Posted on 01/05/2012 6:39:22 AM PST by VU4G10
Brownsville, Texas -- Police shot and killed an eighth-grader in the hallway of his middle school Wednesday after the boy brandished what looked like a handgun and pointed it at officers. It turned out to be a pellet gun that closely resembled the real thing
"Jaime was not a bad kid," she said. "I'm not saying he was perfect or an angel, but he was a very giving person."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
His biggest mistake wasn't the pointing of the weapon. It was not paying attention to the command to drop the weapon. The police did what they had to do. With all the school shootings lately.
A lot of children are not taught to obey the police. Right or wrong do what they say. If they tell you wrong there is a time to correct it later, after you obeyed their commands.
I honestly believe that when paddling was taken away from the schools, we lost control of the kids that needed discipline.
Suicide by cop.
You will probably get flamed, but I think you are right on target. The picture of him with his girlfriend shows that Jaime Gonzalez (and his girlfriend) are little more than thugs.
Yes, and I feel for the cops who had to do what was necessary.
Yep, nother example of overzealous cops. Sure, the kid was wrong for having the pellet gun. He also brought this on himself without question.
The cops didn't have to blaze away at this kid. Perhaps a well placed shot to the hip or leg.
This would have dropped the kid immediately writhing in pain.
Did ya really have to shoot the kid several times? Did ya really have to cap the kid in the head?
- servantboy777, January 5, 2012
I read an article last evening that reported 3 shots one of which hit him in the head.
MSM....never know what’cha get.
I just don't think police should be the first to fire in a school or other public situation. What ever happened to the concern for bystanders. Any of those bullets could have killed someone else, maybe another child. That seems to sacrifice public safety for personal safety.
In this case, if the police had held fire until the boy fired first, they would have had a good laugh* as they carted the perp off to juvy. By firing first, the possibility of a peaceful resolution was completely rejected by police.
*I know, I know. You can lose an eye.
You're arguing that the cops went too far, while advocating more SWAT Team involvement? I don't think I've ever seen that combination before.
They NEVER are - but there's a first time for everything.
Nonsense. You either shoot to kill (hoping it takes the man down but doesn’t actually kill) or don’t shoot at all.
It seems like the police did the right thing here, but the issue is not whether they should have shot to kill or fired a “well placed shot to the hip or leg”, but whehter they should have fired at all.
This is the real world, not a Hollywood movie. Trying to shoot the gun out of an assailant’s hand like the Waco Kid is a good way to get officers and bystanders killed.
In fairness, in the article I read the grandmother did seem to acknowledge that the boy was at fault for his own death and admitted he was no angel. In context, I took her comment to mean he wasn’t ALL bad. Compared to the relatives of most dead thugs I’ve read about, she seemed pretty reasonable.
Normally, the cop or citizen who shoots the thug in self defense is labeled as the evil doer and we hear about how the dead thug was a “good boy” and “was turning his life around” and considering, thinking about, looking into getting his GED (at the time he committed the armed robbery).
Wow, wonder how many of you would profess to be Christian.
If someone just happened up on this thread, they’re first impression would be, “what a bunch of blood thirsty people”.
Whatever, you guys can rail all ya want. This was a kid and with all the resources our police forces have at their disposal now days, there was no need to kill him.
I believe a lot of Nazi soldiers were “8th grade boys”.
My point: An 8th grader brandishing a weapon can be as dangerous as a 30 year old brandishing a weapon. And a belligerent attitude is not a good sign.
I think they should have shot the gun out of his hand.
/s
“...this possible future drug dealer/la Raza soldier/rapist/murderer was taken out EARLY in his career.”
I have to admit it is not lost on me that this may be exactly what this comes down to.
Yep, just shoot to wound and that way the kids parents could sue the police for a ton of money and in that area you can bet that they would have gotten a bunch. /s
I suspect that there will be lawsuits filed anyway even though the police had every justification to shoot.
My dad always told me if you screw up you’d better be willing to suffer the consequences. Too bad the kid didn’t use better judgment. I read that he had problems at school before. I guess he won’t any more.
.
—I just don’t think police should be the first to fire in a school or other public situation. —
You and I strongly disagree on that one.
—In this case, if the police had held fire until the boy fired first, they would have had a good laugh* as they carted the perp off to juvy. By firing first, the possibility of a peaceful resolution was completely rejected by police.—
OTOH, if it had been a real gun and the police had not taken him down, there would have been no “good laugh”. None at all. And since the police do not have crystal balls, they had no idea which it was, but it was probably the latter.
CC
Mother of convicted murderer right after the verdict is read: But my Tyrone is a GOOOOOD boy!!
Parents can be a bit jaded.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.