“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.”
What planet do these people live on? Since when does a 12 year old respond “correctly” to commands? I didn’t and my kids didn’t and my grand kids didn’t. And the cop’s kids if he had any didn’t either... So that justifies a shooting?
The cops need to do their job and protect kids (and the rest of us) and not be so damn concentrated on getting home safety. Hell, fireman take risks every day. They’ll run into a burning house. The cops throw in a flash-bang, right into a baby crib... (but then, we can’t have the evidence flushed, can we?)
I gotta tell you, you have a very good point there. Was I was 14 or so, I'd hunt groundhogs in my grandfather's corn fields. I used a 22 rifle. Groundhogs cause a lot of damage, and grandfather wanted them gone.
If a cop appeared out of nowhere and yelled "Drop the gun now and get on the ground!", I'd be way too startled to follow that command.
In fact, I'd probably turn towards the sound of the cop's voice, still holding my 22. In today's world that well could have got me shot.