I don't disagree with that. What makes this so controversial was whether he really did intend to kill anyone seeing as the gun was fake. Second, receiving a tip off that the gun may be fake, the fact that I was wearing a kevlar vest, I'd think about my shot before hand in case I did have to squeeze the trigger. I'd shoot him in the chest, rather than the head. If it had been a thirty year old man, I probably would have taken the shot in the head approach. But that's just me. Reading this article however draws lots of questions, mainly because of how it all went down seems a little fishy.
It was not fake, it was a pellet gun. And just a few weeks ago here, a mother was killed when her son shot her in the heart with a pellet gun.
I'd shoot him in the chest, rather than the head.
Split second decision; kid who has taken hostages has gun that looks like a 9mm. He is holed up in a bathroom, and there is no way out. He puts the gun to his head, and then points it at you. The only clean shot you have is to the head. What would you do? Wait? Hope it wasn't real?
Look. I have been at one of these school shootings. I have seen a 14 year old boy kill people in my own school. I was shot at.
It is a very real threat. These kinds of crimes really happen. And they happen in an instant. There is no time to hope this, or maybe that.
The cops were called in to protect all of the children who were NOT pointing a gun at people. And they did that.
There are too many what-ifs in the "don't shoot to kill" scenario.
What if it really was a 9mm, and they shot him in the leg? What if he then starts shooting back, killing a cop?
Terrible situation. I fault the kid, and his parents to some extent, not the cops.
That'd be no less lethal than shooting in the head - death would just be a little quicker.
They may show it differently on TV but the only way to assure another gunman is not going to be a threat to you is to kill him. I believe that is how SWAT and HRT members are trained. I may be wrong. I go by the old adage never pull a gun unless you are willing to shoot it and never shoot a gun unless you are willing to kill.