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American police shoot dead a teenager

Discussion in 'Serious' started by Lance, 24 Nov 2014.

  1. Lance

    Lance Ender of discussions.

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    So apparently the police have shot dead another young black child/teen, which is terrible and shows yet another reason for non specialists not to be given guns blah blah that's not the point. Neither is the gun rules in the US of at least not for this thread, that can be argued elsewhere.

    My point here is that if there are policemen pointing guys and you and shouting to put your hands up why not just do that? Apparently he instead went to his waistband presumably to show that it's only a fake.

    Has the world gotten so out of touch with the police that we don't understand the importance of doing what they say
    In emergency situations?
     
  2. KayinBlack

    KayinBlack Unrepentant Savage

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    The police often shoot first and don't ask questions, leaving the media to do the asking. Most people wouldn't trust them as far as they could throw them around here, because we know they're corrupt and untouchable. It's turning out like that everywhere-these are not isolated incidents and they do not pay for their actions.
     
  3. VipersGratitude

    VipersGratitude Multimodder

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    A teenager? From what I read it was a 12yr old, unless there's been an other "incident"

    Either way, it's abhorrent that a necessary education in a child life is "What to do when the 'good-guys' point their gun at you otherwise they'll leave you a tiny little corpse on the ground"
     
  4. Pookie

    Pookie Illegitimi non carborundum

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    I don't know any of the facts as I have yet to read any of todays news. Was the kid just out in the street playing cowboys and Indians with his mates or randomly pointing the gun at people and shouting at them?

    If the gun looked real and he went for it, then it's hardly surprising he got shot by the police. I'm sure this will give the community an excuse to riot and loot en masse!
     
  5. GeorgeK

    GeorgeK Swinging the banhammer Super Moderator

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    [​IMG]

    It looks very real to me - the orange safety indicator had been removed from the end apparently - I certainly wouldn't know the difference between this and a real gun
     
  6. Pookie

    Pookie Illegitimi non carborundum

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    Yeah, looks pretty real to me. It obviously looked real enough to the cops that shot him too.
     
  7. VipersGratitude

    VipersGratitude Multimodder

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    [​IMG]

    Looks like a 12 year old to me...
     
  8. TheMadDutchDude

    TheMadDutchDude The Flying Dutchman

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    Police officers only have a very short time to react, and if they sense any feeling of danger, in other words they feel like it is a real weapon, they will shoot. It's to protect themselves and others around them. Don't mess around when it comes to these things and just do as the copper says. It's that simple.

    I remember, about six years ago, when we had a copper come into our school and explain the dangers of carrying replica weaponry. They have merely seconds, if they're lucky, to determine whether or not the weapon is real or not. I know the police here are different to those in the USA, but the point is that they too only have a very short amount of time to determine whether or not they're going to be shot at. Guns are much, much easier to get hold of in America, so the scare is all too real that it could be a firearm.
     
  9. VipersGratitude

    VipersGratitude Multimodder

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    Elementary, yes...like the school he was still attending.

    Open question to all those defending the police action: At what age would his shooting have been inappropriate - 12, 11, 10, 9?
     
  10. TheMadDutchDude

    TheMadDutchDude The Flying Dutchman

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    Yeah, he was young, but still carrying a potential threat in the policeman's eyes.

    To me, it doesn't matter how young or old. If it is a threat, it is a threat. People are capable of killing, even if it is by accident, from a very young age I would imagine.
     
  11. VipersGratitude

    VipersGratitude Multimodder

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    I was under the impression that it was implied in a police officer's job description to risk their own lives for the lives of children, rather than extinguish them to protect their own ass...you know, exhibiting the characteristics that Plato said were necessary for public service.
     
  12. Lance

    Lance Ender of discussions.

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    They were risking their lives by turning up to a youth with a gun scaring members of the public.

    My point here was that the poor kid should have put his hands up. He obviously didn't understand the gravity of the situation.

    As for age, it's not the point in my opinion as the danger in this situation was the gun that the police were worried about him threatening members of the public with.

    Will double check this over when I'm at home and not in danger of walking into s pole.
     
  13. lilgoth89

    lilgoth89 Captin Calliope

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    over here guns classes as RIF ( replica imitation firearms ) have to be 51% + a bright colour
    UNLESS you have a defence ( aka battle enactment or air soft skirmisher )

    in america the weapons have to have a bright orange tip only, and many of them are flimsy and easy to remove.

    the fact is, that unless the weapon has an orange tip, it can be next to impossible to distinguish it from a real firearm. and anybody waving it about should expect the same situation. and generally if someone pointing a gun at you, shouting to put your arms in the air, then you do as your told.
     
    TheMadDutchDude likes this.
  14. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Your terminology is a little off, there, chap: a RIF is a Realistic Imitation Firearm, and requires registration with the UK airsoft authority whose name I forget or, as you say, another legitimate excuse such as membership of a reenactment society or working on a film or drama production. When the majority of its body is coloured in one of the approved neon colours or is transparent, it becomes an Imitation Firearm and can be owned by anyone (subject to other restrictions, such as the age limit for air weapons.)

    Fun fact: changing the colour of an IF by, for example, spray-painting it black, is illegal as it then becomes a RIF.
     
  15. KayinBlack

    KayinBlack Unrepentant Savage

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    The thing was obviously plastic.

    What I want to know is what happened to the cops that played cowboys and indians with us when we were small. What changed?
     
  16. TheMadDutchDude

    TheMadDutchDude The Flying Dutchman

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    The thing was obviously plastic, sure, now that you've got a good look at it. Stand 20 or 30 metres away, and then tell me if it's plastic or not...
     
  17. VipersGratitude

    VipersGratitude Multimodder

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    It doesn't matter if it was plastic or not. They were dealing with a 12 year old child. They shot him as he was removing the toy gun from it's holster, presumably to say "No officer, look...It's just a toy gun". He was a 12 year old child; To him the cops are the "good guys", and there's no way they're going to put two in his chest over a misunderstanding, right?

    If he had pointed the gun at the police I would say you have a point, but he didn't. If he had verbally assaulted the police as he was removing the gun from it's holster I would say you have a point, but he didn't. All he did was behave in an understandable way for a 12 year old child. A cop should have wherewithal to take that in to account before shooting a child, rather than succumb to trigger happy impulses and execute him before he had a real chance to respond.

    The cops should have known better, not the child should have known better...because the latter is a paradoxical statement.
     
  18. SuicideNeil

    SuicideNeil What's a Dremel?

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    By the accounts I've read, he was sat on a swing in a park scaring passers by with the gun ( not smart, even for a 12 year old who I imagine would have known it was a bad idea- I sure as hell did at that age ), the person who called the police told the dispatcher he thought it might be a fake, but this info wasn't passed on to the police who responded.
    As far as they knew, a young black person was waving a gun around in the park, and they reacted accordingly; he didn't put up his hands when told to, instead he went for the gun- you don't hesitate in a situation like that to see if it's a toy or not ( especially given the picture looking like a real enough gun- it isn't clearly shiny plastic and no orange tip ) because in the 2 seconds it takes to draw the gun they could be shot and wounded or killed even while they tried to decide what to do. If it did have an orange tip or was brightly coloured and obviously not real, then I imagine they would have reacted differently upon arriving or him drawing it.

    Kid was silly to play with a replica in public, to not follow instructions, and dispatcher was negligent with the info passed onto responding officers.
     
  19. VipersGratitude

    VipersGratitude Multimodder

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    wtf?
     
  20. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

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    Yeah, in a situation like that, if it's you or the suspect, it would be the suspect every time.

    Obviously no one got up that morning wanting to kill a 12 year old boy. I'm sure the officer involved will be deeply affected by the incident.
     

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