my link above.

Some other relevant facts: The kevlar most bullet proof vests are made of do not stop knives, especially stabbing and most police departments issue retention holsters designed to prevent people from grabbing an officers gun, the downside to a retention holster is that it also increases the time it takes a police officer to draw his weapon.

I've gone through military police training and use of force training, so my comments are based on that.

If she was out of range of a taser and pepper spray then why did the officer feel threatened? Was she some sort of Nolan Ryan like knife throwing expert?

The link I provided clearly explains the distance someone with a knife is to be considered an imminent threat.

I never said she was out of range of the taser. The link did not state whether the shooting took place inside or outside. I made the observation that if the shooting occurred inside, the officers were likely inside the distance a knife is considered a threat.

Granted, we don't have all the details, but I'm still at a loss as to how more than one deputy on the scene where not able to subdue this 18 year old girl without using deadly force.

And again absent more details, this is probably going to be ruled a justifiable shooting.

End of story. There will be the expected "investigation," while he's out eating doughnuts on paid leave, but this is a mere formality.

He would be within his rights to shoot her even if she had no weapon. The fact she had a knife, even if it was a plastic picnic knife, is enough justification for him to put multiple bullets in her. He was merely being nice to her family by not making her a bloody mess, and giving the embalmer more work.

<sarcasm>