Boise police officer kills teen wielding rifle with bayonet

Salt Lake Tribune ^ | 12/20/04 | AP

[television is just wrong]

You do not branish weapons to anyone you don't plan on fighting with.

[aspiring.hillbilly]

Naaaa,,,in the long run the looozer would only breed more of his kind to the detriment of humanity........

[donmeaker]

My WWII era rifle is a short magazine lee enfield. I can get off 30 aimed shots a minute.

It also makes a slightly bigger hole going in.

And by the way, I have the bayonet too.

[television is just wrong]

Survival of the fittest? Sounds good to me. Gotta stop protecting stupid people.

[blanknoone]

There is not quite enough information about this in the article. And it may be simply unknown. The officer was well within his rights to shoot someone trying to poke him with a bayonet. I would question whether putting 4 shots in the kid was excessive. It may have been, it may not have been. If the kid kept coming, the officer certainly should have kept firing, but if the officer was at all careful in where he shot kid, the first three should have been sufficiently debilitating to eliminate the threat.

That said, I don't think there is any criminal liability it the officer's actions. He faced a deadly threat with deadly force. But it is possible that better training could have led to a better outcome.

[cpdiii]

How do you get 30 rounds out of a Lee Enfield Magazine?

[cpdiii]

I would question whether putting 4 shots in the kid was excessive. It may have been, it may not have been. If the kid kept coming, the officer certainly should have kept firing, but if the officer was at all careful in where he shot kid, the first three should have been sufficiently debilitating to eliminate the threat.

If it is still standing it is a threat.

[mountaineer]

teen jumped out of the bushes, repeatedly charging the officer with a bayonet and rifle ....
The officer was well within his rights to shoot someone trying to poke him with a bayonet.

The officer also couldn't have known the kid wouldn't shoot him with the rifle, too, not just poke him with the bayonet.

[Deguello]

"is a short magazine lee enfield"

Bump for Monday morning gun thread.

Have you found anything other than Norma that will shoot through it, or do you roll your own?

[Bean Counter]

I really feel sorry for the Officer; he had no choice but to do his duty and defend himself, and I'm sure he'll carry the guilt around for the rest of his life.

But the bottom line is, don't threaten or attack a Police Officer. Period.

[blanknoone]

If it is still standing it is a threat.

Yeah, but if he is still standing after three shots...the officer might need some training. Either in where to shoot, or how to hit what he is aiming at.

[Trinity5]

The description of it as a "WW II era" weapons leads me to think it may be an M1 Garand.

Based on what? It could have been an Enfield, Mauser, Springfield, Mosin-Nagant, etc. Considering the bayonet was 15 inches long, I would tend to believe it was bolt action rifle.

[B Knotts]

That was how I read it initially, too!

[Ready4Freddy]

And maybe a carriage return or two.... :)

[subterfuge]

If the officer was really in fear for his life, how does he let a 16 yo get close enough to poke him with a bayonet?

If it happened as stated, why does the officer not take the boy down as I'm sure "he has been trained" to do without killing him?

Has any police officer anywhere not "responded as he was trained"? You never, ever, hear a police Chief say "officer So-And-So handled this imporperly and definately shouldn't have shot the suspect in the back."

I'm not defending the kids actions, but don't the cops ever take a risk to try and help the confused? It was a kid.

One more instance where the parents are making a mistake to call the cops. "Hello, police? Yeah, my kid is acting up again. Could you come over and shoot him or something?"

[fr_freak]

"...adding that while the father told dispatchers he believed his son's weapons were unloaded, police are still investigating that."

I'm really starting to wonder about this police department. How long an investigation will it be to determine whether or not there were any bullets in the rifle? Perhaps I can be of assistance: LOOK IN THE CHAMBER.

[Ajnin]

There is not quite enough information about this in the article. And it may be simply unknown. The officer was well within his rights to shoot someone trying to poke him with a bayonet. I would question whether putting 4 shots in the kid was excessive. It may have been, it may not have been. If the kid kept coming, the officer certainly should have kept firing, but if the officer was at all careful in where he shot kid, the first three should have been sufficiently debilitating to eliminate the threat.

I just read a good article in Combat Handgun magazaine by Massad Ayoob. He states that when shooting a person in the torso, the strike of the rounds are not immediately evident. Unless, the person is immediately incapacited such as with a head shot a defensive shooter may not even know if he hit the perpetrator. This is one reason mulitple shots are fired. The idea is to keep pumping out rounds until the perpetrator is no longer a threat.

[trebb]

What a terrible shame and waste of a young life. May God watch over his soul and give those who knew and loved him some peace in their minds and in their hearts.

[El Gato]

This is actually the first crime in 10 years that could have been affected by the now expired "clinton assault weapons ban" - it banned some rifles if they did not remove the bayonet lug...

Nope, close but no cigar. They said it was a WW-II era rifle. Thus a Garand or possibly a Springfield, if a US weapon. All the likely foreign weapons, and the Springfield, are bolt actions. Even the Garand, which is a semi-auto, doesn't qualify because it doesn't have a removable magazine. The magazine it does have holds less than ten rounds as well.

[Mark17]

If the officer was really in fear for his life, how does he let a 16 yo get close enough to poke him with a bayonet?

They can come at you real fast, especially if your weapon is in your holster. The article says he jumped out of the bushes and repeatedly charged the officer. I am wondering how many times does he have to charge, before action is taken? No matter how you look at it, the whole situation is tragic. I think domestic disturbances, are the situations officers dread responding to most.