Posted on 02/28/2005 10:24:11 AM PST by OXENinFLA
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- A police officer fatally shot a 16-year-old boy outside a high school dance who was driving his car recklessly on campus grounds, officials said.
Jerrod Miller, a sophomore at Olympic Heights High School, died after he was shot about 9 p.m. outside a dance at another school, Delray Full Service Center, The Palm Beach Post reported.
Miller dropped off other kids at the dance and left, Delray Beach police said.
Then he returned and drove through the campus and its outdoor corridors, police said. Students were dodging his car.
An officer fired a shot in an attempt to stop the car, police said.
Relatives said Miller was a good kid who checked up on his grandmother and stayed off the streets.
''He wasn't that kind of kid. He was a good kid,'' said family spokeswoman Joelle Cornelius.
Delray Full Service Center is an alternative school for students with discipline problems.
Sunday morning, painted yellow lines marked the car's tire tracks and a small splatter of blood, scraped paint, and tire marks remained on the hallway wall.
Police declined to identify the officer or release additional information. A spokesman didn't return a phone message and page from The Associated Press.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.
Any cop that can't disarm a 16 year old boy without shooting shouldn't be on the force.
Too slow. Try again next time.
Vehicular assault is a felony.
You've been watching too many movies.
OOoohhhh. Cool USA Today-type graphics!
It just seems kinda odd to me for his first reaction would be to start firing his gun.
He couldn't call for a squad car to stop the kid.
And if the cop was afraid the kids was driving erratically and might hit somebody w/ his car WTF is the cop doing firing his gun in the same direction?
Odd phrase, isn't it?
That's what they said about the drunk who insisted on driving down the sidewalk....
"Reckless driving is generally not a felony..."
Reckless driving through a government building is though. Destruction of goverment property.
And have you tried to shoot the tires of a moving vehicle? I'm willing to bet the cop tried to shoot the tires. We don't know the distance involved, what kind of car was driven, where the kid was hit (a shot in his stomach in a low riding sports car would be easy to make by accident while aiming for a moving tire)
There is more to the story than we know though.
Well, I suppose driving around campus seemed like a good idea at the time....
I will side with law enforcement on this one.
From the graphic posted it looks like he WAS on the sidewalk.....
Absolutely.
There is no way for us to know exactly what transpired and how. It could be that the kid was driving toward the officer or a group of kids and the only recourse was for the cop to shoot at the car, hitting the driver. He may have actually saved lives.
That being said, I'm glad he wasn't around when I used to burn donuts around my old high school.
< snip >
According to 17-year-old Smith, the shooting unfolded like this: Miller did not respond to the officer's request for his license. The officer calmly asked Miller twice to get out of the car. The officer then stepped back and "looked like he was going to grab his gun." Miller then drove forward into a courtyard in front of the school's gym. Four or five girls were standing nearby on the gym steps. Two police officers chased the car, one with his gun drawn.< snip > Another witness, Jamar Gammage, 16, said the car swerved, turned into the school's courtyard and began driving down an outdoor walkway. Gammage said he heard the tires squeal and then heard two shots.
It is the second time in five months that a Delray Beach police officer has shot and killed someone.
The cop could control the bullet, not the car.
It just seems kinda odd to me for his first reaction would be to start firing his gun.
He couldn't call for a squad car to stop the kid.
And if the cop was afraid the kids was driving erratically and might hit somebody w/ his car WTF is the cop doing firing his gun in the same direction?
I agree with all of this.
Finally an objective observation.
Is there an answer?
Yes, but those burnouts were probably in an empty parking lot, not on a lawn and sidewalk filled with students.
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