© CCTVFontana police officers seen training their weapons on James Hall minutes before shooting him dead.
Hall, who suffered from schizoaffective disorder — a combination of schizophrenia symptoms and mood disorder — was in the midst of an episode when police were called out to a convenience store during the early morning hours of November 22, 2015.
Police say they were responding to reports of a possible armed robbery. However, James Hall never robbed anyone and the video shows he was merely browsing the store when 5 police officers swarmed him.
The cops, who were clearly not trained in deescalating situations with mentally ill people, began yelling at him, pointing guns, and had their attack dog at the ready. All of these provocations served to only further Hall's fears, so he refused to come out.
Several minutes pass before officers opened fire and sicced the dog on Hall, sending him into an utterly panicked state.
Comment: Consistent practice of mindfulness or meditation would likely accomplish the same goals and would be a safer alternative than teaching children more ways to dissociate - most are already far too adept at tuning out.