[Liam-]

Originally Posted by GiRTh

It matters that the person was a child. I find it hard to believe that a trained Police officer was afraid of a child to the extent that he felt he had to shoot them. I dont find it believable.

A child with a gun, i doubt the cop woke up in the morning and decided to go out and slaughter a child for the hell of it.

He had a job to do, police officers are trained to asses situations and assess how dangerous the person in question is, at this point he saw someone waving a gun around, it doesn't make a difference if it is a child or not, so he reacted in the way that they are trained to do.

I can't imagine this cop being happy to feel the need to kill a child, but under his oath to serve and protect, that is what he felt he needed to do and now he has to live the rest of his life knowing that he killed a child who was idiotically branding a fake gun, made to look like a real one, because he was doing as he was trained to do.

[arista]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

But he's a child, maybe he panicked? The Police should be trained better to deal with this sort of thing.

Yes
but sadly children with guns
have killed Police
in America

[GiRTh]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

averages are made from many different heights



reaching...

You accuse me of reaching with all your 'probably' and 'maybe'? Thats laughable.

The gun was not real, the officer was warned but for some reason they are now saying he wasnt, the CHILD was not even a teenager.

[Tom4784]

At the end of the day, police officers like the one in this story are using guns as a first resort when they should only be used in life or death situations. They're firing first and asking questions later which is leading to a lot of innocent lives being lost.

If this child murderer was even somewhat competent at his job he would have assessed the situation, not go in guns blazing. Having restraint in this situation wouldn't have led to the officer having a child's blood on their hands. If he can't remain calm and thus calm down a situation without having to kill someone then he shouldn't be a police officer in the first place.

[GiRTh]

Originally Posted by LiamPRW

A child with a gun, i doubt the cop woke up in the morning and decided to go out and slaughter a child for the hell of it.

He had a job to do, police officers are trained to asses situations and assess how dangerous the person in question is, at this point he saw someone waving a gun around, it doesn't make a difference if it is a child or not, so he reacted in the way that they are trained to do.

I can't imagine this cop being happy to feel the need to kill a child, but under his oath to serve and protect, that is what he felt he needed to do and now he has to live the rest of his life knowing that he killed a child who was idiotically branding a fake gun, made to look like a real one, because he was doing as he was trained to do.

You rightly say cops are supposed to assess a threat but there are very few cases of children murdering police officers. Look all around the world, it just doesn't happen. The officer failed to correctly assess the threat.

[Liam-]

Originally Posted by GiRTh

You rightly say cops are supposed to assess a threat but there are very few cases of children murdering police officers. Look all around the world, it just doesn't happen. The officer failed to correctly assess the threat.

But there are many cases of children killing in general.. children getting into gangs and getting themselves into trouble.

Just because the person involved was a child, does not make them any less dangerous than anyone else, a child with a gun, is just as dangerous as a grown up with a gun.

[GiRTh]

Originally Posted by LiamPRW

But there are many cases of children killing in general.. children getting into gangs and getting themselves into trouble.

Just because the person involved was a child, does not make them any less dangerous than anyone else, a child with a gun, is just as dangerous as a grown up with a gun.

I beg to differ. It is truly a sorry state of affairs when a trained police officer sees a child as just as much of a threat as an adult. To say that an officer had to shoot a child would take extraordinary set of circumstances for me but I suppose we disagree on that.

[Liam-]

Originally Posted by GiRTh

I beg to differ. It is truly a sorry state of affairs when a trained police officer sees a child as just as much of a threat as an adult. To say that an officer had to shoot a child would take extraordinary set of circumstances for me but I suppose we disagree on that.

Okay then so lets look at it like this.. If a man of say 30 was waving a gun around and aiming it at people, but he was only the size of a 12 year old child, so hence looked like a child.. would the officer at the scene not have to take taught action against him because he was the size of a child so wasn't necessarily intimidating?

[GiRTh]

Originally Posted by LiamPRW

Okay then so lets look at it like this.. If a man of say 30 was waving a gun around and aiming it at people, but he was only the size of a 12 year old child, so hence looked like a child.. would the officer at the scene not have to take taught action against him because he was the size of a child so wasn't necessarily intimidating?

I would expect the officer to correctly assess the threat.

[Liam-]

Originally Posted by GiRTh

I would expect the officer to correctly assess the threat.

Like he did with the child, they see a gun being branded in public and being aimed at people around them, they look at the gun, not the person holding it, because at that moment, it doesn't matter who's holding it because the danger would be the same no matter what.

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by LiamPRW

Like he did with the child, they see a gun being branded in public and being aimed at people around them, they look at the gun, not the person holding it, because at that moment, it doesn't matter who's holding it because the danger would be the same no matter what.

I wouldn't say that he assessed the situation correctly if a child is dead over a toy gun.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

I wouldn't say that he assessed the situation correctly if a child is dead over a toy gun.

how many times?

It was not a toy gun

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

how many times?

It was not a toy gun

If that's what you're focusing on here then I pity you, I honestly do.

[Niamh.]

And I still don't get why he didn't use a tazor instead. I just read this on another article


"On social media, commentators noted the irony of police shooting a boy with a replica gun in Ohio -- one of several US states where openly carrying a firearm is legal."

[GiRTh]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

And I still don't get why he didn't use a tazor instead. I just read this on another article


"On social media, commentators noted the irony of police shooting a boy with a replica gun in Ohio -- one of several US states where openly carrying a firearm is legal."

Didnt know Ohio is an open carry state which means that if he'd been some hairy arsed 30 year old man with a permit for his gun then he would be free to openly show his firearm in public. Just amazing.,

[GiRTh]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

If that's what you're focusing on here then I pity you, I honestly do.

X2

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

If that's what you're focusing on here then I pity you, I honestly do.

if you cannot see the distinction then I would suggest you are just trolling this thread

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by GiRTh

Didnt know Ohio is an open carry state which means that if he'd been some hairy arsed 30 year old man with a permit for his gun then he would be free to openly show his firearm in public. Just amazing.,

It's complete madness.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

And I still don't get why he didn't use a tazor instead. I just read this on another article


"On social media, commentators noted the irony of police shooting a boy with a replica gun in Ohio -- one of several US states where openly carrying a firearm is legal."

if it was a call to an armed suspect then you leave the tazer in the car. They respond to guns with guns.

remember they were told it was an armed man in park pointing a gun around, that is wall they got.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

It's complete madness.

With all the unrest and looting going on in the other area I imagine quite a few residents are happy to have a firearm to protect their families and property

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

if it was a call to an armed suspect then you leave the tazer in the car. They respond to guns with guns.

remember they were told it was an armed man in park pointing a gun around, that is wall they got.

how do you know what they were told? According to the 911 call we heard, the operator was given the information that it was probably a fake gun and probably a juvenile.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

how do you know what they were told? According to the 911 call we heard, the operator was given the information that it was probably a fake gun and probably a juvenile.

No, I read earlier, i think the NYT, that they were not told this information.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

No, I read earlier, i think the NYT, that they were not told this information.

This article?

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/us...icer.html?_r=0

Doesn't say that they weren't informed that it may fake/he may be a juvenile in that, it says they were investigating what information was relayed and that's it. This is a good quote from that article though :

“The police have to address these things in the proper context,” he said. “This is a 12-year-old boy. This is not a grown man. I’d think you would handle situations with children differently than you would with an adult. They don’t fully understand everything that is going on.”

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

This article?

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/us...icer.html?_r=0

Doesn't say that they weren't informed that it may fake/he may be a juvenile in that, it says they were investigating what information was relayed and that's it. This is a good quote from that article though :

“The police have to address these things in the proper context,” he said. “This is a 12-year-old boy. This is not a grown man. I’d think you would handle situations with children differently than you would with an adult. They don’t fully understand everything that is going on.”

Jeff Follmer, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, said the officers were not told the caller thought the gun might be fake. He said an officer taking a Taser out when they believe there could be a person with a gun puts the officer at risk, the Plain Dealer reported.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...-boy/19471925/

[Ninastar]

Originally Posted by LiamPRW

A child with a gun, i doubt the cop woke up in the morning and decided to go out and slaughter a child for the hell of it.

He had a job to do, police officers are trained to asses situations and assess how dangerous the person in question is, at this point he saw someone waving a gun around, it doesn't make a difference if it is a child or not, so he reacted in the way that they are trained to do.

I can't imagine this cop being happy to feel the need to kill a child, but under his oath to serve and protect, that is what he felt he needed to do and now he has to live the rest of his life knowing that he killed a child who was idiotically branding a fake gun, made to look like a real one, because he was doing as he was trained to do.

Well said...

I think people often forget how dangerous America can be sometimes. It wasn't too long ago that there was those cases of people literally eating people alive in public. A police officer was even attacked in one of those events.

I'm not comparing those events, but I'm just using it as an example to show what kind of craziness goes on in America.

I definitely agree with those saying the gun laws are crazy... It's true. They need to have a hell of a lot stricter policies put in place.