Posted on 11/23/2014 6:39:33 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
A Cleveland police officer responding to a call about a person with a gun fatally wounded a 12-year-old boy brandishing what turned out to be an air gun that looked very much like a real firearm, police said early Sunday.
The shooting Saturday afternoon came as the nation nervously awaited a grand jury decision on whether to charge the police officer who killed African-American teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in August.
The attorney for the family of the Cleveland youngster, who also was black, downplayed any possible racial connotations to the shooting.
"This is not a black and white issue. This is a right and wrong issue," attorney Tim Kucharski said.
Police were summoned to the scene outside a recreation center by a 911 caller who said someone -- possibly a juvenile -- was pointing a gun at people.
"There's a guy in there with a pistol, you know, it's probably fake, but he's like pointing it at everybody," the caller said, according to audio provided by CNN affiliate WEWS....
(Excerpt) Read more at wibw.com ...
Well the judge, jury, and executioner made the call.
What a tragedy, young life taken and officer has to live
with this error (or not), (each person can decide that) for the rest of their life.
Terrible sad story.
Looks like a gun to me and I’d be hard pressed to ascertain ots lethality if it was presented to me, in a split second.
So you’d risk your life that “it’s probably a BB gun or a toy” would you? Not me.
"The officers ordered him to stop and to show his hands and he went into his waistband and pulled out the weapon," [Cleveland Deputy Chief Ed Tomba] said.Tomba showed reporters the weapon -- a large, black BB- or pellet-type replica gun resembling a semiautomatic pistol. An orange tip indicating the gun was an air gun had been removed, police said.
It reminds me of those Air-Soft pistols. They do indeed look like the real thing. In fact I served on a jury where on of these was used to commit a crime. Given the circumstances I cannot fault the cop.
The LEOs are now programmed to have no hesitation in shooting kids.
Maybe a little more thoughtfulness would be a better idea. But that ISN'T what they are all about.
>>So youd risk your life that its probably a BB gun or a toy would you? Not me.
If he’s in my house, I wouldn’t risk it. But, its a cop’s DUTY to be there and take on the risk of finding out before killing the person. If he’s afraid to take on that responsibility without killing innocent people, then he needs to go become an insurance agent or something.
If that statement is true, the 12-year-old simply submitted his application to be a Darwin Award winner.
Just in time to morph into another reason to riot with the announcing of the Fergasun decision. A few more of these and obummer can declare martial law.
What Good Can a Handgun Do Against An Army?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/2312894/posts
->> It reminds me of those Air-Soft pistols. They do indeed look like the real thing. In fact I served on a jury where on of these was used to commit a crime.
I’ve experienced this as well. Many others thought it was real too.
I can see you weren’t in Nam. Twelve year old’s can certainly kill you.
I was once in a supermarket parking lot when a man walked backwards from behind a van yelling angrily at someone I could not see and holding an Uzi. He had taken the toy away from his kid after the kid had refused to put it back in the van before they went into the store. I about pissed myself.
Pointing a gun at people is most certainly a crime.
nobody deserves to die for carrying a BB gun
Why did he pull it out of his waistband when the police arrived?
Cops always say that. Then once and a while the video shows up...
What does that mean?
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