... It wasn't Officer Gelhaus.
Whoever pulled that plug signed the boys death warrant.
I agree that there’s plenty of blame to be spread around. The orange tip should *never* have been removed from that BB gun.
However, does that mean that it IS okay to yell “Drop the gun!” and then just start firing at someone with a *real* gun? I believe that open carry is illegal in CA. But should it be worth an immediate death sentence? That seems extreme.
I thought we’d seen elsewhere that the Airsoft guns are required to have an orange tip.
... It wasn't Officer Gelhaus.
Whoever pulled that plug signed the boys death warrant.
Orange plug or no, cops in CA are not allowed to shoot someone simply because they are carrying a weapon. From what I have read this kid was shot at eight times, from the rear, being hit with seven of the rounds fired.
Being shot in the back begs the questions,"Did the boy know the cops were even there? Did they give him a chance to turn around and place the bb gun(not ever a real bb gun, an airsoft)on the ground?" It is still lawful in CA to carry firearms(long guns) in the open depending on the circumstances.
The person who signed this kids death warrant was not the one who removed the orange plug, but the idiot trigger happy cop who shot him.
Actually the 3 inches of the end of the barrel are cut off which should have been a clue that it was a toy and that someone had cut off the orange tip -- something that kids do to their orange tip guns all the time.
Last year a bill was presented to the legislature to require all pellet and bb guns to be painted pastel colors but it was opposed by many in LE because they claim that bb and pellet guns can also hurt. Those in LE who opposed it want these guns to look like the real thing so that they shoot those carrying them as well as those who carry the real thing and then disingenuously claim "oh we thought it was real."
Why are they shooting people carrying rifles in the first place -- it's not against state law.
“Whoever pulled that plug signed the boys death warrant. “
Maybe, but what’s happened to the Second Amendment here? So far as I know, it is not illegal to openly carry a long gun in California. This deputy has a disturbing history of the use of his weapon.
“Whoever pulled that plug signed the boys death warrant.”
Officer Gelhaus signed the death warrant. Judge, jury, and executioner.
This was his friends air soft plastic pellet toy gun that the Lopez kid was playing with.