Ga. Man Shot With Police Bean Bag Gun Dies

COLUMBUS, Ga. -- A man who telephoned a hot line to say he had a gun and was dreaming of killing children died after police shot him with supposedly non-lethal bean bag projectiles, officials said.

Lester Zachary died Wednesday at a hospital, two days after he was shot at his home with two bean bag bullets.

Zachary, 45, died of internal bleeding caused by a bullet hitting his spleen area, Muscogee County Coroner James Dunnavant said Thursday.

A bean bag bullet is intended by police as a non-lethal alternative to shooting someone with a gun, Police Chief Ricky Boren said.
.....
Boren said the department will continue to use the guns until all investigations are completed. The department has used the guns nine times since 2001, and until now no one had died as a result, he said.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-bean-bag-death,0,4553475.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

He should have been taken to get help, not killed.

They do that in other countries. An 8' x 8' net is a great low-tech tool used for centuries.


What's with this American itch to always shoot something, however mild in theory, at a person?

It's really a tragedy that the man died. What a shame.

However, I support law enforcement using so called non-lethal weapons for the protection of themselves, the criminal and those around them.

Although the beanbag bullet had devastating results, in general it is a better alternative to a lead bullet.

Here is an interesting site that discusses non-lethal weapons:

www.nonlethal.com

Here is another article that I enjoyed reading and learned something:
Research on Non-Lethal Weapons

The author in the above mentioned link sometimes calls non-lethal weapons, "less-lethal", a term I believe is more accurate.

Fergus

non-lethal weapons" or true non-lethal weapons? There are a couple of really good non-lethal weapons out there. One is called a submission hold and the other is force of numbers.

Jay

Those "non lethal" options have killed far more people than beanbags.

The beanbag was used correctly. They shot, it killed. Also, how long have beanbags been in service compared to the use of submission holds?

Jay

To a resisting suspect who may or may not be stronger than the officer applying it?

Its a damn shame this guy died from this. Its a damn shame when anyone has to die in confrontations with the police but I prefer these methods to shooting people.

One last point, I wish people would stop calling rubbeer bullet, bean bags gus, tasers etc as non-lethal, when their classification should be less lethal.

He got help alright. A slab in the morgue.

Don

It seems like he was trying to help himself.

He called them. He was looking for help. They go to his house where, after a period of time, they talk him out onto the porch.

Would it have hurt to talk for another half hour and get him to surrender? He was apparently headed that way.

I know we say we do! but......

But they sure look like they freakin' hurt!

I thought that took a while.
Did he die of the injury or lack of medical treatment?
Any medical opinions?

The correct term the law enforcment community uses is Less-than-lethal. If used incorrectly (ie to the head) there is the possiblility of a lethal injury. However, as others have pointed out, its a whole lot less lethal than bullet from a handgun.

These mistakes happen, people die in car accidents when the data says they should have lived. Nothing is perfect. I don't want to sound like a crazed freeper here, but just realize that until we get Wonder Woman's magic lasso that forces people to comply, the alternatives are going to be limited.

Let the police do their job with an internal review. I still have enough faith that our local law enforcement can function fairly and properly. They'll find out if there was diliberate misuse of the weapon or if it was just an honest fluke. Try to be impartial here.