Question B

[Jonetta]

Charlie McMahon enters a coffee shop, clearly mentally disturbed and ultimately pulls a gun and takes the customers and manager as hostages. He’s ultimately killed by the SWAT team when they decide to begin the rescue and Charlie shoots. Did they move in too quickly or was time truly of the essence at that moment?

[Anita]

Charlie was clearly instable and unfortunately the SWAT team had no way to know his true mental capacity and what he might do with the hostages. When he started shooting, they had no choice but to take him out.

[Sharon]

Swat did their job. I don't think Charlie would have killed anyone, but Swat can't take the chance.

[Robin]

I don't think they had a choice. Charlie was acting very erratic. They were afraid he would kill a hostage. They had to go in. When he started shooting, they had to take him down.

[Charlene]

I was very concerned about the timing but also realized that the reader had some insight into his mind, while the SWAT team did not.

[Jonetta]

He was behaving irrationally, wasn’t communicating with them and he began getting more excited. When the negotiator can’t lock into a predictability and the guy is waving a gun around, it’s time to shut down. They didn’t have any other options, IMO.