courtesy wsbtv.com

A man carrying what turned out to be a replica Tommy gun prompted a call to police in Monroe, Georgia yesterday.

From the Atlanta Constitution:

A 63-year-old man was shot and killed Thursday in Monroe after police said he was carrying a firearm that turned out to be a replica Thompson submachine gun, the GBI said.

The incident happened about 9 a.m. in the 400 block of East Marable Street in Walton County when police responded to a report of a man with a gun, Monroe Public Safety Director Keith Glass said in a statement.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued the following statement:

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44 COMMENTS

    • Kids shouldn’t play with toy guns in public. Neither should senior citizens.

      But defending the cop, the gun-toting old guy could just as easily have been a decorated Vietnam vet with a fully auto M14 he bought in the 80s.

  2. I hate to say “Duh!”, but can we discover whether the “replica” is a FIRING replica? Because that is what I would consider a replica, one of the semi-only Thompson replicas which have been around a long time. IOW, was he pointing a real gun at the officer?

    • I’d assume by replica they mean a non-firearm. But in the cops’ defense, if he pointed something that looks like a gun at them, they’re under no duty to wait for him to pull the trigger to see if it fires before they respond with their own firearms.

      The real question is how was he “pointing” it? Holding it by the muzzle and waving the stock around isn’t a lethal threat. Holding the grip and pointing the muzzle toward them is.

    • The question is not whether or not this “replica” was a real gun. Apparently it looked real enough. The question is whether or not he threatened anyone with it, or pointed it at anyone.

      Someone points something that looks like a gun at me, I’m not going to ask if it’s real. If I have a reasonable belief that you are a lethal threat, I will act accordingly.

    • some of those non-firing replicas can be incredibly realistic…the denix version of the Thompson SMG is almost impossible to tell from the real thing….and, yes…I own both…

    • Makes absolutely no difference. He pointed what appeared to be a weapon. either a fully auto or a semi auto, at the officers. The officers were absolutely authorized to defend themselves. I don’t give a crap if the weapon was a toy. I would have responded in the exact same manner.

  3. So was it a toy? Wood? Plastic? BB or pellet gun? Rubber band gun?
    Did it have an orange tip?
    Play stupid games…win stupid prizes.
    Any video available?

  5. “Your’s says ‘replica’, while *mine* says “Desert Eagle, .50 “…

  6. Well…. his clothing choice determined his fate, not the Thompson.

    I could tell it was “curtains” for the poor sod.

  8. How many bullets are the police officer’s bodies supposed to absorb before they can definitively conclude that a suspect is not holding a replica gun and is therefore okay to defend themselves against?

    Crazy person committing suicide by cop. His sanity is not the officer’s problem.

    • You treat it like any other armed combatant situation.

      If they just drove up and shoot him that would have been wrong. They claim he pointed it at them, which gives them the option of deadly force.

      A bunch of cops are not for open carry regardless of their claims of supporting the U.S. constitution. A lot of them can be unreasonable when responding to some dummy’s call about a man carrying a gun in a holster or a long gun slung on their back. They like to chastise the person for exercising their 2nd, 4th and 5th. Eventually those cops may learn that people have rights, but that doesn’t mean their minds were changed.

      • “pointed a weapon “at” me” is the universal get out of anything phrase for the popo today. Did he AIM the weapon at you (check weld, eye to sight)? If not BS you weren;t in “fear for your life”.

      • He’s one of those young guys who served in Iraq and became a cop after. Much different type of person than what usually is the case.

        You realize that when people criticize police they are not really directing it all at the individual? When you join an institution you take on all the baggage plus your personal behavior. So, when someone yells at a cop they are probably directing their discontent at the badge not the individual. Which is why good cops not weeding out bad cops hurts them, the institution and the community. It doesn’t matter if you are a great person and cop, if your department is spoiled you become tainted every time you put on their uniform.

        Not that it matters… I have military and police in the family.

        • “Not that it matters… I have military and police in the family.”

          And CNN reporters have family members who own guns. That relationship doesn’t confer any experience or special insight.

        • @California Richard

          I didn’t say it did.

          I simply made that comment because people may think I hate all police and consider them all bad humans or that I can’t live amongst them in peace. Since you are so biased and hateful you missed the point…

          By the way, you can get special insight about something when you are friends or family with someone with that knowledge. All you got to do is ask them questions or listen to their stories. I never lived in a maximum security prison, but I know people that have been there, thus I got inside info and I have actually been there because of them.

        • “Young” guys who served in Iraq? You realize the Iraq war started damn near 20 years ago right? There’s iraq veterans in their 50s. Considering the real iraq war ended ~2010, most iraq veterans are in there 30s or older.

        • “Which is why good cops not weeding out bad cops hurts them,”

          STHU with your BS attitude and YOUR LIES.

          Good cops are CONSTANTLY weeding out bad cops, and the percentage of bad cops is less than the percentage of AHOLES in your address book.

          Your attitude is FOS, your whining is nothing but giving excuses to COP KILLERS and flag burners, and HELL YEAH I’M BIGOTED, I am bigoted against morons like you.

        • “…Since you are so biased and hateful you missed the point…”

          I have to agree with Joe. You’re FOS. You insult me and say I’m wrong, then turn around and prove me right by trying to justify your opinions based on unearned 2nd hand knowledge.

  10. It is POSSIBLE that the officer acted in a questionable manner, but from the account given it appears we are looking at either bull blown crazy or deliberate suicide-by-cop.

  11. I would not want to be a police officer. Not many people have much good to say about a cop, but then again cops dont have much good to say about people.

    • Rarely are police officers called for by the public because something good is going on nor do they have the pleasure of interacting with people on their best behavior. It’s the nature of the job unfortunately.

  12. Not enough information to determine much here. Carrying a gun, in and of itself, is not a justification for deadly force… otherwise there would be a lot of dead hunters. But when you carry something that looks just like a submachinegun the leap from ‘carrying’ to ‘threatening’ can be inches.

  13. It makes no difference if it’s a replica or semi or doesn’t fire. Hold it out like it’s real ; it’s real.

  15. “Suicide by police”! I suspect the guy had Medical Problems, and was probably Dropped by either Medicare or Medicaid or Both. And “Couldn’t” afford either Ever Mounting Medical Bills, or the High Cost of Prescription Medication…

  16. Must have been a white guy otherwise it would of been plastered all over the news non-stop. Lesson to all idiots….don’t point guns at cops, it might ruin your day!

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