A policewoman killed by a teacher with a Japanese saber in France.
By topffer
@topffer (42156)
France
October 14, 2011 10:00am CST
This morning in Bourges, a city in the center of France, a man -- a teacher -- came to the prefecture to declare the possession of a Japanese saber and to ask a permit to carry it. As the permit was refused, he began to threaten people with his saber and wounded a public servant. When three policemen came to arrest him, he killed one -- a mother of 2 children -- and wounded another before being shot by the third policeman.
Here is the Google English translation of this news :
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.20minutes.fr%2Fsociete%2F806038-coup-folie-bourges-policiere-tuee-coups-sabre
Do you know what is terrible behind this story ? You don't have to declare a saber in France, you can buy it freely, and you can carry it in the streets without any permit if you have a "legitimate reason", by example a sporting license in a fencing club... I deduce that he was not teaching law, and that the prefecture employees did not knew very well the law... We live in a mad world. What are your thoughts ?
2 people like this
9 responses
@NoWayRo (1061)
• Romania
14 Oct 11
Guess that man wanted to prove he had a point when he asked for a permit - it wasn't safe to allow him with a saber. It would be funny, if it weren't sad.
I have a saber at home. Wanted to sell it a while back, but now, when I think of it, maybe I should hang on to it. In a sword fight I would at least have a weapon, seems that would make me better equipped than the poor policemen in this case.
4 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
14 Oct 11
They can shot, after summoning -- in this case, summoning him to put down his saber --, and in a prefecture, which is a public place with a lot of people, this man who had already wounded an employee was a real danger, so they could have shot him before. The third policeman shot him in the knees : he did not intended to hurt the man seriously but to stop him. It happened in a calm city, and they did not respected their own security procedures, but arguing with somebody mad is more the job of a psychologist than a policeman... I would not try to make my saber shining : I presume there is more rust than metal
.
.2 people like this
@bobmnu (8157)
• United States
14 Oct 11
We had an incident in the US where a police officer shot a man who was threatning him with a large knife. The public out cry was very loud. Many people wanted to know why the police could not have shot the weapon out of his hand? As you point out things can happen very quickly and in the time it took a police officer to summons him and then to shoot him 3 people were injured or killed. Thank goodness the police acted as quickly as they did.
1 person likes this
@NoWayRo (1061)
• Romania
15 Oct 11
I agree with you, purple. I expect police officers to be able to handle a weapon, but not to be exceptional marksmen, like the kind we see in movies. I mean, how often do they need to fire a weapon outside their training ranges, anyway? If they manage to shoot a person enough to stop him, but not to kill him, I'd say they're good enough for their job.
2 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
14 Oct 11
It is difficult to say, but possible : this man was not known at all by the police, and we will know more about him during the trial... if there is a trial : if experts think that he was mad when he killed this policewoman, he will go in a mental home without a trial.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
14 Oct 11
TOPFFER my thoughts are a crazed man and a saber do not mix and he was horribly dangerous.Even if he had been denied a permit to
cary the thing that was no reason for him to go bananas over it.the man must have mental problems. I am glad that the third police office had the moxie to shoot the man before he killed anyone else.
What on earth was a teacher wanting a license to carry a saber? makes no good sense.
2 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
14 Oct 11
Maybe he had problems with his pupils ?
Seriously, it is scaring. He was not known by the police, and a teacher is generally not a violent person, but this one became suddenly mad. In a public place receiving a lot of people every day like this prefecture, he could have wounded more persons, and the third officer did a good job when he shot the man on the knees to stop him.
?
Seriously, it is scaring. He was not known by the police, and a teacher is generally not a violent person, but this one became suddenly mad. In a public place receiving a lot of people every day like this prefecture, he could have wounded more persons, and the third officer did a good job when he shot the man on the knees to stop him.
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
•
14 Oct 11
Completely mental! 
As someone who's walked through part of Paris carrying a longbow and arrows (just from the parking place to home), I can understand the oddity of the situation but the guy's reaction is completely deranged. What a bizarre world... 
As someone who's walked through part of Paris carrying a longbow and arrows (just from the parking place to home), I can understand the oddity of the situation but the guy's reaction is completely deranged. What a bizarre world... 3 people like this
@petersum (4522)
• United States
14 Oct 11
I find it strange that France doesn't have such a law. In Britain, you couldn't have a pen-knife even with a blade longer than (I think) 4 inches. So technically you could be arrested for carrying home a large kitchen knife that you just bought from a store! Common sense, even in policemen, should prevail in such cases.
3 people like this
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
16 Oct 11
Oh my God! Can you imagine that man was supposed to educate children? 
What would he have taught the students? To disobey the rules? To fight back when something is not allowed to do? To resist being arrested?
Now I hope he will be behind the bars long enough. What does the French law says for cases like this: will he be allowed to teach again?
What would he have taught the students? To disobey the rules? To fight back when something is not allowed to do? To resist being arrested?
Now I hope he will be behind the bars long enough. What does the French law says for cases like this: will he be allowed to teach again?1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
16 Oct 11
There is a difficult competitive examination for teachers after a college diploma, followed by two years of training : slapping a pupil is an offense now and a violent person would not be allowed to teach, but you are right : I don't want to think at what would have happened if he had "exploded" in his classroom
. He is in a hospital now, and I don't know if he will go to jail or to a mental home -- it depends of the advice given by medical experts -- but it is sure that, in both cases, he will never teach again.
. He is in a hospital now, and I don't know if he will go to jail or to a mental home -- it depends of the advice given by medical experts -- but it is sure that, in both cases, he will never teach again.1 person likes this
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
14 Oct 11
Wow.
Although maybe this means that there should be a permit required, since this man used his to kill someone.
the poor officer's family! i can't imagine what a thing to have to tell those children.
1 person likes this
@skysuccess (8858)
• Singapore
15 Oct 11
topffer,
I do not think any amount of criticism here is going to help if your country's law enforcements do not see anything wrong with wielding weapons in the public when one has a sporting permit. I am surprised that they do not see any potential danger with this practice.
It is just sad that the people up there do not see that sports facilities could have armories to keep such weapons under heavy security and let members access it within the sporting premises. For one, it would save practitioners from carrying it around in a precarious and cumbersome way. It is such simple safety logic.
I believe the authorities just need to see the change and start changing the statute for the public's safety sake.
@purplealabaster (22094)
• United States
15 Oct 11
I think that this is very sad. I think that the police should have followed proper procedures, and then perhaps this would not have happened ... well, the incident would have happened but there might not have been any lives lost. On the other hand, it is very easy to look back and say what should have happened after the fact, but while it is happening there is no guarantee of how it will end.
1 person likes this
@purplealabaster (22094)
• United States
15 Oct 11
As I stated in a previous comment, the person with the knife or sword actually has the advantage in a close quarters fight, especially when they already have their weapon in hand. In the time that it would take the police officers to draw, aim and fire their weapons the person wielding the knife or sword could already do a lot of damage, and unfortunately I think that has been proven here.
1 person likes this
