I'm sure many of you have heard this story, and I'd like to hear some of your input. The gist: A sheriff's deputy in California shot a 13-year-old kid dead, after telling the kid to drop what he though was an AK. Turns out, it was an imitation. Link here. It's a very sad story. What are some of your thoughts?
That is a very sad story indeed. Having read the story, I can't blame the officer for his actions. The picture of the BB gun in the article looks very realistic. If I were responding to that situation, it would have screamed "AK" at me too. The only way to react to that is to accept it at face value and react accordingly to the situation you believe yourself to be in. The kid sent all the right "I'm going to shoot you" signals to the officers IMO.
Wow this is just sad. I'm sure the kid was very confused and in shock whenever he was being yelled at and having guns drawn by the cops. And did it really take EIGHT shots to put down a kid with a toy gun? Crazy and sad...
Yes. Contrary to popular movie belief, one or two rounds does not instantly drop someone where they stand. If someone is pointing an ak47 at me, I'm unleashing everything I have in their direction until the threat is gone. It makes no difference that it was an air rifle, at the time it was an ak47 posing an immediate threat to the officer. He did as he as trained to do, not engaging could have cost him his own life if it ended up being a real assault rifle.
I am absolutely not faulting the officer for the decision based on what he assumed was an AK47. I can understand the urgency of reaction in that situation and that no person in their right mind would WANT to unload eight shots into a kid for no reason. However, is it naive of me to think that maybe the shots taken could have been non-lethal?
That's one option. I'd rather try to prevent an attacker holding an AK from being able to shoot back though.
While this story is extremely sad, the officer reacted exactly as he was trained to do. I wish the kid had dropped the gun before he turned towards the officers. There might have been a much better outcome that way.
I completely understand that he was doing his job and don't fault him for it. I was just saying the kid was 13 and it's crazy to me that it took 8 shots to stop him. I guess shock/adrenaline really is a crazy drug.
I think that may be an adrenaline thing on the part of the cops. They are trained to shoot to kill and until the target is "neutralized" so if you have more than one cop firing at the same target that is well within the realm of possibility. Still a very sad story though.
I found this truly disturbing, it seems the American and English police force really need to tone down their offensive strategies, I have lived in Ireland now 10 years and not once have I heard of the Gardai (as they are called) shooting someone by accident. I really feel for that poor child's parents what a tragedy.
Did the child not hear the cop? I think people should teach their kids about guns & law enforcement. If the gun looks real you have to treat it like its real. You can't run around the suburbs with it people will think its real and treat you like a terrorist.
That is a very sad story, according to me the mistakes are on bot sides, I wish the officer was keen enough to identfy the toy, at the same time I wish the kid did not play with a toy that so much resmbles a real gun, I guess there is something we can all learn from it.
The police officer acted under certain circumstances which would warrant him to believe that the gun was real. First of all, the officer believed that the gun was real, and there was no time for him to think otherwise. If the police officer hesitated to act, he may end up being the victim instead of the 13-year old. It's a life-or-death situation for him. As for the kid, although he was holding a fake gun, he could not guarantee that other persons beside his parents will take his gun as a toy, especially police officers.
I have to place the blame on the kid for not complying with the officer's demands. If someone tells you to put the gun down, you put the damn gun down unless you're trying to die.
