Ohio officer shoots, kills boy

[maryjane48]

A 12-year-old boy shot by police after apparently grabbing what turned out to be a replica gun died from his wounds Sunday, a day after officers responded to an emergency call about a someone waving a "probably fake" gun at a playground.

Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said one officer fired twice after the boy pulled the fake weapon — which was lacking the orange safety indicator usually found on the muzzle — from his waistband but had not pointed it at police.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ohio-offic ... -1.2846326


so here we have a cop shooting and killing a kid with a toy gun.


The boy did not make any verbal threats toward the officer or point the gun, but reached into his waistband and grabbed it after being told to raise his hands, Tomba said.The officer dispatched to the playground outside a city recreation centre saw the pistol sitting on a table or bench, and watched the boy grab it and put it in his waistband, Follmer said.

[GordonH]

I'm not taking away any of responsibility for his action by the Police officer.

As a kid (many year ago) toy guns were that & they were very noticeable as toys, now they make them far to close looking like the real ones.

This is a very sad story for everyone involved, my deepest condolences to Parents & family of this young child.

[vinnied]

I understand how stuff like this happens, especially when the caller goes on to tell the dispatcher he doesn't know if the gun was real or not. But dont they teach these cops to aim for the legs or something. Chances are this cop was wearing a bullet proof vest, chances are the kid wasn't. Why shoot to kill all the time?

[maryjane48]

yea thats what i dnt understand , plus the caller says he thinks the gun is a toy but not sure, they played the 911 call on tv lots today. if he had said i think its real but might be a toy i might understand come in gun out , but the caller said plain as day i think its a toy .

[Captain Awesome]

But dont they teach these cops to aim for the legs or something.

No, they don't teach cops to aim for the legs.

[Gilchy]

I understand how stuff like this happens, especially when the caller goes on to tell the dispatcher he doesn't know if the gun was real or not. But dont they teach these cops to aim for the legs or something. Chances are this cop was wearing a bullet proof vest, chances are the kid wasn't. Why shoot to kill all the time?

Details for this case aside, why does this argument come up ever? Police shoot to stop the threat. Hitting a leg/hand/weapon/whatever with a handgun at more than 10 feet is not a practical solution.

[vinnied]

Well they should teach them then. Not a hand or a weapon, but the legs are a big enough target. A 12 year old kid might be alive today if they did.

[Bsuds]

Well they should teach them then. Not a hand or a weapon, but the legs are a big enough target. A 12 year old kid might be alive today if they did.

I believe they are taught to shoot for the largest body mass which is the torso.

This is a tragedy that could have been avoided if the bot was taught not to carry a gun around and also to do as he was told by the police and not reach for the gun!

A stupid mistake that cost him his life.

[Gilchy]

Well they should teach them then. Not a hand or a weapon, but the legs are a big enough target. A 12 year old kid might be alive today if they did.

Regardless of what movies have taught you, handguns are not accurate enough to reliably aim at small moving targets (likeness, hands, etc) from any distance.

[Bsuds]

handguns are not accurate enough to reliably aim at small moving targets (likeness, hands, etc) from any distance.

It's all in the gun and the marksman. I have personally seen someone pick off clay pigeons with a .45 that someone missed with a shotgun. I will say though this was not your average shooter or .45. He was the all USNavy .45 champ and they were custom made target pistols.

[Poindexter]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QTm0TZoWyec

In response to this needless murder Anonymous threatens to shut down police web sites due to a lack of police training demonstrated by the use of lethal force when non lethal options such as a tazor were available.

[Poindexter]

yea thats what i dnt understand , plus the caller says he thinks the gun is a toy but not sure, they played the 911 call on tv lots today. if he had said i think its real but might be a toy i might understand come in gun out , but the caller said plain as day i think its a toy .

Aside from the horror the family of the murdered 12 year old is currently enduring, imagine how that 911 caller must feel. Their decision to call 911 has resulted in a murder of a child.

I imagine the jumpy officer will never be the same either so yes I even feel for him. All around it was an avoidable trajedy if proper training was made available to police.

[Captain Awesome]

Well they should teach them then. Not a hand or a weapon, but the legs are a big enough target. A 12 year old kid might be alive today if they did.

There are too many problems with this approach.

[vinnied]

You all keep referring to small targets such as hands and weapons. The average pair of legs is almost the same size as a torso. But a little thinner. All they have to do is shoot low. Don't need to watch a movie to figure that out. I'm sure the first bullet the cop shot, the kid would have dropped his toy gun. Oh wait he did

[Captain Awesome]

All they have to do is shoot low.

If only life was this easy.