Police sniper murders misunderstood Bank Robber

This Story from Fox News tells us all we need to know about the "militaristic" attitudes of the authorities in America today.

Two people rob a bank in Florida this morning. From the reports the two were not a threat to anyone, they were just there for the money. But when the police showed up before their getaway and the pair (seemingly a man and a woman) were cornered, they took three or four people hostage. A bit later one hostage was released in exchange for cigarettes (can you believe they let bank robbers smoke inside public buildings in Florida?). Personally, I would have held out for some Cuban cigars, but that's just me. Later another hostage was released, and reported being treated well and seeing "no weapons", although they believed the robbers had at least one weapon.

The police were in such a hurry to use deadly force...I'm wondering if they were trained by Janet Reno and believed the pair to be Cuban refugees, that they did not wait for negotiations to work, and invaded the bank building with some sort of explosive devise, forcing the robbers to flee outside with their hostage.

To make a long story....well it's really a short story....short, er, shorter, a sniper shot the male sniper to death, leaving both the surviving robber, assumed to be a female, and the hostage psychologically scared for life, and further damaging America in the eyes of Europe and the third world (who have no banks to rob.........and would do anything for American made cigarettes). Couldn't they have just negotiated a bit longer? Are not snipers good enough shots that they could have shot out his frontal lobe, turning him into a peace loving and docile person, who could then be returned to a productive life, perhaps living in a halfway house next to your child's elementary school? I mean really, haven't we grown past the "wild west" days of sheriffs shooting bank robbers when negotiations can accomplish so much?

It's hard to believe isn't it? But doesn't this all sound very familiar?