[Talisker]

Did the officers observe the boy on the approach? Yes.

Oh really? Is that what police training consists of - "when faced with a possible gunman, drive directly towards him and observe him on approach. Drive to within a couple of feet and shoot him, because hey, you've got a possible gunman a couple of feet away from you, so now you're in danger." What a crock!

This didn’t merely happen in a second or two. He faced the officer with what looked like a weapon. Who is really to blame?

The officers drove right up to him, and so made him face them with whatever it was that was in his hand. It was a toy. But the officers, having put themselves into potentially lethal danger by approaching so closely with no cover, decided to shoot him because they felt threatened by the proximity they alone created, over the supsicion they alone had, which was wrong.

[DoughtyOne]

Did the officers observe the boy on the approach? Yes.

Oh really? Is that what police training consists of - "when faced with a possible gunman, drive directly towards him and observe him on approach. Drive to within a couple of feet and shoot him, because hey, you've got a possible gunman a couple of feet away from you, so now you're in danger." What a crock!

Do you know where the boy was reported to be, how much further the officers may have thought they needed to go to approach him?  Do you know if they came upon him sooner than they expected?  Do you know how wide the street was?  Do you know if they had to avoid oncoming traffic?  There could easily be a number of contributing factors here.  Perhaps they didn't intend to come up on the kid that close either.

This didn’t merely happen in a second or two. He faced the officer with what looked like a weapon. Who is really to blame?

The officers drove right up to him, and so made him face them with whatever it was that was in his hand. It was a toy. But the officers, having put themselves into potentially lethal danger by approaching so closely with no cover, decided to shoot him because they felt threatened by the proximity they alone created, over the supsicion they alone had, which was wrong.

Once again, this arm-chair quarterbacking is not really productive.  There are some things that have a bearing on how they pulled up to the kid that we just don't know.  What I do know is that if there is a determination to be made, there is a group of people here who will always look for some way to cast the police in the worst light possible.

I'm not one of them.  I make no appologies for it.