Cleveland, US. Police kill boy, 12

[Bonzo77]

Then why ring the police, why not just ask him for the toy gun, surely the scould have dealt with a kid and a toy gun.

 

Could be many reasons why they did it. One obvious one could be because the gun looked real. That doesn't change the fact that the police could have taken the gun away without killing him.

 

---------- Post added 26-11-2014 at 20:16 ----------

 

If a 12 year old with a real gun pulls the trigger the effect is the same as a 20 year old doing it..just saying

 

I get what you're saying, but I disagree. A 20 year old with a gun would know how to shoot it and would probably be a better aim. A 12 year old would probably miss due to the recoil. Obviously there's an argument against that, but I'd say it's correct in most cases.

[JFKvsNixon]

Could be many reasons why they did it. One obvious one could be because the gun looked real. That doesn't change the fact that the police could have taken the gun away without killing him.

 

With the benefit of hindsight, yes the police could have taken the gun away. The police didn't have that benefit and they could only act with the information that they had.

 

It would be interesting to know how many airsoft guns compared to real guns are in circulation in the USA. It may well be the case that there are a lot more real guns than airsoft guns, so by the balance of probabilities the gun that the child was reporting to have waved around, was more likely to have been a real gun.

[cgksheff]

Sorry I haven't seen the footage yet..maybe you could point the way.

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/video-shows-cleveland-cop-shoot-12-year-old-tamir-rice-n256656

[Ellco]

Cops should be highly trained for these kind of situations. Pulling the trigger, with intent to kill, should be a last resort, not a quick decision just in case things might go bad. Especially when the call stated that the gun could be a fake.......and the suspect is 12 years old.

 

---------- Post added 26-11-2014 at 20:04 ----------

 

 

...........I don't know where to start with this?!

 

Why are young black Americans more likely to be involved with crime in the first place? That's the root of the problem.

 

That's a different debate. I'm sure if someone pointed a gun at you, you wouldn't care if he was poor or rich. Its not the polices job to resolve economic inequalities...

 

As I said before about Hispanics who are also likely to be poor. They aren't shot because they don't have guns.

 

Are you saying armed criminals should be treated differently because they are poor?

 

Furthermore the President is black, so if they are poor its his fault.

Edited November 26, 2014 by Ellco

[truman]

I get what you're saying, but I disagree. A 20 year old with a gun would know how to shoot it and would probably be a better aim. A 12 year old would probably miss due to the recoil. Obviously there's an argument against that, but I'd say it's correct in most cases.

 

Would you stand in front of a 12 year old and stay there while he pulled the trigger? Genuine question..

[martok]

Could be many reasons why they did it. One obvious one could be because the gun looked real. That doesn't change the fact that the police could have taken the gun away without killing him.

 

If they had known it was fake I am sure that that is what they would have done, its obvious though that they didn't know it was fake and couldn't be sure that a bullet wasn't going to come out of the end of it, hence the reason they shot him when he didn't comply with their instructions.

 

Its a pity you wasn't there, I'm confident that you would have got the gun without him shooting anyone, but I would bet all that I have that one day you would be wrong and you or someone else would be killed as a consequence of your error.

[SnailyBoy]

Latest information. Shots fired immediately after leaving patrol car.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/11/cleveland_police_officer_shot_1.html?hootPostID=09fa94c1dad600dd537d9070c534331b

[martok]

Would you stand in front of a 12 year old and stay there while he pulled the trigger? Genuine question..

 

Of cause he would and one day the gun would be real and he would be shot.

[skinz]

Then why ring the police, why not just ask him for the toy gun, surely the scould have dealt with a kid and a toy gun.

 

 

You know that isn't the point. The point is that those officers weren't given all information prior to approaching the child. It seems those officers approached thinking he was armed..they had no inclination of a replica or toy. Those officers it seems carried out something based on very poor communications, communications that were in the system.

 

Should the observers approached as you suggest the kid would be alive as their observation was initially correct...he wasn't armed.

[martok]

You know that isn't the point. The point is that those officers weren't given all information prior to approaching the child. It seems those officers approached thinking he was armed..they had no inclination of a replica or toy. Those officers it seems carried out something based on very poor communications, communications that were in the system.

 

Should the observers approached as you suggest the kid would be alive as their observation was initially correct...he wasn't armed.

 

Isn't hindsight a wonderful thing.