This event happened only a mile or so from us so I’ve been following this from the beginning. The sheriff’s deputies were not called to the scene, but were just out cruising. They saw the “perp” (Andy Lopez, who was walking down the sidewalk with his back to them) with the “gun,” chirped the siren ONCE, stopped the car, jumped out and took defensive positions behind the car doors.
Deputy Jumpy (oh, sorry, Gelhaus) called for the kid to drop the weapon and turn around. The kid turned but didn’t drop the weapon. (Later, in his report, Gelhaus said he didn’t remember whether or not he identified himself as an officer. So Lopez was not “asked repeatedly” to put down his weapon.) When Lopez was turned about halfway around (probably thinking “Huh? Who’s yelling at me?”) Gelhaus opened fire, shooting eight rounds in less than two seconds. First round hit a house behind Lopez (good shooting, Deputy Jumpy!), second round took the kid in the heart, final round went in through his buttocks and up through his torso, indicating the kid was lying down at that point.
Oh, and just so you know . . . from the time the deputies saw Lopez until Gelhaus began shooting was nineteen seconds. So as you can see, this was a very calm and reasoned approach to a possibly dangerous individual. (Do I have to say /sarc here?)
This event reminds me very much of the Officer Jumpy in Seattle who shot the deaf Indian woodcarver to death on the streets of downtown. That Officer Jumpy saw a knife in the man’s hand (he was an accomplished woodcarver and everyone downtown knew him), stopped his car, jumped out, screamed for the man to put down his weapon, and when the deaf man (DEAF man!) began to turn, finally figuring out something was going on, the officer unloaded his weapon and shot the “perp” to death. He felt “threatened” despite the fact that the knife was over ten feet from him. I believe that officer was finally charged, though.
I hope I’m not coming off as a cop hater. I have almost reverence for the profession as a whole. BUT bad cops need to at least be told to find another line of work, permanently. Gelhaus has no business being anywhere near a gun while wearing a badge.
Isn't it curious that civilian police within the USA operates as if they are soldiers that occupy a foreign, hostile land and shoot citizens on sight for any offense that is real or imagined?
Isn't it also curious that US soldiers that occupy a foreign, hostile land act as civilian police officers, afraid to aim their unloaded guns at the attacker?
Your version seems the most reasonable. Every if the cops had identified themselves, it’s a normal reaction to not immediately comply, because it takes a moment for most people to process a shouted order and most people would turn around to see who is giving the order.
The kid’s actions weren’t one of defiance, but momentarily confused.
There was another news article this past week, about a man who butchered his sister-in-law and nearly the entire family of the couple and their four little kids by shooting them in the back of the head after forcing them to lay face-down on their floor of their home. The cops (dozens of them) chased down the perp, surrounding his car, and talked him into surrendering after almost 3 hours. If cops can talk a gun-wielding mass murderer into surrendering, then why not negotiate with a 13-year-old who is not suspected of any crime?
Spot on! There are too many in the police ranks who would like nothing better than to make this nation a police state. These individuals have deep rooted psychological problems. Perhaps they were the bully we suffered though in our school days. There is only one way to create a safer police force: psychological testing—and retesting. With today’s police state, even your loving dog is not safe with these deranged cops.
The police report said 10 seconds and that number came from police dispatch.
It was 10 seconds from the time Gelhaus called in his report of a suspicious person to the follow up call of shots fired.
10 seconds is all Gelhaus gave him --
The cop was charged, but was let go by the police department.