As I always think when I see a headline like that is:
"That could have been me."
I have looked into the little end twice, and that's the times I knew about.
We've read about the tragedies where somebody has been shot for all the wrong reasons, and been saddened and outraged about it.
So should I be taking the police's side in this?
Should I point out how hard and stressful the job is, and point out all the times they could have done something wrong, but didn't and the right bad guy was arrested and/or not shot, or the out of harmony person raving and swinging garden tools at kids who was talked down without injury or the use of weapons, or the times a lone police officer, woman or man, confront and arrest a criminal in the dark?
So yes the job is dam hard, going from bored donut eatin stupid to an instant later making life or death decisions.
I don't know much worth telling, but I do know that nobody's perfect.
So there you are, working in your garage, thinking your treasured family pet is safe, when Blam! Blam! in your front yard...
So in this case, should I take the police's side, or.....
should I laugh my arse off?
Police shoot concrete alligator
They killed it twice.
Sheridan said he heard gunfire as he worked in his garage last weekend and went out to investigate, discovering several police officers with their guns drawn.
"The officer fired two rounds, and killed my concrete, ornamental alligator," Sheridan said.
The game warden who told them over the phone it was ok to shoot it said, essentially,
'yeah yeah, I know we don't haz alligators this far north, but people release them into the woods...'
Everybody's funny, now you funny too: Kansas City Police Shoot Endangered Cement Alligator
While wildlife conservation officials battle to avoid the extinction of endangered cement alligators, police in Missouri, with reckless disregard, twice shot and chipped one that was “lurking” by a pond in Kansas.
This kind of thing can get out of hand, and with lawnorder types calling for more border drones and other overreaching technologies...
The drama mirrors an incident in the UK last month, when reports of a white tiger in a field prompted a police alert.
A cricket match was interrupted, golfers were escorted from a course in the area following the sighting at Hedge End in Hampshire, BBC News reported.
Police drafted in zoo staff with tranquilizer guns, and a police helicopter from another county was also brought in to investigate.
However, a Hampshire Constabulary spokesman told the BBC that it became 'obvious it was a stuffed life-size toy' when the downdraft from the chopper just blew it over.
Good thing they weren't using drones.