I've seen a lot of stories lately on the Police in the US. This is by far the worst.

[Kopikatsu]

The kid deserves a darwin award for not thinking, I mean what was going through his mind when he attacked an armed police officer?
The cop deserves a punishment for having a deadly weapon drawn on a kid, I know he was in a difficult situation, but a taser would have been enough.

I just think they are both at fault, and it ended in tragedy.

I don't know why people think a taser is a perfect non-lethal weapon. Tasers suck ass. Most of the time they don't work, it's very impractical to use a taser in many situations, and sometimes when they DO work, they end up killing or permanently injuring the suspect anyway.

Tasers shouldn't be issued at all until they figure out how to make a version that actually functions.

The kid deserves a darwin award for not thinking, I mean what was going through his mind when he attacked an armed police officer?
The cop deserves a punishment for having a deadly weapon drawn on a kid, I know he was in a difficult situation, but a taser would have been enough.

I just think they are both at fault, and it ended in tragedy.

He was a kid. Facing a cop. I can say from experience just getting pulled over is frazzling enough. Getting told to FREEZE by a cop when your 14 and don't know any better is worse. The point is the cop didn't factor anything into this. Yes the kid shouldn't have run away, but the MOMENT he received an order to stand down that cop should've let him go. Period. End of discussion.

No one else is to blame after that point but the cop. He disobeyed a direct order and got an innocent killed. Cops are not equal to others, the people they protect, the regular families and kids, they come first before the Cops. That's how it's supposed to work.

The kid's not innocent. Read his history some. He was a little shit, basically. The kid had just displayed violent behavior and fled, panicked. Is it unreasonable to assume that he might do something rash afterward? All in all, no big loss. With a history like that, he probably would have moved on to worse things when he got older.

Where i'm from this is called murder.

Where I'm from this is called "The Fuck!"

Where I'm from, this is called "against the law".

Where I'm from this is called total and utter bullshit.

I don't supposed a riot has broken out?

This is the US. Nobody gets into a riot when a cop kills somebody, be they innocent or not. We just use the excuse of "Meh, they probably had it coming".

They usually do.

 

[zehydra]

the cop had been reprimanded 16 times in the previous 4 years, suspended without pay 5 times, and "recommended for termination for insubordination," but the school kept him on the force "without remedial training."

Thats all I need to read right there.

When the cop gets charged I think they should also charge whoever kept him in employment. It's just as much their fault.

I disagree, but yes the person who kept this man on the force must be held responsible for doing so.

 

[crepesack]

Now, I'll beleive the cop misfired his gun. It happens, ask any cop/soldier/peacekeeper/etc. especially since this is texas, and at that San Antonio Texas, which is less then 300 miles from Mexico's Nuevo Leon. And we all know the shit that Mexico's been dealing with. I wouldnt go anyhwere in texas without at least a Nine and maybe some kevlar if I could spring it. Also considering that the boy hid in a shed, and thinking to the shed on my uncles property containing all of the following (but not limiting to):

- 3 axes
- 4 rakes
- 2 tire rims
- 5 separate brand name pesticides
- 3 different types of rifles (with no less then 200 rounds of ammo for each)
-

*blink*

In a garden shed?!?

You quoted the wrong person, but yes.

I live in western PA, hunting is big here. Those are just his hunting rifles/crowd controllers should we have a bit of "civil unrest" as he calls it that threatens his property in a way he doesnt care for.

Now granted this isnt just a garden shed but an all purpose shed that i think has a floor area of 180 ft squared (18Lx10W), and the shed walls themselves are something like 9 ft tall, so two are 10x9 and one is 18x9, and the fourth is 4x9 with a 14x9 double door space Plus theres bare rafters where he can put planks of wood across to hang stuff up (and does). Theres a lot of space in it that he keeps what he considers too cumbersome/unnecessary to keep int he house.

AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. You really have a misconception of texas. It is NOT the wild wild west here. In fact guns are rarely toted except for a few people that keep a small pistol in their night stand for self defense and ones used for hunting. Texas isn't nearly as dangerous as say...new york at night.

And yes I have a .22 pistol and I'm planning on a .38 5 round to carry around on campus for self defense since texas made it legal now -__-.

 

[Xannieros]

Even if the kid was armed, which he wasn't. A Tazer could have be enough. He also could have ordered him out, even then call back-up if you think there is trouble. Hopefully the officer gets whats coming to him. And not turn out like the case below.

Off-topic story about a police officer:

Spoiler

If you've heard of the Bart killing. Shooting a unarmed, restrained man in the back while he was on the ground. Many people witnessed it, and there was no resisting arrest.

On November 5, 2010 Mehserle was sentenced to two years, minus time served. 2 years for killing someone. Justice at work. /Sarcasm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BART_Police_shooting_of_Oscar_Grant

Oscar Grant was fatally shot by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California, United States, in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009.[1][2] Responding to reports of a fight on a crowded Bay Area Rapid Transit train returning from San Francisco,[3] BART Police officers detained Oscar Grant and several other passengers on the platform at the Fruitvale BART Station. Officer Johannes Mehserle and another officer were restraining Grant, who was prostrate and allegedly resisting arrest.[4][5][6] Officer Mehserle stood, drew his gun and shot Grant once in the back. Grant was unarmed. During his court testimony, Mehserle said that Grant then exclaimed, "You shot me!"[3][4][7] Grant was pronounced dead the next morning at Highland Hospital in Oakland.[7]

 

[Wushu Panda]

People are gonna die one way or another, at least this kid got on the news.

 

[Andothul]

The Police are like the USA.

Its cool to hate on them and point out the bad things until you actually need them.

 

[silent-treatment]

I know a lot of cops. One of my friends from school is in the academy right now, he plans on going into K-9. Two of my cousins are on the police force currently, one is a detective, one is patrol. My next door neighbor has been a sheriff for the entire ten years that I have known him. The thing all of these people have in common? They are all good men (the patrol cousin can be a douche but just to me, and just cause someone treats me bad does not make them a bad person). Just because someone is a cop does not mean that they are bad people.

This guy on the other had used excessive force and should be permanently suspended.

 

[ElephantGuts]

If I recall correctly police are instructed to use a level of force at most one level above that being used by the suspect. Being hit with a door is no where near lethal force.

 

[Deimateos]

Okay thanks to Eri we also have this:

http://www.ksat.com/news/25797958/detail.html

That's all well and good, but an initial report does no good for accuracy now (the last time it was updated was the same day it was reported in Nov, 2010).

Current info, also from KSAT. It's a two-Lawyer game of "he said, she said", except this stands out:
"An eyewitness said she saw Alvarado carry Derek from the shed, so Derek was still in the shed when Alavardo shot him,"
http://www.ksat.com/education/29161000/detail.html

When we all feel safer relying on ourselves instead of the law something is wrong.

I couldn't disagree more with this. Every person is responsible for their own safety, law enforcement is only a supplement, not a replacement (and never will/should be).

 

[Sn1P3r M98]

Here's some of the story they "left" out.

The officer didn't see him at first, but "approached the storage shed to search further for the suspect announcing several times 'Police, Police.'"
The report also stated that the "(Lopez) lunged through the doorway at (Alvarado), intentionally knocking the shed door into (Alvarado's) face."
The report further details that "fearing for his life, (Alvarado) discharged one round striking (Lopez) in his torso."

http://www.ksat.com/news/25797958/detail.html

This is a fair point, though since he knew it was a young boy couldn't he have used a Taser or similar non lethal device?

 

[Baneat]

According to this piece, the officer slowly approached the shed saying police, the boy jumped out hitting him with the door and the officer accidentally fired his gun. I doubt however, he would be fearing for his life against an unarmed 14 year old.

What the fuck? Isn't the protocol to leave the safety on so you can't excuse it with accidental trigger pull?

 

[Astoria]

What...the hell. Why would you pull out a gun when chasing a scared 14 year old? I really hope this cop gets done for something and fired.

 

[Nouw]

Why does a Cop even need a fire-arm to handle a 14 year-old?

 

[pigmypython]

It's generally taught that when confronting a subject

Here's some of the story they "left" out.

The officer didn't see him at first, but "approached the storage shed to search further for the suspect announcing several times 'Police, Police.'"
The report also stated that the "(Lopez) lunged through the doorway at (Alvarado), intentionally knocking the shed door into (Alvarado's) face."
The report further details that "fearing for his life, (Alvarado) discharged one round striking (Lopez) in his torso."

http://www.ksat.com/news/25797958/detail.html

Dammit every damn time I post a story on here :/
Still he should not have had his weapon drawn, but he's not as Hitler as I make him out to be.

They are trained to draw their weapon because a 14 year old can shoot a gun as easily as a 30 year old. Unfortunate though; over reaction all around.