Posted on 07/08/2014 7:08:32 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
Prosecutors said Monday they will not file criminal charges against a Northern California sheriff's deputy who shot and killed a 13-year-old boy carrying a pellet gun he mistook for an assault rifle....
Deputy Erick Gelhaus, 48, fired multiple rounds in response to what he believed was an imminent threat of death, Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch announced at a news conference.
'While in the lawful performance of his duty, Deputy Gelhaus was faced with a highly unpredictable and rapidly evolving situation,' Ravitch said. 'He believed honestly and reasonably that he was faced with a do-or-die dilemma.'
'While this was an absolute tragedy it was not a criminal act,' Ravitch said.
Gelhaus shot Lopez on October 22 as the teen walked near his home with the pellet gun. The deputy told investigators he believed the gun was real and opened fire out of fear for his life.
At least one witness said he heard the deputy order Lopez to drop the pellet gun before shooting, Ravitch said.
Gelhaus fired eight times, striking the eighth-grader seven times with his department-issued 9 mm handgun.
The district attorney said Gelhaus had 18 rounds in his gun and stopped shooting when he felt the threat had ended....
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Do you have a link to the autopsy report?
I do seem to recall that most or all of the bullets entered Lopez from the shoulders and back.
Last time I checked, we didn't have a Department of Pre-Crime.
ome areas in California where citizens open carrying an ak-47 is not a good idea, and where it shouldnt happen.
To me, the idea of a public area where citizens shouldn't publicly bear arms is repugnant. A citizen under arms should be an unremarkable sight, its very commonness a mute testimony to the freedom of this Great Republic. I realize that we're a long way from social acceptance of such. This problem is the legacy of bad gun laws in existence over several generations.
Is it a fact that he didn't identify himself, and in that particular situation was it required?
If you know the California statute that applies, that would be helpful.
If the kid was pointing something that looked like a real firearm in any fashion that resembles a threatening act it could be argued that the cop had good reason to be *very* concerned for his own safety and/or the safety of others.
I understand what you’re saying. I do the conceal thing. I don’t have any need/desire to open carry... even though its legal in my state.
Gelhaus was already cumming from shooting the child the first time, he could not stop firing multiple times. Any resemblance between Gelhaus and a human being is purely coincidental.
Just FYI...on several occasions I've seen ads in NYC subway cars,ads by the NYPD,reminding people that it's a crime in New York State to modify a toy firearm to make it look real *and* to modify a real firearm to make it look like a toy.I don't know how widespread such laws might be...or if there's a Federal law along those lines.
You were at the scene, correct?
It’s around somewhere — I think the ones that killed him went into his right chest and right hip — indicating that he was shot as he was turning around and before he got turned around.
Now if he had been an illegal with scabies...
were you? someone with a ‘toy’ designed to look like a real firearm already has issues. put that person in a neighborhood teeming with illegal weapons...remove the orange safety tip identifying the ‘toy’ as a toy, and it looks like a real AK-47. now have someone point one at you.
my guess is that you would have fired as well, and/or have brown trousers.everyone i know of would have done just as the cops did.
this travon wannabe made the mistake of altering not one, but TWO guns by removing the orange tips, and his parents seemed oblivious of that fact.
would you let your kid wander the streets with a AK lookalike? it’s sad that this kid paid the price, but really...put yourself in the situation of the cop.
10 seconds — try it yourself — from the time he called central to the time the kid lay dead with 7 shots in him — and don’t forget you have to turn on the siren, wait for the car to stop, get out of the car, kneel down behind it and fire 8 times.
So please tell me when did he have time to yell anything and give the kid time to respond.
And don’t forget the siren was bleeped here — how did the kid hear anything over the siren?? The kid may have been responding to the siren not the supposed yell —
says a lot about your mentality and maturity level, sport.
Look at the picture on this thread and tell me you can’t tell the difference???
If a police officer can’t tell the difference then put away the gun and get off the streets.
These are toys that fire plastic pellets that are sold by the millions in California.
Are you telling me that police officers in California are oblivious to that fact and that popos should be able to shoot kids carrying them 8 times with real deadly force and then claim ignorance???
Get real —
“Gelhaus was already cumming from shooting the child the first time, he could not stop firing multiple times. Any resemblance between Gelhaus and a human being is purely coincidental.”
I am acquainted with this guy. You are way off base.
Why am I not surprised --
You know neither me, the deputy, the situtation, or anything of which you speak.
Nor does it mention the distance between the two, availability of cover, and a few other potential factors affecting officer response. I agree that cops are too likely to shoot first.
Do you know the California statute the police officer violated?
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