FELDER SHOOTING

 

Cops made right call

 

So often, when police officers are forced to use deadly force to protect themselves, we later find the individual was suffering from some type of mental illness or, in this most recent case, a mental breakdown, according to Dominic Felder's family.

While this just adds to what is already a tragic situation, I cannot stand to hear of police officers being blamed for defending themselves in these situations. A person's mental illness or breakdown does not make them any less dangerous to officers. Many times, it makes them more dangerous. In any case, officers are trained to respond to the immediate situation, and threat presented. An imminent threat is an imminent threat, mental illness or not. A bullet fired by a mentally ill person is just as deadly as any other.

JOANNE SELLNER, MINNEAPOLIS