Cleveland Police Shoot 12-Year-Old Holding BB Gun

[St. Geno]

Very unfortunate event. If there's any blame it should be directed towards the parents.

[Mr Poo]

Originally Posted by commondenom

hahaha.... lololol... i give you another 3 months...

[Shakey]

One less idiot.

[Schumacher612]

I would like to believe that no police officer wants to shoot let alone kill a child. Coupled with the fact his dispatch didn't feel the need to relay all the information to the officers responding to the call, they rolled in assuming the worst. When they shouted commands to the young man who they thought was armed and the young man reaches in the front of his waist band instead of putting his hands where they could be seen... It's very tragic indeed that a child lost their life. I'll reiterate the first...I would like to believe no police officer wants to shoot let alone kill a child. I live 30min. south of Cleveland and this is very tragic to the community.

[niknik]

Originally Posted by Mr Poo

I completely agree that parents should supervise their kids when they play with something like that. It doesn't mean the rookie officer didn't make a hasty judgement when he killed the kid..

I'm not anti-cop at all, but the caller to 911 did say he thinks it's a toy gun.

That caller must feel like a real POS right now..

I'm not anti police either. But I do believe police in some cases get it wrong. But I don't believe we should pass new laws tying law enforcements hands. I just wish some of these cops would get it through their heads that they aren't above the law. And to have more respect for the Constitution and individual rights.

Most cops are great people, but the minority gives the rest of them a bad rap.

[niknik]

Originally Posted by Schumacher612

I would like to believe that no police officer wants to shoot let alone kill a child. Coupled with the fact his dispatch didn't feel the need to relay all the information to the officers responding to the call, they rolled in assuming the worst. When they shouted commands to the young man who they thought was armed and the young man reaches in the front of his waist band instead of putting his hands where they could be seen... It's very tragic indeed that a child lost their life. I'll reiterate the first...I would like to believe no police officer wants to shoot let alone kill a child. I live 30min. south of Cleveland and this is very tragic to the community.

It is tragic. I can't help but be very disappointed by the police. Although this kid shouldn't of had the replica gun. I just wish the cop would have understood that it was a child, and the child in the few seconds he had probably didn't even realize his life was in danger. He probably didn't understand reaching for the toy gun would cause the officer to shoot him.

It's bad parenting. But I wish the cop would have tried to disarm him safely. The cop could have stopped his car a fifty yards away and used his speaker to disarm the kid.

[TheVrist]

Originally Posted by niknik

It is tragic. I can't help but be very disappointed by the police. Although this kid shouldn't of had the replica gun. I just wish the cop would have understood that it was a child, and the child in the few seconds he had probably didn't even realize his life was in danger. He probably didn't understand reaching for the toy gun would cause the officer to shoot him.

It's bad parenting. But I wish the cop would have tried to disarm him safely. The cop could have stopped his car a fifty yards away and used his speaker to disarm the kid.

Community interaction would help educate as well. They need to bring back the propagated influential videos we had when we were kids in school. But revise them to our current society.

Let kids see these mistakes in the class room, they may respect the fact, it could happen to them.

[TheVrist]

I still wonder though, if this wasn't some act of provocation to "prove himself".

I seen another video, where a black kids steals from a store, waits for the cops to come, then charges them after exchange of words, then of course shot.

Maybe, (just a maybe) a trend of sort?

[commondenom]

Originally Posted by 30564U

problem trolls.

only a problem for those with blinkers on

[30564U]

Originally Posted by niknik

It is tragic. I can't help but be very disappointed by the police. Although this kid shouldn't of had the replica gun. I just wish the cop would have understood that it was a child, and the child in the few seconds he had probably didn't even realize his life was in danger. He probably didn't understand reaching for the toy gun would cause the officer to shoot him.

It's bad parenting. But I wish the cop would have tried to disarm him safely. The cop could have stopped his car a fifty yards away and used his speaker to disarm the kid.

The tactics used by the two officers was a total clusterfuck from beginning to end. You're absolutely correct about the distance. Those two coppers put themselves in an extremely bad position where they had no choice but to immediately take action even before they could get out of the vehicle. Had they had proper distance, then they would have had time. They would have had time to seek cover, assess the situation, and give proper verbal commands...the outcome would have been completely different. If the dispatcher had given the critical details...young kid and possible toy gun...but it probably wouldn't have made any difference in the outcome...the coppers put themselves too close to the bad guy and forced themselves to react too quickly. Distance=time & safety.