A few days ago police dropped off mentally ill Elijah Holcombe to a psychiatric hospital. He had been reported missing by his parents and had not taken his medication in two days.

Before he could be assessed properly, Holcombe managed to escape from the hospital and once again was at large. Upon learning of his escape police then tracked Holcombe down and pursued him through a shopping mall.

Allegedly ‘scared’ by police, Holcombe stole a knife from a cafe and then later when the police finally cornered him in an alley, he turned and threatened the police with it.

With the minutes ticking away and Holcombe refusing to drop the weapon and still threatening police officers with it, a difficult decision was made.

A single shot was fired and the body of Elijah Holcombe slumped to the ground. He died at the scene.

Usually this is the part where all the bleeding hearts in unison sing about how the police could have done more or how society was to blame for putting the knife in Holcombe’s hand. It isn’t often that family member’s speak out about such things but in this case Holcombe’s wife (who hides behind the veil of anonymity), lashes out at police and describes Holcombe as the “most gentle human being I have ever known”.

She said police should be “ashamed of themselves” for killing her beloved Elijah Holcombe, gunned down after being cornered in a lane in the northern NSW town of Armidale on Tuesday.


Yes the poor man was gunned down after he was innocently cornered and gently threatened police with a knife.

Mrs. Holcombe’s accusations do raise the rather interesting questions of just what should the police have done in the face of threats from an armed attacker? It is well documented that a threat armed with a knife is often more dangerous then one armed with a gun:

For those people that think guns are more dangerous than knives, think again. More than 60% of all people shot with firearms even multiple times survive the attack. Cutting and stabbing victims don’t do nearly as well.

Bullet wounds self-seal because of the elastic nature of human tissue. Knife cuts lay open and bleed profusely as the veins and arteries are opened wide.


Is it really worth putting officer’s lives at risk so they can get close enough to either use capsicum spray or a taser which once deployed may or may not work leaving the officer wide open for a possibly fatal assault?

They could have talked to him and offered him some coffee but again, who’s going to volunteer to get close enough for this to work? A man with a knife can run awfully fast if he wants to and all it takes is one fatal stab for preventable loss of life to occur.

The FBI has conducted research into this very topic and concluded that even from twenty one feet away a knife threat can still be lethal;

on the perceived advantage of a gun over a knife they relate the research that has taken place at the FTU (Firearms Training Unit) and FBI Headquarters in Quantico, Virginia where within 21 feet a man with a knife is perfectly capable of getting within range of an officer with a handgun and injuring or killing him:

“the harsh reality in such circumstance is that unless the shot happens to hit the attacker in the central nervous system, the attack will succeed… At closer ranges, the attack was successful before the agent could raise his weapon and fire a shot”


Ever heard of someone succesfully deploying capsicum spray or a taser from over twenty one feet away?

Didn’t think so.

On June 02, 2009 one man was taken down and all officers involved were able to return home. This I believe is the best possible outcome as the risk is simply too great in dealing with a mentally unstable knife weilding threat.

Whether you’re looking at the harsh reality of the situation or gazing at what might have been through the rose tinted glasses of a wife, at the end of the day if you’re going to threaten police with a knife, expect to be taken down.

Had police tried to peacefully disarm Holcombe and been fatally injured you can bet your bottom dollar the ‘oh but I had mental illness’ defense would have been dragged out and Holcombe would have been sentenced to thirty minutes community service.

I know which outcome I prefer.

Note: If you wish to comment on this article I do not care if your best friends with the family and think everyone else should be as emotionally affected by this as you might be. If you’re comment is nothing more then ‘ug ug insults ug ug more insults ug ug *chest beating* ug ug’ then don’t bother, your comment will not be approved.

Discussion is encouraged, wasting my time with random insults is not.



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