Posted on 01/15/2006 1:51:35 PM PST by wagglebee
LONGWOOD, Florida (CNN) -- The father and brother of a teenager shot at school Friday while brandishing a pellet gun told authorities before an officer opened fire that Christopher Penley's gun was not real, the family's attorney said Saturday.
The eighth-grader is clinically brain dead and being kept on life support to harvest his organs, attorney Mark Nation said.
When Ralph Penley arrived at the school Friday to help police and school officials defuse the situation, he wasn't allowed inside, Nation said.
Nation said Ralph Penley was "angry" because he had spoken to police before he arrived at the school and told them Christopher did not have a real gun. Christopher's younger brother told school officials the same thing, Nation said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
What does that have to do with this case? Someone points what looks like a firearm at you, It's not reasonable that you should be required to wait and see if a real round hits you.
see what you did?
Furthermore; even if certain that the gun was a toy the last time he was seen how would they know he hadn't acquired a real one by the time they cornered him in the bathroom? The kids who did the Columbine shooting came with backpacks full of weapons and had bombs stashed ahead of time. This kid could have cached something in the bathroom forseeing it as his retreat position.
It's a tragedy for all. Especially the cop who had to kill him.
Not to mention that a pellet gun is more a 'real' gun than a 'toy' gun. You can kill someone at close range with a pellet gun. A pellet is .177 calibre much larger than a BB....
They will have a tough time with a lawsuit. Police procedure is very clear in instances like this, the lives of students and officers were in danger and the police had no absolute way of knowing. It is for cases like this that these procedures are designed. The other thing that this boy's lawyer and family seem to be overlooking is the fact that regardless of anything else, he was in the act of committing multiple felonies.
The Beretta trademark is the only tell. (Kinda hard to see when the bad guy has his hand wrapped around it and is posturing to shoot you!)
The original article also claims you can tell them apart upon sight due to the shinny plastic finish, but anyone with any firearm savy knows that there are multitudes of different finishes from parkerizing to teflon.
I think more information needs to come out, but the child brought a realistic-looking gun to school, pointed it at a student and eventually at a deputy. Deputies pleaded with him to drop it, but he refused. Whether or not he owned a real gun isn't that relevant.
Furthermore, that deputy didn't wake up that morning and say, "Hey, I think I'd like to gun down a boy today." He got up in the morning ready to risk his life for the safety of his community. That poor man has to live with this for the rest of his life, his own self doubt as well as the accusations of total strangers.
If fingers must be pointed, try the school administration, who knew the boy was troubled when he threatened to blow up the bus the prior year. Point them at the friends and neighbors who knew he had long been bullied and suicidal. Point them at the parents, who did not recognize their son's problems or get adequate help. Point them at the young man himself, who although troubled, knew what he was doing. The deputy should never have been put in the position to have to make that terrible decision. The time to prevent this tragedy was long before he brought a gun to school.
That's BS.......
I heartily disagree with your attitude toward police, although I know there are some bad apples out there [as in any profession]. Maybe you should do what I do. I'm a teacher. I've learned to avoid threads that I know will be teacher-bashing threads. You might consider avoiding threads about the police-- or not, as you see fit. Keep on FReeping!
Well said. You are exactly right. But, against emotionalism, even sound logic won't change minds.
By the time the father arrived at the school, his son had already been shot.
Another point is the hostage. At that very close range many pellet guns are lethal. The little slime ball could ave easily killed or permanently injured the totally innnocent hostage. The cop's prompt action saved the hostage.
Thanks you for your advice. It is good advice and I'll certainly consider it.
Thanks for the info. I can't find whatever it was that I read so I probably remember incorrectly. Thanks again!
Exactly. Perhaps a countersuit is in order.
Bingo! I live in the immediate area of Longwood, FL. News reports have indicated that the poor kid was severely emotionally disturbed. Apparently, last year, he got into a scuffle with another kid and threatened to blow up the school bus that the kid was riding on. This (and perhaps other troubles) prompted his removal from the public school and placement in a regional school for troubled kids. Kid was deemed "OK" to return to the general public school population and, according to reports, was only back in school for a couple of weeks before this - his last - troubled incident.
Somebody is going to have many sleepless nights from his conscience!
You have to understand that not every swinging baton on the street gets into SWAT work. Those guys are psychologically evaluated to keep the killer mentalities out of the group. They do however have an emotional switch, the same as a sniper. The admins do not want killers returning to the street.
SWAT team members do what they have to do then they go on and go home to their families. They do not let it stress them. That is why they are called the SPECIAL WEAPONS AND TACTICS Team, or SWAT for short. They are not to be messed with. They are not the county department of social services. They do the dirty jobs that no one else is trained to do.
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