Posted on 12/22/2017 3:41:42 PM PST by jhastey
"SCHERTZ, Texas - Wiederstein Elementary School in the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District is mourning a first-grader who was killed in a deputy-involved shooting. Kameron Prescott was killed Thursday by what appeared to be a stray bullet at his family's home, at the Pecan Grove Mobile Home Park on FM 78.
According to Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, four deputies fired shots outside the home when a woman who they believed was armed with a gun appeared to be reaching for the weapon. "
Later reports in other local media indicate that no weapon was found on the dead suspect.
How many more of these needless shooting deaths of innocent civilians by cops must we have before we as a society either decide to drastically tighten the requirements to become an LEO or drastically tighten the rules/condition under which they may draw and/or use their firearm and increase the severity of the penalties for violating those rules of engagement?
“I am normally very supportive of law enforcement”
Why? Do you support them solely because of their job or do you normally support them because you effort to understand the legalities and conditions they’re experiencing and judge them to be worthy of support?
Your statement that follows seems indicate the former.
The firstrule of firearm safety is don’t point your weapon at a living person... Wanna guess what happens when you’re in a lethal force encounter? The cops didn’t choosethe backstop. The woman, who was seen earlier with a pistol (that she probably ditched unbeknownst to the cops), chose that backstop.
This is no different than if someone is robbing a bank with a toy gun and someone gets killed in the crossfire. The felon gets the legal responsibility and the bulk of the moral blame.
Near 100% chance Internal Affairs will clear the officer.
Nothing changes until that changes.
WTF just doesn't say it anymore
So these guys killed TWO people and there was no actual threat? This is unacceptable. Just ask yourself what would happen if a civilian killed two people because they thought someone had a gun?
The cops didnt choosethe backstop.
Coopers Rule: Know Your target AND WHAT IS BEYOND IT.
Manslaughter for the cop. Fire him. Indict him. Prosecute him. Convict and incarcerate him.
Then sue him until hes bankrupt and his family is starving in the streets.
Then sue the PD until theyre bankrupt.
L
“Deputies had chased the woman from another mobile home park, in the 11200 block of FM 1518, after she threatened to shoot one of them with a gun, Salazar said.”
I’d say there was reasonable suspicion that she was armed, and other reports from witnesses claim she was at some point.
At the very least she was a fleeing felony suspect that had multiple opportunities to avoid being shot.
Wow, I drove right by there today. I was wondering what all the deputies were doing there. I saw a bunch of them walking up and down the road like they were looking for something. RIP little guy.
I support them because I have family and friends who are LEO’s so I know the dangers they face day in and day out.
I also know that every knucklehead like the one above who killed an innocent 6 year old because he/she either forgot or ignored the rule of knowing what is behind your target and recklessly opened fire in a residential area makes the general public more and more hostile to LEO’s in general. That increasing hostility puts those family members and friends of mine who are LEO’s in danger needlessly.
The cops may not have chosen the backstop, but they did choose to open fire in a situation where it put innocent civilians in danger - and in this case killed a 6 year old boy in his home 3 days before Christmas. Whether the perp ever had a weapon or ditched it is irrelevant - the cops taking that shot when they did killed a 6 year old boy. Even the Sheriff’s Office is saying that no weapon was found on the suspect - if there was it would be the first thing the BSCO would be emphasizing.
The more knuckleheads that do this and the inevitable “Thin Blue Line” crap to avoid holding them accountable only strengthens the push to disarm the majority of our cops like the British did - and that is a dangerous situation that I don’t want the family and friends of mine who are LEO’s in.
Does that justify a 6 year old boy being shot and killed in his home - 3 days before Christmas no less - by a stray round from one of the Sheriff’s guns?
For officers, it's a LIFE OR DEATH matter of fractions of a second in making decisions.
If the suspect verbally threatened to shoot the cops, they had every reason to respond accordingly.
She had threatened to shoot the cops at another park and the ran, they chased her on foot to this park where she attempted to break into trailers their, and attempted to steal a man’s car. So she had threatened both the cops and others.
Well stated.
Its unfortunate that on the one hand people demand more police and on the other hand get all upset when the police do their job. Like so many other governmental solutions, the logical approach seems to be to deal with your own problems instead.
Politics is a scam and we’re suckers for playing.
The felon gets the legal responsibility and the bulk of the moral blame.
What felon?
“If the suspect verbally threatened to shoot the cops, they had every reason to respond accordingly.”
So you’re ok with them shooting into that innocent family’s home. Tough luck for the little boy the cops shot to death, eh.
So you really think that if someone mouths off it is OK to kill them, and any little kid who happens to be behind them?
If you really believe that you need help.
Trained police officers, soldiers, and civilians don't shoot people because they make threats, and they don't shoot without making sure their shots won't strike an innocent person unless they are truly in immediate peril.
Well that establishes that they aren't qualified for the job they should have been doing, because you always have to make sure you carefully choose your "backstop". By your way of thinking it would be OK if the officer ended up using one of his colleagues as a backstop, but that doesn't happen very often, does it?
So if you aren't going to use your partner, or one of the other officers present as a "backstop" then you shouldn't use a 6 year old as a "backstop" either.
Blundering and killing children isn't excusable error.
You should study the issue more than reading a few quips by Col Jeff Cooper.
That quote isn’t a legal argument.
When you’re in a split second decision, you don’t get to query everything within a hundred yards to the rear of your target.
A kid was killed. It’s tragic. Stop making decisions on guilt based on your feelings and use your brain.
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