Posted on 11/23/2014 3:10:20 PM PST by Impala64ssa
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A rookie Cleveland police officer shot a 12-year-old boy outside a city recreation center late Saturday afternoon after the boy pulled a BB gun from his waistband, police said.
Police were responding to reports of a male with a gun outside Cudell Recreation Center at Detroit Avenue and West Boulevard about 3:30 p.m., Deputy Chief of Field Operations Ed Tomba said.
A rookie officer and a 10-15 year veteran pulled into the parking lot and saw a few people sitting underneath a pavilion next to the center. The rookie officer saw a black gun sitting on the table, and he saw the boy pick up the gun and put it in his waistband, Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association President Jeffrey Follmer said.
The officer got out of the car and told the boy to put his hands up. The boy reached into his waistband, pulled out the gun and the rookie officer fired two shots, Tomba said.
Tomba said the child did not threaten the officer verbally or physically.
At least one of the shots hit the child in the stomach. He was rushed to MetroHealth Medical Center in serious condition. His current condition was not immediately known.
As a handful of community activists shouted obscenities from behind a group of reporters, Tomba said the incident was "very, very tragic."
"We don't come to work everyday and want to use force on anybody," Tomba said. "That's not what our job is. We're part of this community."
The department's use of deadly force investigation team, made up of officers from the homicide and internal affairs units, members of the city's Office of Professional Standards and the city and Cuyahoga County prosecutors office, will determine if the officer was justified in shooting the boy.
Tomba promised the investigation would be open.
"When an officer gives a command, we expect it to be followed," Tomba said. "The way it looks like right now, it wasn't followed, but we're going to continue our investigation."
The shooting comes as the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the department to determine if it regularly uses excessive force against its citizens.
Northeast Ohio Media Group will continue to update this story.
Oh no! Not Ralphy!
Riot now. No? The kid wasn’t a thug I guess.
Neighbors like you we do not need.
Looks like Al and Jesse will have to split their time between Ferguson and Cleveland.
“....a handful of community activists shouted obscenities from behind a group of reporters, “
Uh Oh!
which “community” explodes first....Cleveland Of Ferguson...?
I see a spike in employment in the rent a mob industry
>>”We don’t come to work everyday and want to use force on anybody,” Tomba said. “That’s not what our job is. We’re part of this community.”
Neighbors like you we do not need. <<
Are you confused about who the players were and what happened?
Here’s an idea..if you don’t want to get shot..don’t point a gun at cops..gee, logic, who knew!
The gun had been modified to remove its orange tip, making it identifiable as a toy.
Those orange tips are a rotten idea. I have never heard of any time when an LEO said, “I was just about to shoot them, and then I saw the orange tip on their gun, so I didn’t.”
Likewise, since it would be easy to put a fake orange tip on a real gun, it does the police no good anyway.
Instead, kids need instruction that they should never, ever draw down on a cop, and if a cop ever orders them to do something, they must. And most important of all, a fake gun can get them really shot.
Have the “Runnin’ Reverends” run into town yet?
No, that's wrong.
In fact these days most cops want to do EXACTLY THAT, and that's why they signed up to be a cop.
They feel they have a license to hunt humans, and that's what they do.
They see citizens as falling into two types --those they have arrested and those still awaiting arrest, and nothing in-between.
No doubt.If you go to the story at the link,have a look at the “BB” gun.A real close copy of a 1911.Would fool about anyone if they only had a split second to decide.
What department do you work for? With inside information like that you must pretty well established.
Trainng works!
Wrong....
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