LAPD has armed standoff with Call of Duty Statue

[CptStern]

the LAPD responded to an alarm at a video game developer studio where they saw an armed suspect in the window. That armed suspect turned out to be a statue of Ghost from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.This all took place in LA at game developer Robotoki’s office. The story goes as follows: The company installed a new security system that had an “armed threat” panic button. When pressed the police would be notified of, well an armed threat. So come last Thursday evening, the team over at Robotoki were all going home for the night when an unnamed employee saw a mysterious new button in the office. Of course he felt the need to press it. He then promptly left the studio, and Robotiki head, Robert Bowling was left alone in the office. A little back story on our friend Robert here. He worked on CoD:MW2 and was given a statue of one of the games characters, Ghost, as a gift. This statue stands in the window of Robotoki’s office overlooking the street.

So when Police arrived they could not find a way into the building. They proceeded to circle the building and saw our friend Ghost in the window. Now peek at that statue, in todays time where the perceived threat of a crazed gunman is so high, you can imagine what the LAPD’s next move was. Gear up and storm the building!

When the police entered they apparently thought Robert was a hostage and had a standoff with Ghost. It got really tense when he did not comply, but stress was eventually lowered when they realized he wouldn’t respond to anything they said.

lol

http://www.geekscape.net/lapd-has-15-minute-standoff-with-armed-call-of-duty-statue

 

[Krynn72]

I'm surprised none of the police officers were injured in a firefight.

 

[Shem]

Would've been cool if the statue had a motion sensor and shot projectiles whenever they got near it.

 

[function9]

I'm honestly shocked they didn't shoot the guy from the studio. What could've been cleared up by a phone call and a casual walk-through of the premises turns into these dumbasses arming themselves and putting a completely innocent person's life at risk. Someone needs to be put on parking meter duty for a while.

 

[JossiRossi]

The LAPD response was extreme (what a shock), but it is also not the best idea to have a surprisingly realistic portrayal of an armed man pointing out to a public street from a large window. Would have to be one hell of a disciplined hostage taker to stand perfectly still despite facing off with numerous armed police right by the window though.

 

[Krynn72]

Its perfectly reasonable for them to react that way, given the "armed intruder" alarm and a ****ing realistic "armed intruder" statue standing there. I suppose 15 minutes is reasonable if you're at a distance trying to talk to him.

Still, I wish they shot it up. That would have been much funnier.

 

[Vegeta897]

What could've been cleared up by a phone call and a casual walk-through of the premises turns into these dumbasses arming themselves and putting a completely innocent person's life at risk.

The LAPD response was extreme

???
Someone hit the "ARMED INTRUDER" button on accident. Nobody had any idea that the police were coming, because the guy who hit it didn't know what it was. Explain to me who is a dumbass for "arming themselves" or how police officers bringing guns and being cautious in response to an ARMED INTRUDER alarm is an extreme response? They're doing their job.

 

[Omnomnick]

I think we should all just be glad nobody got 360noscoped. It would've been a terribly n00by way to go.

 

[function9]

???
Someone hit the "ARMED INTRUDER" button on accident. Nobody had any idea that the police were coming, because the guy who hit it didn't know what it was. Explain to me who is a dumbass for "arming themselves" or how police officers bringing guns and being cautious in response to an ARMED INTRUDER alarm is an extreme response? They're doing their job.

Well, I don't know, but perhaps the fact that the whole time during this "stand off" this supposed gunman didn't move at all. Unless it's of course an animated statue.

The thing is is plain view from the street, did they think the guy was just taking a nap while standing there? For 15min they sit there and watch this statue and none of them think, gee, this guy isn't moving at all, even when we pulled up. Something as simple as shining their spotlight that they have attached to their cars at the thing wouldn't have tipped them off? Don't tell me they went on an "armed intruder" call and didn't have either someone with a gun with a scope or something as basic as binoculars. Stellar police work.

It's not that they responded to the call, it's that they were fooled by a statue. 15 min seems rather excessive to determine that it was one.

 

[Vegeta897]

Well, I don't know, but perhaps the fact that the whole time during this "stand off" this supposed gunman didn't move at all.
It's not that they responded to the call, it's that they were fooled by a statue. 15 min seems rather excessive to determine that it was one.

We don't know exactly how it went down, and how much they saw of the statue and for how long. There isn't even any sign that it's a statue other than not moving, because all the skin is covered up. So it's completely stupid to just assume that they're all completely inept, when there are so many factors we don't know about. It's really god damn easy to say it seems stupid for a statue to fool people for 15 minutes, in hindsight. But we don't know what they saw or what factors were in play. We're talking about trained police officers. They have to be as cautious as possible to save lives.

You'd be a lot more outraged if they were actually responding to a real armed intruder, and the intruder used a dummy and the police instantly jumped to 'false alarm' upon seeing it. What if it was a real gunman that for whatever reason didn't move at all? Do you think it would be a good idea for them to think "oh, must be a statue!" when they're responding to an armed intruder threat?

The thing is is plain view from the street, did they think the guy was just taking a nap while standing there? For 15min they sit there and watch this statue and none of them think, gee, this guy isn't moving at all, even when we pulled up. Something as simple as shining their spotlight that they have attached to their cars at the thing wouldn't have tipped them off? Don't tell me they went on an "armed intruder" call and didn't have either someone with a gun with a scope or something as basic as binoculars. Stellar police work.

Even if they had a close look at it, the fact remains that all they know is that someone hit the alarm signifying an armed intruder. Even if they realized it was a statue, why would someone in that building hit the alarm for it? It would be a huge mistake for the police to call off the raid on the assumption that it was a false alarm, and that the gunman they happened to spot in the window was the real gunman.

 

[Stylo]

I dunno man. You get called out because an "armed intruder" button has been pressed, you turn up armed and use caution. You see an imitation human holding a gun that you don't know is an imitation, you react. I don't think it's as silly and illogical as people are making out.

 

[Vegeta897]

Yes, thank you. Expressed my sentiment a lot more elegantly than I did.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

That statue is in the perfect position.

 

[Krynn72]

The thing is is plain view from the street, did they think the guy was just taking a nap while standing there? For 15min they sit there and watch this statue and none of them think, gee, this guy isn't moving at all, even when we pulled up. Something as simple as shining their spotlight that they have attached to their cars at the thing wouldn't have tipped them off? Don't tell me they went on an "armed intruder" call and didn't have either someone with a gun with a scope or something as basic as binoculars. Stellar police work.

Agreed, how could anybody make such a mistake?
http://www.valvetime.net/threads/strange-sighting.216789/

 

[Vegeta897]

I was actually thinking about that thread.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Raz hasn't been on since Feb, where did he get off to?

 

[function9]

Did anyone read the article or look at the pic? The thing is in clear view from the street. You can't help but see it, unobstructed. It wasn't partially behind a curtain or some distance from the window, it's right there. I'm having a hard time believing a gunman would just be chilling right next to a huge window with the cops sitting right outside. I also have a hard time believing "trained professionals" would think a gunman would stand right next to a window and not move at all or have any kind of reaction.

Agreed, how could anybody make such a mistake?
http://www.valvetime.net/threads/strange-sighting.216789/

That tells us what? It's hard to make out exactly what something is in the dark? Uh, that's part of my point, they have the tools with them to allow them to assess the situation. Not to mention he even stated the thing was back behind the counter. And looking at his pic of the building I would say it was some distance away from the windows.

Again, they had a clear view of the suspected "gunman" because the thing is right there at the window. It wouldn't be an issue for me if the thing was back towards the interior of the building, or wasn't in clear view.

 

[Vegeta897]

Did anyone read the article or look at the pic? The thing is in clear view from the street. You can't help but see it, unobstructed. It wasn't partially behind a curtain or some distance from the window, it's right there. I'm having a hard time believing a gunman would just be chilling right next to a huge window with the cops sitting right outside. I also have a hard time believing "trained professionals" would think a gunman would stand right next to a window and not move at all or have any kind of reaction.

Again, they had a clear view of the suspected "gunman" because the thing is right there at the window. It wouldn't be an issue for me if the thing was back towards the interior of the building, or wasn't in clear view.

You were not there, so you have no idea exactly what they saw and how they decided to deal with the situation. Hindsight is 20/20, and assumptions like the ones you're making about situations you know very little about can make anything sound stupid. You keep saying "I have a hard time believing" but it happened, so like, maybe stop assuming you would have been the super smart guy if you were one of those cops and give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Did anyone read the article or look at the pic? The thing is in clear view from the street. You can't help but see it, unobstructed. It wasn't partially behind a curtain or some distance from the window, it's right there. I'm having a hard time believing a gunman would just be chilling right next to a huge window with the cops sitting right outside. I also have a hard time believing "trained professionals" would think a gunman would stand right next to a window and not move at all or have any kind of reaction.
That tells us what? It's hard to make out exactly what something is in the dark? Uh, that's part of my point, they have the tools with them to allow them to assess the situation. Not to mention he even stated the thing was back behind the counter. And looking at his pic of the building I would say it was some distance away from the windows.

Dude, you're reaching. It's not their job to make assumptions, it's their job to take precautions. That's exactly what they did.

Hilarious? Yes. Dangerously incompetent? Probably not.

 

[Krynn72]

Did anyone read the article or look at the pic? The thing is in clear view from the street. You can't help but see it, unobstructed. It wasn't partially behind a curtain or some distance from the window, it's right there. I'm having a hard time believing a gunman would just be chilling right next to a huge window with the cops sitting right outside. I also have a hard time believing "trained professionals" would think a gunman would stand right next to a window and not move at all or have any kind of reaction.

Look, if you're a first responder and you get a call saying "possible armed intruder at location" and, from distance and outside, see a dude with an assault rifle standing in a window, your first reaction will not be "Let me get closer to see if he is a statue." Its going to be "get out of his field of fire and find a way inside asap." 15 minutes isn't that long, and when you're dealing with a armed-to-the-teeth guy in combat fatigues and possible body armor in a video game studio at night, you're not dealing with a person who's brain is properly functioning. It may seem odd that you can see any visible movement, but people with faulty brains do weird shit sometimes. 15 minutes seems like a perfectly reasonable time to safely assess the situation.