Exactly. Someone needs to invent a net.

Nice try but those two incidents are hardly the same. The one here in Portland the man took the officer by surprise, was bloody, and, by the officer's account, charged at the officer.

Not the same.

Nice try but the incidents are VERY different no matter how hard you try to say they're similar.

Did the Samurai take the Seattle officers by surprise?

Was the Samurai covered in blood?

Did the Samurai charge toward the Seattle officers?

I'm not sure if they had Tasers at their disposal in '97 quite yet. I know they at least had stun guns by then, but the only ones I know of in that time period were for hand-to-hand use, e.g. you had to press it up against your assailant. They weren't projectile-based like a Taser.

Sounds as if that particular instance is just what the Taser was made for, honestly.

Interesting story!

@ Bill Vaughn - There are nets. They have specially weighted ends on them to keep the assailant on the ground.

There are also "glue guns" nowadays, that fire a special foam propellant that hardens around the assailant nearly instantly.

Pdxperson's right - according to the testimony so far, this guy wasn't just chillaxin with his razer knife the way this swordsman was. And there was only one officer, and they were inside. Out in the open with room to move and lots of backup, there'd be more options.

@Jackattak - Please post links to those things. There's no way they could be effective enough to stop a charging man with a knife at point blank range. How's the wifi, there in fantasy land?

Easy, Reymont - I never said they would be effective against what happened with Jackie and Officer Walters.

Sticky Foam Gun: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky_foam

You might have messed with one of these in your military days, depending on when you served and what you did.

Net gun video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU4h-t0E9y4

More on the net gun: http://www.shootingnet.com/

hmmm! all of you pro-cop defenders are assuming that PPB/Walters, et al are telling the full truth and that it is not spinned. Sorry, those of us out here that have followed the evolution of similar incidents in the past, know this sort of assumption is totally naive and unfounded. Do PPB/PPA and the City spin the news, yes of course they do and we all know it. Why are we to believe that suddenly they've gotten honest and unafraid to tell the full truth now? Not with PPA Union negotiations up for review and significant changes in the way they do business being debated in City Council

don't think so!

They weren't inside . He wasn't "rushing" at him . The tactics in Seattle are exactly how this should have been handled . Walters had plenty of time to mace Jackie and stay away from him . You can't stab what you can't see . One question though . How long was the handle on the sword ?

He wasn't inside . Jackie wasn't "rushing" or "charging" at him . This sounds like a very similar story . Pike st market is much more populated with a much greater chance of disaster . There still had to be a first officer on the scene . He or she found a way to properly asses the situation and keep from smoking someone . If innocent people weren't in danger there was ample time to try mace or a taser . Police employ these tactics on a daily basis without murder . One question though . How long was the handle on the sword ?

@PDX Oddball - They were inside - they were in the arboretum, right? Jackie was the in the bathroom, and the shooting happened in the lobby. And why don't you consider the cop an "innocent person in danger?" Why should he have to assume any risk? Open fire.

@Jackattak - Thanks for the links, but man those things look stupid!

Looks like the foam gun failed back in 1995, according to the links in the wikipedia entry. It says they are building it into high-security doors, now, like a foam land mine for burglars, but that it hard to use when subduing an active assailant. I wonder how big they were? http://defensetech.org/2006/03/07/sticky-f…

And the youtube video you linked to, with the net gun? Exactly 1 second in, they fire it at a man pointing a gun. Exactly what stops that guy from opening fire? That's ridiculous, like a cartoon! If you were pointing a gun at me and I responded with a net, wouldn't you just raise one eyebrow and then blow me away anyway?

@Mr. Google - Are you serious? You've got it backward - if you use statistics or quote someone or claim the existence of impossible weapons - YOU cite the source. It's not incumbent on every reader to go figure out WTF you're talking about. Cite your sources or you're just wasting time.

http://tinyurl.com/b6688l

@Bad Robot - I haven't seen anyone on here defending the cops in this incident without saying they need more information. Everyone's been careful to say things like "Well, according to the info so far, but of course that can change..."

The comments are spread across lots of different little blog posts, so you might not have seen them all. But you're not special - I think everyone here is taking the PPD releases with a grain of salt.

@Jack - Oh, I never did anything cool in my military days. :) I'll never claim to have been awesome - just tried to earn that college money and go!

Reymont - I wouldn't shoot a net at a person pointing a gun at me, no. That's just stupid.

You seem to be out to negate things today. Not sure if you got up on the wrong side of the bed or what. I never said any of those weapons could've been used in this case, yet your tone seems to state otherwise. Maybe it's just the Internet.

All I was doing was proving that the weapons exist as the first commenter in the thread suggested nets. No need to disprove their reliability or anything. Just showing that they do in deed exist.

Thanks.

Sorry your military career was boring. Hope you at least got your college money.

Hey Reymont
Another instance where you have no idea what the hell your talking about . The arboretum is a outdoor park with bathhouses . It's not a indoor terrarium . There is a visitor center but that's not where this happened . Get it straight .

@Jack - I thought you were saying they should have been used in this case. Understood after you explained - so then my next post was just me laughing at how silly those things looked. I sure wouldn't want to face down an attacker with one! "Uh...yeah...I'm gonna need to talk to my union rep about this idea of yours, sarge..."

No worries here. :)

From what you reported earlier, Walters was backing up and had no more room to continue backing up and Collins was still walking towards him, not taking commands and saying he wouldn't drop his (insert whatever they are calling it this minute). So they are very pretty different cases. Collins may not have charged, but he wasn't stopping (according to reports).

So the point of this post was... fanning the flames? I mean, come on: "The swordsman ended the day in a mental hospital with minor bruises, rather than on the medical examiner's autopsy table." Two different outcomes to very different cases, the only thing they had in common was someone was holding a sharp object...