What Do You Think?

[Jeanjbz]

Hopefully this will be the first and the last time such a thing will happen in Iceland.

It may not seem like much of a big deal for people who live in countries where it is nearly impossible to keep up with the number of people shot by police/government, but this really is a HUGE statement as to the state of the world.

And the direction we as a society are going with our hand basket.


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http://news.ph.msn.com/top-stories/icelands-first-ever-police-shooting-leaves-one-dead-4

Mon, 02 Dec 2013 | By Agence France-Presse
Iceland's first-ever police shooting leaves one dead

With a population of only 322,000 and one of the lowest crime rates in the world, police rarely draw their weapons in the island nation.

The incident was "without precedent" in Iceland's history, national police chief Haraldur Johannessen told a press conference in Reykjavik.

The victim, a man in his late 50s, fired a shotgun several times in his apartment in the early hours of Monday morning, forcing police to evacuate residents of the building in east Reykjavik.

When they failed to make contact with him the police then fired gas canisters through his windows in an attempt to immobilise him.

"That did not work and the man started shooting out of the windows of the apartment," said Reykjavik police chief Stefan Eiriksson.

A police swat team then entered the apartment.

One officer was hit in the helmet and the other on a shield but neither were injured.

When they returned fire the man was fatally injured and later died in hospital.

"The police regrets this incident and wishes to extend its condolences to the man's family," said national police chief Johannessen.
An investigation has been opened to determine why the victim began shooting and whether he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

[Jeanjbz]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25190119#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa


2 December 2013


Icelandic police have shot dead a man who was firing a shotgun in his apartment in the early hours of Monday.

It is the first time someone has been killed in an armed police operation in Iceland, officials say.

Tear gas canisters were fired through the windows in an attempt to subdue the 59-year-old, who lived in the east of the capital, Reykjavik.

When this failed he was shot after firing at police entering the building. Between 15 and 20 officers took part.

Back-up was provided by special forces.

The tear gas was used when the man, who has not been named, failed to respond to police attempts to contact him and continued shooting.

When they entered the apartment, two members of the special forces were injured by shotgun fire - one in the face, the other in the hand.
Investigation

The man, who died soon after arriving in hospital, was thought to be alone, police say, and the motive for his action remains unclear.

"Police regret this incident and would like to extend their condolences to the family of the man," Icelandic police chief Haraldur Johannessen told reporters.

The incident was "without precedent" in Iceland, he said.

The apartment block was evacuated as neighbours were considered to be in danger.

Iceland, with a population of 322,000, has one of the lowest crime rates in the world and shooting incidents are unusual.

Counselling is being provided to the special forces team.

An investigation is being carried out into the conduct of the police and to try to find out why the man began firing.