Shooting Near the White House

Re the shooting of Marcelino Corniel in front of the White House, Dec. 21:

If a bear or mountain lion is endangering the public, an animal control professional will first try to sedate the animal. If this does not work, they shoot to kill.

In a truly compassionate and civilized society, authorities must give humans this and even greater consideration.

In front of the White House, Corniel with a knife taped to his hand, confronted six or more police officers armed with guns. Common sense tells us this man is not in a rational frame of mind. Electronic stunning weapons, clubs, a net, a sedative or percussion gun that shoots rubber bullets could have been used.

This would have saved the taxpayers many thousands of dollars since he had to be operated on for two separate wounds.

The blame is not on the officer who fired the gun; he was following procedure. A similar situation happened in Los Angeles recently by a man disturbed over a family matter. He was shot while he walked toward the police with a knife. It is barbarism not to try to incapacitate the individual with the correct level of force, especially while outnumbering the assailant and having a good distance.

MAURICE L. MIELE

Culver City

* American officials say North Korea should not have shot our helicopter--it was mistakenly off-course and did not present an immediate threat. Yet American officials shot Corniel at the White House for not dropping a knife although they had him outnumbered. He was shot for not obeying instructions to “freeze.”

We do not seem to know what we believe. We protest when we’re hurt, but we are silent when we hurt others. It is time to discover our principles and apply them evenly. Police should be given non-lethal weapons like stun guns and rubber bullets and use superior numbers and patience to subdue off-course civilians without killing them. It is not too much to think the police should go for a blanket or net with which to subdue a deranged man with a knife.

I. P. RODMAN

Canoga Park

* Again, it seems that police officers can do nothing right. Rather, the criminal who threatens the safety of society and that of the officers called on to protect society is excused. Such is the ridiculous case of Corniel, whose family is now filing an absurd excessive-force lawsuit.

While The Times rightly notes the concern of police officers with regard to “Monday morning quarterbacking” (editorial, Dec. 23), you also engage in that practice.

Be it a broken crutch, a knife, a baseball bat or even a broken bottleneck, they are all lethal weapons when used in anger. How many police officers lie buried because they waited too long before taking action? After five years in police work and having seen my share of makeshift weapons and the victims of same, I say let’s back up the guys behind the badge now and then.

JOHN V. FLORES

Commerce