This incident was quite dramatic, shown on television.
You Tube video

I wasn't sure where to start this thread, but current events seems appropriate.

1) What would the popular domestic and/or international consensus be if this happened in the US?
2) Did the police use excessive force?
3) Other related thoughts?

Well, first the fact- kidnapper, drug addict, weapons, had hostages. Those all are considered an appropriate reasons for the use of deadly force, in any country in the west, including the US.

1) What would the popular domestic and/or international consensus be if this happened in the US?

In this case, none. We are dealing with an obviously violent criminal, that has taken hostages. Terminated with extreme predjudice is pretty much allowed the world around for this dangerous behavior. Not like there was a question of "whodunit"

2) Did the police use excessive force?

Actually- no, it was less than lethal. I bullet would have ended much worse for the hostage taker- and is typically where this would go in the US, with swat teams and such.


3) Other related thoughts

Guy got off easy?

Playing devil's advocate here...The hostages had been released, and the suspect was fleeing. Isn't is against the law to shoot a fleeing suspect/use deadly force in such an instance?

In a word: depends. For instance, many places now have a "no chase" policy on high speed pursuits- because the pursuit itself is so dangerous to innocent bystanders- the exception is someone that has commited a crime of violence- ESPECIALLY hostage taking. Why? Because when cornered in the normal fashion, they have shown a willingness to harm innocent bystanders.

A hostage taker falls into a different category than a fleeing thief, had he not taken a hostage, they may very well had different rules for engagement. Our police department has a "checklist" if you will for these kinds of things- if the fleeing suspect has not commited kidnapping, or carjacking, the police back off, and follow him by air or whatever, or checkpoints, in stead of a high speed pursuit.

In the end, it is how much of a CONTINUEING danger the fleeing suspect presents- and a hostage taker is pretty much equal to a murderer in these "checklists".

I don't think the officers would have been facing any discipline in anchorage either. In fact, Officers shot and killed a guy in a car very recently, and there was some criticism that the guy had no gun, and no innocent bystanders were at risk- because the guy was aiming his stolen truck at officers. He had rammed other innocent bystanders vehicles, and was using it as a deadly weapon, and though he did not have a "hostage" technically, the other person in the truck wanted out and wanted to surrender to police, and they shot the driver all up, and he is dead. But he had no gun, and was not facing police at the time either- but he still presented an immediate threat to public safety.