In defense of an Air Marshal

Today an Air Marshal shot and killed a man in Miami after the man ran from the airplane he was boarding, announced that he had a bomb in the bag he was holding, and reached into the bag despite being given orders to hit the ground. It is reported that as the man ran from the plane, his wife was yelling that he was bi-polar and had not taken his medicine. Like all high profile police shooting, there will be some talk about whether the shooting was justified. Let me tell you a story about why it was.

Last winter a good friend of mine, a police officer, told me a story about an incident in a neighboring community. An officer had been called to a home because a 17 year old boy was refusing to go to school and was being physical. When the officer arrived and entered the house, the 17 year old surprised him by stabbing him in the abdomen and then holding the knife to the officer's throat. The situation was such that the officer had the opportunity to unholster his firearm and shoot the boy in order to save his own life. This officer went well above and beyond the call of duty, though, and struggled with the boy until he could remove the knife from his throat and subdue the boy. He survived the stab wound and was hailed as a hero-justly deserved accolades, by the way. After the story, my friend told me something that I will never forget. He told me that he didn't think he could do the same if in that situation. He said that if he felt his life were in danger, he would use deadly force because he wants to go home to his family that night.

Actions like the heroic officer are above and beyond the call of duty, and they are also very risky. This air marshal had to make a snap decision that could have held his life and that of others in the vicinity in the balance. The man refused to stop and made a threatening move into his bag. While it is sad that the man was mentally ill, that does not matter. Mentally ill people are just as capable, and sometimes more capable, of causing themselves and others grievous bodily harm. While it turns out that this man did not have a bomb, there is no way this marshal could have known that. He chose to protect his life and the lives of those in the area over that of this threatening, if ill, man. Given the situation, one can hardly fault this marshal for wanting to go home to his family tonight, even if it meant the subject had to die.