There was another news article this past week, about a man who butchered his sister-in-law and nearly the entire family of the couple and their four little kids by shooting them in the back of the head after forcing them to lay face-down on their floor of their home. The cops (dozens of them) chased down the perp, surrounding his car, and talked him into surrendering after almost 3 hours. If cops can talk a gun-wielding mass murderer into surrendering, then why not negotiate with a 13-year-old who is not suspected of any crime?
If cops can talk a gun-wielding mass murderer into surrendering, then why not negotiate with a 13-year-old who is not suspected of any crime?
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We’re on the same wavelength!! I read that and thought the exact same thing. Also, another incident occurred some months earlier in Fountaingrove, a swanky area not too far from the more rural neighborhood where Lopez was shot. A man had actually fired shots and was threatening people, but the police took several hours and talked him down. Story here: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20131010/articles/131019998
Now, two different sets of cops were involved. But the Santa Rosa cops took the time to make it all come out the best they could. Deputy Jumpy, in the Sheriff’s dept, just wanted a kill, if you ask me. (The other deputy did not fire any shots.) And this isn’t the first time the Sheriff’s dept. has had unnecessary kills. Oh, and just to make it all cozy, the D.A. and the Sheriff are apparently BFF’s. She was the introductory speaker at a big fundraiser for him. So she’s clearly, like, completely unbiased.
“If cops can talk a gun-wielding mass murderer into surrendering, then why not negotiate with a 13-year-old who is not suspected of any crime?”
Excellent point and well stated.