Coroner's jury rules police shooting of 12-year-old boy 'justified'

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | 1/28/03 | Jonathan D. Silver & Cindi Lash

[Dane]

Trooper "acted in a reasonable manner"

After deliberating 55 minutes, a Fayette County coroner

[Dane]

This was a tragic incident, no doubt, but this will not stop some on FR with "perfect 20/20 hindsight" who will no doubt be shrieking loudly and shrilly about how these two people who do a very dangerous job should be hung.

[ShadowDancer]

He shot and killed someone because he "thought" his partner had been shot. He didn't see him get shot, he didn't see a weapon. If that is the kind of man you want patrolling your neighborhood, he's all yours, Quick Draw.

[Kewlhand`tek]

the way i see it he prevented future crimes. no doubt a 12 year old stealing a car isnt leading up anything good

[ShadowDancer]

I see. So in your view any 12 year old that does something illegal should be shot and killed in case he or she may in the future commit another crime? Brilliant.

[Dane]

If that is the kind of man you want patrolling your neighborhood, he's all yours, Quick Draw

I'd rather have these two patrolling the streets rather than a punk who has no respect for private property, by stealing a car, driving wildly through the streets putting innocent people in danger.

These two cops weren't the ones who told the punk to steal a car and put innocent lives in danger.

[BlueLancer]

It's quite clear that the little thug was in a stolen vehicle. It's quite clear that he didn't stop when ordered to do so. From the "evidence" in the article, neither of those things was contested.

Sounds like a good shooting to me. The police should be doing more of it. Charge him the cost of the bullet and send him back out again.

If the little thug can't take the consequences, he shouldn't be involved in the crime. And, if he's still going to do the crime, then he'd better stop when ordered to do so.

Darwin award nominee...

[fuquadukie]

The shooting was tragic. No doubt some mistakes were made, but the biggest mistakes were made by the 12-year old... stealing a car and then running from the POlice. It is possible that the State POlice should not have had their guns drawn while running. (Why do I picture Barney Fife with some of these LEOs based in small towns?)

The only criminal aspect of this incident was the 12-year stealing a car. And, to hear some of those, he was a "good kid", he was "on the borderline", yada, yada. He was a criminal in the making. Didn't deserve to die. Should not have run.

That being said, the resident Pittsburgh racists, J.T. and Anthony, will be on every talk show today, IF Pintek and Honsberger (KDKA 9-12AM & 3-6PM talk-show hosts) let him. Apparently, Honsberger wouldn't let him on yesterday, but Anthony did get on. For those of you not in Pittsburgh, J.T. and Anthony are 2 very angry black men that call every talk show as much as possible and blame the white man consistently, especially J.T. Anthony is not as bad, but that's like saying the fall from a 50-story building won't hurt as much as one from a 60-story building.

[rockprof]

Steal a car, drive recklessly (endangering innocent people on the road), run from police who have their weapons drawn...

Then you get shot. Boo, hoo. Too bad. Run with the bad boys and those are the chances you take. Actions have consequences.

[ShadowDancer]

I'm not condoning the car theft and you know it but I expect more sound judgement out of police officers than was shown in this case and you should, too. I'm not for a minute detracting from the dangers of their job but they are the ones who chose that line of work and if they are not mentally equipped to handle it they should find another line of work. There are plenty of cops out there who can and do react under stress properly. This guy didn't.

[freeper12]

...and if I has shot a 12 year old intruder coming thru a window in my house in the middle of the night becauase I "thought" he had a gun, I'd have my weapons confiscated and I'd be in jail right now....and would need to defend myself self at great legal defense to prove it was justified.

Why is it that in most states to justify shooting someone, a citizen needs to prove that his life was in danger, and that all other escape routes had been exhausted...but the police can chase a 12 year old kids into a dark ally and execute him because they "thought" he was shooting?

When guns are outlawed, only the police will have guns...now there is a scary thought.

[Dane]

For those of you not in Pittsburgh, J.T. and Anthony are 2 very angry black men that call every talk show as much as possible and blame the white man consistently, especially J.T

I haven't listened to Pintek for a long time, I actually can get a Cleveland station(WTAM 1100) and listen to Glen Beck.

No doubt that J.T. will be spewing his Farakhan type of hate, but it will be the same old, same old from J.T., blame the white man and not the punk who put innocent lives in danger by stealing a car.

[BlueLancer]

"...and if I has shot a 12 year old intruder coming thru a window in my house in the middle of the night becauase I "thought" he had a gun, I'd have my weapons confiscated and I'd be in jail right now....and would need to defend myself self at great legal defense to prove it was justified."

Then you should move to Texas. This would be a clean kill and a "no-bill" from the grand jury.

[Surrounded_too]

Death by misadventure.

Or if a business trip and the kid was only injured, perhaps he should then have received injury compensation for an on
the job injury?

How many of his neighbors lives were jeopardized
while he was stealing this vehicle? Who is going
to repair the damaged building and if the owner
can't afford it, what about waterdamage which ruins
the property value and extra energy costs to keep
the occupants warm?

And for the environmentalists, the extra energy cost
will pollute your air. That's what this perp
did for you.

This perps for you!

Maybe he would have been better off Churchin'?
Liberal policies discourage Churchin'.
So Liberal policies are to blame.

For you anti-death penalty folks,
The fence is the same as a cartel boss.
The middle managers collect the product for
processing. The perp only harvested
the product. Maybe they are responsible, too?
Fry them all on AC.

[ShadowDancer]

Was that haiku?

[ladyrustic]

"Was that haiku?"

LOL...good one!

[freeper12]

>>if a cop says stop, stop.

Youo really want to give cops the ability to execute you, no questions asked, for disobeying an order?

I'd bet you feel a lot different about thisif it was your kid.

Yea, the kid did stupid stuff, and set the ball in motion that led to his own death, but shooting him in the back, while he is running away? No way to justify it.

The cop should definitely be fired..if not in jail.

[BlueLancer]

"I'd bet you feel a lot different about thisif it was your kid."

Three things ...
My 12-year old wouldn't be out at this time of the night.
My 12-year old would have been taught not to steal cars.
My 12-year old would have been taught to stop when ordered to do so by the police.

So, counsel, that hypothetical doesn't mean very much to me.

[ShadowDancer]

Based on your post and your assumption that your child will do everything you teach him to, I will make the assumption that you have no children.

[freeper12]

right..and your 12 year old would never get pressured into throwing a snowball at a car, or stealing a candybar from a store...even good kids do bad things sometimes.

So where do you draw the line, exedcuting a 12 year old for stealing a car is OK, but how about shoplifting? perhaps skipping school should be an executable offense? puffing on a joint?

Must be great to be a perfect parent and have perfect kids.