Thetford police shooting

[User00056]

Point a handgun at armed police, and this is the inevitable outcome

He was instructed to drop it twice, ignored those instructions, and was shot. Simple as that, as far as I can tell. God knows what he thought he was playing at

https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2026-01-08/man-shot-dead-by-police-was-carrying-airgun-watchdog-confirms?fbclid=IwY2xjawPPo7dleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR7C64DrA8d7Z5k6wRxI7yM1xvei6tudof19RVj9co2n4WzSpTdqiIqkVmlJmw_aem_riJ9vpGSTVv_GF9sTNLfrQ

 

[Bo Diddley]

It's Thetford don't forget.
Once upon a time, a very lovely Norfolk market town. Now full of Chavs, drug dealers, and goodness knows what other riffraff. Spring Walk is particularly nice still.
I hope the police across the country adopt the same zero-tolerance policy... we might see a gradual reduction in crime rates.

 

[enfieldspares]

Gas powered airguns that are copies of modern guns. Well they'll be being next on the banned list. It is only because they are classed as air pistols and not "soft air" or "replicas" that they esacped the VCR Act restrictions on ownership.

I have two. A Colt 1911A1 and the other a P225. Both Swiss Air. They weigh and "heft" the same as the "real" ones so carry in the hand the same and so will appear the someone holding an actual one in .45 ACP. I've no idea what the Thetford man had so speak only from what I have.

Swiss Arms SA1911 Air Pistol with Spin Up

Just Air Guns is one of the UKs best suppliers of the Swiss Arms SA1911 Air Pistol with Spin Up. Visit for a range of Airguns.

www.justairguns.co.uk

Before the 1996 pistol ban I owned maybe half a dozen Colt 1911 be that the 1911 or the 1911A1. All Colt bar one Remington-Rand. So I am intimately familiar with them. How they carry in the hand how they balance in the hand. How they look.

From ten feet away as the "Swiss Air" slide logo "painted" markings are on one side only I would not be able to tell which was CO2 in its parkerised iteration and which was actual 1911A1 Remington Rand. They are that faithful a copy.

 

[cjm1066]

https://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/members/enfieldspares.1357/

That just illustrates the absurd laws we had, it only recently that co2 pistols came off ticket.

 

[User00056]

From ten feet away as the "Swiss Air" slide logo "painted" markings are on one side only I would not be able to tell which was CO2 in its parkerised iteration and which was actual 1911A1 Remington Rand. They are that faithful a copy.

Which is exactly why my empathy lies with officers who had to make a split-second decision based on what they perceived. The fact it turned out to be an airgun has zero bearing on the choice they took. Two individual officers fired one shot each at an individual presenting what appeared to be an immediate threat to life. What else could they have done?

 

[Bavarianbrit]

Darwin continues to rule.

 

[Heym SR20]

So he was carrying a firearm that looks all intents and purposes to be a handgun that fires a 9mm (or whatever) cartridge. He is waving it around on a public road - the A11. He has pointed it at a woman.

Armed police instruct him to put the gun down and he fails to do so and continues acting in a threatening manner so the police shoot him.

What exactly is the story here? The Firearms act makes no distinction between a firearm or imitation firearm when it comes to threatening behaviour.

 

[rollotomassi]

The Belfast taxi man who was collecting drug money[and forgot to turn off his camera] was caught threatening a guy. With a replica Desert Eagle

 

[Taff]

NO British police don,t shoot people, they could have used a taser or just walked away and checked his number plate and arrested him later, he was just a innocent father, lovely man, would not harm a fly.
Hang on I am sounding like the left wing press or people who live in an alternative galaxy from most people.

 

[weblyish]

The Belfast taxi man who was collecting drug money[and forgot to turn off his camera] was caught threatening a guy. With a replica Desert Eagle

I shudder to think that I had a replica desert eagle BB gun in the 80s and would regularly take it to school or the park and no grown ups seemed to think that was a problem

World is quite a different place now

 

[Tim.243]

So he was carrying a firearm that looks all intents and purposes to be a handgun that fires a 9mm (or whatever) cartridge. He is waving it around on a public road - the A11. He has pointed it at a woman.

Armed police instruct him to put the gun down and he fails to do so and continues acting in a threatening manner so the police shoot him.

What exactly is the story here? The Firearms act makes no distinction between a firearm or imitation firearm when it comes to threatening behaviour.

The guy did a very stupid thing however looking like some one can get you shot but this one is long forgotten so you don't need a hand gun.

Jean Charles da Silva de Menezes (Brazilian Portuguese: 7 January 1978 – 22 July 2005) was a Brazilian man fatally shot by the Metropolitan Police Service at Stockwell Station of the London Underground, after being mistakenly identified as one of the fugitives from the previous day.

 

[Bo Diddley]

The Belfast taxi man who was collecting drug money[and forgot to turn off his camera] was caught threatening a guy. With a replica Desert Eagle

It's so common for drug dealers to use legitimate taxis to ferry around the "Goods"

A pal of mine had a business in Wymondham and started to get a couple of chaps who wanted a taxi ride to parts of the city... they always tipped well, but strangly wanted him to wait for them, after a few trips he cottoned on to what was happening and declined to offer them his services again... other firms are quite happy with the business they get

You would think it would be easy for the NCA to set up bogus taxi firms to gather info on the drug dealers... i expect they only want to catch the Pablo Escobars of this world..

 

[VSS]

I shudder to think that I had a replica desert eagle BB gun in the 80s and would regularly take it to school or the park and no grown ups seemed to think that was a problem

World is quite a different place now

I doubt you're the only one on here.

 

[timbrayford]

The guy did a very stupid thing however looking like some one can get you shot but this one is long forgotten so you don't need a hand gun.

Jean Charles da Silva de Menezes (Brazilian Portuguese: 7 January 1978 – 22 July 2005) was a Brazilian man fatally shot by the Metropolitan Police Service at Stockwell Station of the London Underground, after being mistakenly identified as one of the fugitives from the previous day.

Likewise Stephen Waldorf, be careful who you look like ! Shooting of Stephen Waldorf - Wikipedia

 

[webley701]

https://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/members/enfieldspares.1357/

That just illustrates the absurd laws we had, it only recently that co2 pistols came off ticket.

Co2 powered air pistols (under 6 ft/lbs) “came off ticket” many years ago.

 

[Skietindiekop]

About 15 years ago I used to know a police firearms training instructor who would occasionally use the works premises for armed response training.
They train to a standard set of rules and there is no leeway for hesitation or change of procedure as it is entirely designed to ensure the threat cannot harm the public or the police.
Once they say drop it they aren’t going to be asking again if it starts to be raised or pointed.

 

[8x57]

Which is exactly why my empathy lies with officers who had to make a split-second decision based on what they perceived. The fact it turned out to be an airgun has zero bearing on the choice they took. Two individual officers fired one shot each at an individual presenting what appeared to be an immediate threat to life. What else could they have done?

In the circumstances described I think that showed tremendous reserve by the two police officers concerned in only firing two rounds.
I've seen numerous body camera videos of police officers discharging firearms in the U.S. where significant numbers of rounds have been discharged even necessitating a number of reloads, bearing in mind that most police service pistols in use have quite large magazine capacities.
Seems to be an entirely different doctrine between the use of firearms by police in the U.S.A. and the U.K.

 

[Klenchblaize]

Gas powered airguns that are copies of modern guns. Well they'll be being next on the banned list.

And you can bet your last $ the call for such will be led by the Labour MP for South West Norfolk.

K

 

[Bo Diddley]

In the circumstances described I think that showed tremendous reserve by the two police officers concerned in only firing two rounds.
I've seen numerous body camera videos of police officers discharging firearms in the U.S. where significant numbers of rounds have been discharged even necessitating a number of reloads, bearing in mind that most police service pistols in use have quite large magazine capacities.
Seems to be an entirely different doctrine between the use of firearms by police in the U.S.A. and the U.K.

Reminds me of the old joke...
The US officer was asked why he shot a guy 12 times... because I ran out of ammo sir....

 

[Rafter]

Pistols aren't particularly powerful, so shooting until the criminal (or suspect, or target, or innocent ICU nurse, or aspiring doctor, engineer, whatever) ceases to be a threat is reasonable. I've shot deer with handguns, and they very rarely fall over and die immediately - absent a cns shot. Someone who has demonstrated a refusal to do what they were told and appears to be a threat severe enough to be shot should expect to be shot until there is no possibility of their threat remaining.
Might be 2 bullets, might be all of them.
Avoid this by not putting yourself into a situation where getting shot is a ****ible/likely outcome. It's not hard. Im a bit of a clown, but I've managed to not get shot so far, do it can be done.