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Lawyer: Authorities were told student's gun was fake
CNN ^ | 1/14/06 | CNN

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 ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: fakegun; schoolshooting
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To: Supernatural
I think the cops overreacted

Yeah, better for a cop to be shot FIRST, before deciding that little junior's gun is real.

61 posted on 01/15/2006 2:15:48 PM PST by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to say it)
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To: Supernatural
Question - have you even bothered to take a look at this "gun" - modified to appear "real" - especially from a distance -- Monday morning quarterbacking is an easy art-form
62 posted on 01/15/2006 2:16:07 PM PST by VRWCTexan (History has a long memory - but still repeats itself)
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To: pcottraux

We had a case in Uniontown, PA, a few years back, just a few days before Christmas. State Police were chasing a 12 year old kid. Two cops with guns drawn. The kid jumped a fence and so did the cops. One of the cops guns discharged when he jumped the fence and his partner thought the UNARMED child was shooting at him. He shot the UNARMED kid in the back and killed him. The internal investigation cleared the cop of SHOOTING AN UNARMED 12 YEAR OLD KID IN THE BACK AND KILLING HIM. The kid's crime? Joyriding. The penalty? Death. A civil suit is underway. The cops punishment? Reassigned to another part of the state.


63 posted on 01/15/2006 2:16:17 PM PST by Supernatural (All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie! bob dylan)
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To: MamaTexan

It happened here in Wichita.


64 posted on 01/15/2006 2:17:11 PM PST by teenyelliott (Soylent green should be made outta liberals...)
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To: oxcart

That's OK, I've got my flame-proof underwear on. And the truth on my side.


65 posted on 01/15/2006 2:17:13 PM PST by Supernatural (All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie! bob dylan)
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To: wagglebee
Really? The parents that raised this nut case told the cops the gun was fake? That should have quelled all doubts.
66 posted on 01/15/2006 2:17:14 PM PST by N. Beaujon (http://www.nbeaujon.com)
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To: Supernatural
What if the child who was killed by the police was your child? What would you be saying then?

My parents taught me never to point a weapon, even a toy one, at someone unless I was willing to take their life. I taught my son the same lesson. Had my son done what this youth did, I would mourn his passing but accept that his terrible judgment was at fault, not the cop.

We need to teach all children from the time they are small that actions have consequences. This young man alone was at fault for his demise.

67 posted on 01/15/2006 2:17:46 PM PST by RochesterFan
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To: Supernatural
What if the child who was killed by the police was your child? What would you be saying then?

Let's try this. Let's say a kid had a real gun and painted the tip orange. Someone tells the cop (your son) that the gun is a fake. Your son believes it and the kid shoots your son dead. You can't tell a fake from real at a distance and you can't take someone's word. And, as you've seen, people die from pellet gun shots. My guess is several per year.

68 posted on 01/15/2006 2:17:46 PM PST by Right Wing Assault ("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
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To: LibertarianCandidate
Sheriff Andy new about this tendancy and made him carry his bullet in his shirt pocket. Probably a pretty wise practice.

Welcome, TV N00B. NB4ZOT You have never been shot, nor shot at.

69 posted on 01/15/2006 2:17:49 PM PST by ARealMothersSonForever
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To: wagglebee

Special Agent Danny Banks, with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, holds a pellet gun used by a 15-year-old student to threaten classmates and hold sheriff's deputies at bay at Milwee Middle School in Seminole County, Fla., Friday, Jan. 13, 2006.

Members of a SWAT team from the Seminole County Sheriff's Office shot and wounded the student, who brandished the weapon that appeared to be a 9mm handgun, but was actually a pellet pistol modified to look like an actual firearm.

70 posted on 01/15/2006 2:17:57 PM PST by TomGuy
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To: pcottraux

Not shoot the kid in the head?


71 posted on 01/15/2006 2:18:31 PM PST by benjibrowder (The government (at all levels) should not be involved in the education business.)
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To: wagglebee

The lawyer is free to say anything he wants, after the fact and first to the public market with his spin. Have an investigation.


72 posted on 01/15/2006 2:18:40 PM PST by AD from SpringBay (We have the government we allow and deserve.)
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To: Supernatural

So? What's that got to do with this case? Completely different scenario. I guess you're just trying to make me hate cops. It's not working.


73 posted on 01/15/2006 2:18:42 PM PST by pcottraux (It's pronounced "P. Coe-troe.")
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To: wagglebee

Not only that, how is an officer to know whether the father is actually telling the truth or not. Some parents out there will lie their asses off, for their kid. If someone points a gun that looks like a high caliber semi-automatic at you, are you going to risk sacrificing your life to give the kid a break?

There's one person who could have cut that kid a break. That person was the kid himself. He could have laid the gun down and stepped away. He could have listened to the officers and followed directions.

Let's say the gun was actually a pellet gun. Should the officer wait until getting shot in the eye before taking action? A pellet gun can cause a fatal injury. A pellet shot to the eye can enter the brain.

I'm not glad the kid is brain dead, but I would have probably done the same thing the officer did.


74 posted on 01/15/2006 2:19:01 PM PST by DoughtyOne (01/11/06: Ted Kennedy becomes the designated driver and moral spokesperson for the Democrat party.)
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To: wagglebee
The man who makes the decision of whether a gun is fake is the man it is pointed at. Police play for keeps. The shot was a killing shot to the head as training requires.

Even if authorities say a gun is fake, an officer has to be able to make that judgement, on the spot. In this case he or they were wrong.

Every time an officer discharges his weapon, there is an inquiry. The inquiry will decide whether this was an "honest" shoot. The test is whether in the officers mind, he felt his life was in jeopardy from what he saw. These police officers are trained to respond to a firearm with pre-emptive fire.

If you don't want the police, don't call them

Call a teacher or a principle if the gun is fake.

You also can bet that there is at least one police officer who will agonize over his decision to shoot for the rest of his life. It will haunt his dreams and waking hours every time he sees a bunch of kids.

75 posted on 01/15/2006 2:19:05 PM PST by Candor7 (Into Liberal Flatulence Goes the Hope of the West)
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To: frankjr

As important, if the parents knew this kid had these problems, why weren't they dealing with him? Why did they allow him to go to school with any type of gun, pellet or otherwise?

If the Dad knew he was suicidal and carrying a pellet gun, shouldn't the parents have taken some sort of action?

It's easy to blame the Cops when you aren't facing the split second life threatening decisions they have to make over something the parents must have known about all along!


76 posted on 01/15/2006 2:19:25 PM PST by DakotaRed
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To: N. Beaujon

Yes, the cops knew or should have known that the gun was fake. Thanks.


77 posted on 01/15/2006 2:19:30 PM PST by Supernatural (All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie! bob dylan)
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To: fieldmarshaldj

Not to mention the fact that the kid had taken a hostage.


78 posted on 01/15/2006 2:19:37 PM PST by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
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To: benjibrowder

I think in situations like this, you don't have time to think about where you're going to place the shot.


79 posted on 01/15/2006 2:19:41 PM PST by pcottraux (It's pronounced "P. Coe-troe.")
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To: wagglebee

You are correct. No police officer in his right mind is going to hold his fire when someone points a gun at him. That gun looked very real and a police officer who took the chance of it being "fake" has a death wish (and is going against all his training and logic). Additionally, there have been reports that the gun was a pellet gun and that is not the same as a "fake" gun or a toy pistol. If a pellet hits you in the eye, you see how "fake" it is.


80 posted on 01/15/2006 2:19:58 PM PST by Contra
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