This is a wild story about

• how running with scissors is a bad idea
• alligator bites can’t even stop a dude on meth
• cops continue to have no clue what de-escalation tactics are

Honestly I think in this case the cops responded as they should. They tried teasing him and that didn’t do anything and then he tried to take a rifle from them. At that point they didn’t have a lot of options.

The fact that you (an average US citizen, presumably) think tasing is de-escalation is literally part of the problem.

I was trained by cops multiple times during my 10 years of security work. Sadly, I didn’t receive much for de-escalation training. I had to learn it myself. Oh sure sometimes escalation (like sounding intimidating while moving your hand to your hip) worked as a method of de-escalation, most of the time it was to reinforce the mantra to “ensure you go home at night”.

Tasers aren’t even non-lethal, they are now (properly, with public outcry) considered “less lethal”.

Meanwhile, we have no one there to assess him to determine what his medical and/or psychological needs are, because “he’s dangerous”.

The cops brought the rifle.

I get what you’re saying. I would agree in almost every case. Not on this one. You try to reason with a violent meth head that is this out of his marbles and see how that turns out for you.

No one said to reason with them. Just neutralise them without using a lethal weapon. Mace, batons and manpower will put any unarmed person on the ground.

He wasn’t unarmed.

Japan has man catcher poles that allow you to subdue someone without getting near them. They allow you to hold the person until they get tired or you can get the weapon away from them.

These should be standard in every police force.