Man arrested after grabbing police officer's gun, shooting him

...do the logistics of this seem strange to anyone else? The article's details are a little unclear, but this would mean >that the man got really close to the officer without them grabbing or pushing him away, and then either: a) the man >somehow got the sidearm out of the officer's holster, switched the safety off, and then fired it, all before the two >officers he was standing directly next to were able to stop him, or b) the man took the gun out of the officer's hand, >and then used it on him before his partner stopped him.

a) Jpolice mostly carry revolvers, which most don't have safeties (yes some do, but the types JPolice carry do not, and is not needed in most cases for double action revolvers).

b) it is highly unlikely the officer had their guns out and the person grabbed it. JPolice only pull out guns when it is the very very last option to do. Even when the Akihabara stabbing incident, the police officer caught up the guy and only pulled out his gun at the very last resort.

It is easy to second guess or armchair general the police in any situation, but these type of situations in "real life" not what you see in the comfort of your home television or move theatre, happen in microseconds. More plausible scenario, sounds like the guy was wacked out on drugs or under the influence, the officers approached to question him, he quickly charged or attacked the officer, quickly grabbing his gun and shooting him. This has happened in many other countries before, all one needs to do is pop on youtube and watch world's scariest police videos etc.

Speedy recovery to the policeman but not cool to read this stuff happening in Japan

a man without a shirt was running about wildly on the street at around 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday.

Sounds better than my Wednesday morning. Maybe I'll try this next week...

Tsuda snatched the sidearm from one of them and fired it twice

...do the logistics of this seem strange to anyone else? The article's details are a little unclear, but this would mean that the man got really close to the officer without them grabbing or pushing him away, and then either: a) the man somehow got the sidearm out of the officer's holster, switched the safety off, and then fired it, all before the two officers he was standing directly next to were able to stop him, or b) the man took the gun out of the officer's hand, and then used it on him before his partner stopped him.

Either way, it seems like the officers were grossly under-trained, unprepared, or sloppy. A violent, crazy, shirtless man should not be allowed anywhere near close enough to the officers without them physically apprehending him, and for him to actually get the gun...yikes. That's not a performance I want from the people who are given the only firearms in the country and being charged with protecting the public.

Hopefully there's more to the story than got reported in a short article snippet like this, though!

Something is missing in this story. What happen to the second officer and his gun?

not just dangerous in Brazil but also around Brazilians in Japan!!!!

officers approached Tsuda, who was wielding a wooden stick, to

Just happened to be wielding at th' time.

police spokesman said the police will strive to strengthen measures to prevent such incidents from occurring again.

Ya! Good call, there!

Mid life crisis?

the man somehow got the sidearm out of the officer's holster, switched the safety off, and then fired it,

The police revolver does not have a safety. It is always ready to fire (if loaded).

@Badge213 I agree with you. It does seem as if the guy was high; it sounds a lot like a meth overdose, but it could be other things.

Cops vary, but it is pretty rare for one to pull his gun except as a last resort, as you say.

Stereotypes and generalities are dangerous, but I'd say that your average Japanese is rather unlikely to think about grabbing a gun from a cop's holster and using it on him, while a Japanese/Brazilian from, say, Sao Paolo, may have rather more experience with firearms and be more prone to such behavior.

Pure speculation on my part, though.

Wow, I wonder what his sickness was. He must have it bad to beat a woman with a stick, I hope the cops know where to put him. In a mental institution.

Its nonsense that the police carry guns in this country. They don't need them and I'm amazed this doesn't happen more often.

True, because it is better to use a baton if yakuza or someone else is shooting at them.

In the military our sidearms had a tether that we were required to wear anytime off base and on foreign soil just in case something like this occurred. On base it was encouraged but not required. I hope the officer recovers quickly and isn't deterred from continuing his career as a police officer. In my opinion he should be charged with 2 counts of attempted murder, how badly did he beat that poor woman?

Another terrible note to this is how it will affect peoples' view of foreigners in Japan.

I think the other officer did not shoot because in doing so, he might have shot his partner. The only option to save his partner any further injury was to physically grapple for the gun. Of course there is the option that the man let go of the gun and fled, in which case he was no longer a danger of magnitude that would warrant shooting (flying bullets are a danger to the public). So he may have tackled him.

Its nonsense that the police carry guns in this country. They don't need them and I'm amazed this doesn't happen more often.

tmarieMAY. 15, 2014 - 05:29PM JST I'm looking at that name and thinking he was one of the "gee, he has Japanese blood in him so how bad can he be?" visa types of someone born and raised here but to the "wrong" parents when it comes to nationality. This area is FULL of "Brazilian" factory works and workers who have never been to Brazil.

I hope you are joking because if your not that's some unadulterated racism AND ethnocentrism there, you're not Japanese are you? (I'm being facetious).

Do you really believe the Meiji-era doctrine that there is such a thing as 'Japanese blood'? Sorry to disappoint but there isn't such a thing. Either way the fact Japanese tend to be very law abiding (in public) is entirely down to social conditioning and environment.

Obviously this guy has mental / anger problems but it is my opinion that the average Japanese cop, does not have the experience to properly deal with such situations. When you actually think about it... this is a good thing. It shows that such things don't often happen and therefore little experience. I'm not saying Japan's large cities are going to become like Mexico City or something, but, the Japanese overall do seem to be changing. Hopefully I'm wrong and crime statistics are not on the increase but just seem that way do to better reporting.

@dudedeuce

OK, they can still carry guns in the movies, where police vs yakuza shoot outs actually happen.

Do the police in Japan know how to practice martial arts?

In countries where even gangs don't have ready access to guns (N.Z, U.K etc.) there is no need for gun toting cops.

It was armed special UK police that were able to stop those crazy guys in England that hacked that soldier to death: (Research: Lee Rigby). Last year, two unarmed female UK police officers were ambushed and killed by gunfire by a suspect. One of the UK officers was found to have reached for her tazer.

Its nonsense that the police carry guns in this country. They don't need them and I'm amazed this doesn't happen more often.

The akihabara stabber only surrendered after the officer brandished his handgun. Just last month a guy robbed a store in Tokyo with a knife, and attempted to stab a police officer, he was only stopped after getting shot.

sounds like the guy was on drugs. the officer sure is lucky to have been shot in the arm. I am curious the other officer did not shoot him. How did they apprehend him??

a 58-year-old Brazilian man

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Probably he had his Brazilian visa ID.

Nothing is known about this guy? He could be X special forces as far as we know

Something is missing in this story. What happen to the second officer and his gun?

3 birds on a tree branch, you shoot once and one falls, how many left up there ? Seriously, it's written he arrested the violent guy.

In the 8 years I've lived in Japan I've only heard two stories with police firearms being discharged. This one and a few years ago in Aomori when a cop shot his own foot while trying to apprehend a guy with a sword.

I've heard of Tamiflu reputedly doing this in youngsters, but could it be another case of bath salts, I wonder?

davestrousersMAY. 15, 2014 - 10:12PM JST @dudedeuce OK, they can still carry guns in the movies, where police vs yakuza shoot outs actually happen Yakuza have been know to shoot at police officers as well as other gang members, business-owners, politicians and police officers. If certain sections of the public have access to guns

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When last shoot out or how many times such shooting wars happened in Japan?

Japanese cops should have tazers only.

Badge213, this is not the UK. All the cases you mention could have been solved with a tazer, and in this case, the officer would not have a bullet wound in his arm.

Abhorsenaube, it was tethered. It probably explains a lot of the reason why he was only shot in the arm.

Hint: Maybe because this is not America and will never ever be America?