US boy carrying replica gun shot dead by California police! [Archive]

karl

October 24th, 2013, 03:48 AM

A 13-year-old boy carrying a replica assault rifle has been shot dead by police in the US state of California.

Officers in the city of Santa Rosa say they opened fire after the boy refused orders to drop the rifle, which they believed to be real.

The shooting on Tuesday is now being investigated.

It comes a day after a 12-year-old boy in Nevada shot dead a maths teacher at his school and wounded two fellow pupils before taking his own life.

In the latest incident, two sheriff's deputies saw the teenager "with what appeared to be some type of rifle", a news release from the Sonoma County Sheriff's office said.

The deputies called for backup and repeatedly ordered the boy to drop the gun before firing several rounds from their handguns, police said.

The boy, who was pronounced dead at the scene, was later identified by his family as Andy Lopez.

Full story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24648974

Professional Russian

October 24th, 2013, 08:02 AM

Quickly let's ban air soft guns and paint ball guns too! They look real and got a kid shot! We should ban them!

sqishy

October 24th, 2013, 11:33 AM

A failure for the USA. Should not have happened.

Emerald Dream

October 24th, 2013, 11:52 AM

A failure for the USA. Should not have happened.

Not seeing where you are coming from with this, not that this news thread is going to turn into a gun control debate.

This is actually a "failure" on the boy's part, and to be more specific...maybe his parents. Evidently he wasn't educated enough (or chose willingly to be ignorant) that when police tells you to STOP and drop what you are holding...you do so.

This is not the fault of the police. Toy gun or not.

Hollywood

October 24th, 2013, 01:29 PM

I feel bad for the police officers here. You know they must feel like complete shit about this. I feel bad for the kid, too, but it's not like they shot him without warning. The police tell you to do something multiple times, you really should do it.

Sad situation all around.

CharlieHorse

October 24th, 2013, 01:30 PM

Quickly let's ban air soft guns and paint ball guns too! They look real and got a kid shot! We should ban them!

oh yeah totally.
-_-

Jess

October 24th, 2013, 01:32 PM

He should have dropped the "gun"...why didn't he? :/ So sad that they had to shoot him...I feel bad for the officers

CharlieHorse

October 24th, 2013, 01:38 PM

from another perspective, this is natural selection.

Cygnus

October 24th, 2013, 03:23 PM

Come on, its all going to shit now.

The kid should have dropped the gun, its more of his fault that he was shot dead.

sqishy

October 24th, 2013, 04:09 PM

Not seeing where you are coming from with this, not that this news thread is going to turn into a gun control debate.

This is actually a "failure" on the boy's part, and to be more specific...maybe his parents. Evidently he wasn't educated enough (or chose willingly to be ignorant) that when police tells you to STOP and drop what you are holding...you do so.

This is not the fault of the police. Toy gun or not.

It shouldn't have happened, as in there could've been another way out of the situation other than killing the boy. The laws regarding this should be changed in the US.

Professional Russian

October 24th, 2013, 04:13 PM

oh yeah totally.
-_-

It was extreme, and I mean EXTREME, sarcasm

Luminous

October 24th, 2013, 04:21 PM

Holy crap. Why didn't he drop it? That was a stupid move. The police thought it was real and had no evidence it wasn't, it is completely the boy's fault.

kylem1229

October 24th, 2013, 04:24 PM

Thats what he deserved. Its the boys fault, he didn't obey police orders, which is against the law. The police did not do anything wrong, since the boy did not drop the weapon

Emerald Dream

October 24th, 2013, 04:34 PM

It shouldn't have happened, as in there could've been another way out of the situation other than killing the boy. The laws regarding this should be changed in the US.

LOLOLOLOL no.

He should have done what he was told. This is on him, and not the "laws in the US."

Give me a break.

sqishy

October 24th, 2013, 04:39 PM

LOLOLOLOL no.

He should have done what he was told. This is on him, and not the "laws in the US."

Give me a break.

Yes, he should have done what he was told. But name a country other than the US where you would get shot dead for disobeying in that situation (there are more and you'll see my point later).

I don't see how everyone can have guns and not have things like this happening. This is proof that there is something wrong.

Emerald Dream

October 24th, 2013, 04:41 PM

Yes, he should have done what he was told. But name a country other than the US where you would get shot dead for disobeying in that situation (there are more and you'll see my point later).

I don't see how everyone can have guns and not have things like this happening. This is proof that there is something wrong.

Let's not turn this into a gun control debate. That's for ROTW.

He was determined to be enough of a threat to point a gun at. He disobeyed.

That's not a "laws of the US" problem. That's a "common sense" problem. The idea that you think this could turn out differently because of the "laws" is completely laughable. You are actively looking for someone else to blame besides the one who is actually responsible for it.

sqishy

October 24th, 2013, 04:45 PM

Let's not turn this into a gun control debate. That's for ROTW.

He was determined to be enough of a threat to point a gun at. He disobeyed.

That's not a "laws of the US" problem. That's a "common sense" problem. The idea that you think this could turn out differently because of the "laws" is completely laughable.

If laws were in place to make the death in this situation illegal and punishable, I'd see it at least happening with consequences for the cops (I'm assuming there are none).

[I see you are 'offline' :P]

Emerald Dream

October 24th, 2013, 04:48 PM

If laws were in place to make the death in this situation illegal and punishable, I'd see it at least happening with consequences for the cops (I'm assuming there are none).

[I see you are 'offline' :P]

Gotcha. So we should let the possibility of the kid shooting a police officer happen.

Your logic is completely flawed. And I am done with it.

sqishy

October 24th, 2013, 04:51 PM

Gotcha. So we should let the possibility of the kid shooting a police officer happen.

Your logic is completely flawed. And I am done with it.

My logic is sound. The kid could be shot somewhere where he wouldn't be able to fire the 'weapon' and still be alive.
How hard is it to shoot in the leg or foot? No, let's aim for the head or chest.

I'll be done with it too.
___________________________________________________________________

thatcountrykid

October 24th, 2013, 05:42 PM

My logic is sound. The kid could be shot somewhere where he wouldn't be able to fire the 'weapon' and still be alive.
How hard is it to shoot in the leg or foot? No, let's aim for the head or chest.

I'll be done with it too.
___________________________________________________________________

Believe it or not police are not crack shots. We have no idea what the distance from officer to kid was. And even if you are shot in the leg or foot you can still fire a weapon. No, if police fire their weapon it is to kill. Obviously you have never been in that sitouation.

NeverFazed

October 24th, 2013, 05:52 PM

its the boys fault.he should've dropped the gun when they told him to.

sqishy

October 24th, 2013, 06:09 PM

Believe it or not police are not crack shots. We have no idea what the distance from officer to kid was. And even if you are shot in the leg or foot you can still fire a weapon. No, if police fire their weapon it is to kill. Obviously you have never been in that sitouation.

In this case we'll say that everyone not in that situation has no justified point.
I keep my opinion. Line drawn.

thatcountrykid

October 24th, 2013, 06:13 PM

In this case we'll say that everyone not in that situation has no justified point.
I keep my opinion. Line drawn.

Im not saying everybody is wrong. Im just saying that after a threat has been given multiple chances to drop the weapon, gettin shot in the leg would escalate them and they would fire the weapon.

Jess

October 25th, 2013, 12:36 AM

Look how similar they are...

http://i.imgur.com/zebyLQ0.jpg

I will never understand why the boy refused to drop the fake gun. :/

Twilly F. Sniper

October 25th, 2013, 05:22 AM

Look how similar they are...

image (http://i.imgur.com/zebyLQ0.jpg)

I will never understand why the boy refused to drop the fake gun. :/

I may be somewhat of a gun nut, but that fake looks quite little like the AK47, not as bad of an imitation as the plastic BB M16s. Those are terrible copies.

But because of the quite obvious dissimilarities, I believe the police are to blame.
Unless they are idiotic cops that can't tell that obviously fake-ass toy apart from a real AK47.
Just suspicious to me...

But, true. It is incomprehensible that he didn't.Bravado possibly???

Harry Smith

October 25th, 2013, 05:51 AM

I'm worried about how quickly people accept the police line on this- of course they're not going to admit to shooting someone without giving him any warning.

thatcountrykid

October 25th, 2013, 08:41 AM

I'm worried about how quickly people accept the police line on this- of course they're not going to admit to shooting someone without giving him any warning.

They have to give him warning. Dou you think they want to shoot a kid?

Harry Smith

October 25th, 2013, 10:55 AM

They have to give him warning. Dou you think they want to shoot a kid?

In Britain we've had the police shot a man for jumping the barriers at the underground station, we've had the police kill a man because they thought he was at a protest. I'm not going to trust what the police say straight away

thatcountrykid

October 25th, 2013, 11:54 AM

In Britain we've had the police shot a man for jumping the barriers at the underground station, we've had the police kill a man because they thought he was at a protest. I'm not going to trust what the police say straight away

Ok but that is police in the uk. American police, im sure, are different.

Harry Smith

October 25th, 2013, 12:12 PM

Ok but that is police in the uk. American police, im sure, are different.

Yeah I'm sure the police in america have an outstanding reputation for putting people's safety first. Especially in California

thatcountrykid

October 25th, 2013, 12:32 PM

Yeah I'm sure the police in america have an outstanding reputation for putting people's safety first. Especially in California

Yes they do. And i know first hand beause i have almost lost my own father several times because of it.

snapple97

October 25th, 2013, 01:22 PM

Considering it was a child, maybe it would've been better to use non-lethal rounds. That being said, the kid should have put the gun down immediately as police officers are allowed to use lethal force against any imminent threats to their safety.

Twilly F. Sniper

October 25th, 2013, 05:32 PM

Yeah I'm sure the police in america have an outstanding reputation for putting people's safety first. Especially in California

Nice sarcasm. But really, police don't give a shit about human life, or even public safety.

Trenton_

October 25th, 2013, 06:07 PM

Yes they do. And i know first hand beause i have almost lost my own father several times because of it.

did you find ur father? why was he hiding or was he just messing around?

the kid was either dumb or wanted to die.

thatcountrykid

October 25th, 2013, 08:01 PM

did you find ur father? why was he hiding or was he just messing around?

the kid was either dumb or wanted to die.

I almost lost my father because he puts his life on the line for complete strangers almost every day. He is a police officer.

Gopher

October 26th, 2013, 08:05 PM

Nice sarcasm. But really, police don't give a shit about human life, or even public safety.

Hard to believe you really just made such a rash and ridiculous statement like that. But each to their own.

From my own extensive experience in airsoft and target rifle shooting and Restricted Firearms experience I can say that toy gun replica's, and BB shooting airsoft replica's are designed to be 1:1 copies of the real thing. From a cops point of you unless the gun is made of clear plastic they have to take all necessary precautions. So the cops where right to assume it was a lethal weapon and act as such.

For the point that they shouldn't have killed a child, any person able to hold a weapon is able to kill and cause damage, whether they be 13 or 30. You can kill if you can pull a trigger. Unfortunately in this case age is irrelevant.

For the point they should have shot him in the leg or elsewhere, you can't make this argument until you have done a few things, shot a pistol before, taken police training and understand what happens to the human body when shot or killed. When you experience extreme pain (like a gun shot), muscles in your bodies seize, if they shot a person armed with an AK-47/74 in the arm or leg there is a high possibility that if his finger on the trigger then he will pull the trigger, if the weapon is possibly automatic then the collateral damage could be significant. Also pistols do not have extremely high accuracy, because of that police are trained to that at the largest possible target area or an area of guaranteed death, and in all situations cops are trained to shoot to kill, they have other methods of non lethal take down if the option is available.

If your still reading this then the situation isn't all that complicated, a person was believed to have a deadly weapon, refused to lower said deadly weapon so police used deadly force. Unfortunately the person was a child.

Sugaree

October 26th, 2013, 09:18 PM

Nice sarcasm. But really, police don't give a shit about human life, or even public safety.

Now that's what I call EDGY! God damn, boy, I could almost shave with an edge like that! Seriously though, nice blanket statement. Get over your irrational hatred and grow up.

Clearly the cop didn't know this was a replica gun. It's not like he would have just walked up to the kid and asked if it was real. No sensible person would have done that, cop or not. Witnesses even said that they thought the gun was real. The kid had no business walking the streets with an AK-47 look-a-like. I don't give a shit about personal interests, but when you're walking the streets with a fake plastic rifle, don't fucking do it. Just don't do it. The kid was asking for trouble and trouble is exactly what he got. It's unfortunate that he had to die, but on the other hand, both the cop and witnesses say that he RAISED THE TOY as if he was going "fire" bullets at the cop.

Now tell me, if you were a cop, and someone raised something that looked like a gun at you, and you had your weapon drawn and pointed at him/her, you wouldn't shoot to protect yourself? You would just let the person possibly get away with shooting you down? Jesus Christ, this is an entire nation of pussies if that's going to be the answer. It would be a totally different story if the kid was just walking around and doing absolutely nothing wrong. But when you're walking around with what appears to be assault-styled weaponry, the cops have every fucking right to draw their weapons on you and ask questions.

ByXaz

October 26th, 2013, 09:30 PM

I don't know why people are really arguing over this. Yes, it's sad that he had to be shot when it seems that he wasn't harming anyone. But when the police ask you to do something, you do it. The police had no way of knowing whether it was a full gun or not. I say full gun because either way, it's still a gun. When there are multiple cops with guns pointed at you, it's probably a good idea to listen to them.

thatcountrykid

October 26th, 2013, 11:25 PM

Nice sarcasm. But really, police don't give a shit about human life, or even public safety.

Oh really? Police dont care about people? Is that why my father spend 14 hours a day risking his life for people who hate them? Is that why he saves multiple lives every night? Is that why he spends his own money to get a little girl a real meal after she was abandoned by her family for four days with nothing but a moldy block of chesse? I would say they care.

Stronk Serb

October 28th, 2013, 03:12 AM

The gun replicas here are obviously fake looking. I assume that the one used by the kid is similar, so if the cops were at a 10-30 feet distance in daylight, they could have identified that the gun is fake. The boy should have complied though.

dsi411

November 3rd, 2013, 02:49 PM

I heard on the news that a witness said that the police didn't give the boy any time to drop the weapon before they shot him.

thatcountrykid

November 3rd, 2013, 03:15 PM

I heard on the news that a witness said that the police didn't give the boy any time to drop the weapon before they shot him.

Many witnesses and news media will see what they want to see.

dsi411

November 3rd, 2013, 03:20 PM

Many witnesses and news media will see what they want to see.

Does that hold true for the police also?

Miserabilia

November 3rd, 2013, 03:24 PM

how to be USA:
-Give everybody guns

-Shoot anybody that carries anything that resembles a gun

thatcountrykid

November 3rd, 2013, 04:25 PM

Does that hold true for the police also?

No. Police see the truth.

Ceol

November 15th, 2013, 11:15 PM

While it was stupid for the kid to disobey orders to drop the weapon there are several points here which the police did wrong:

The police did not follow protocol. If the kid had pulled the gun on the police officers, then it would've been moreso justified, but if he was not aiming at them or anyone else for that matter, then on a legal perspective, they did wrong.

There is a thing called a police force matrix which sets rules in place for which they may pull their own weapon and when they may open fire. This was one of those times that unfortunately ended with the loss of a life and the police officers broke the force matrix.

However, I do feel bad for the officers and I'm sure they feel extremely bad for what happened. All in all, the kid disobeyed, the police didn't follow protocol (and to be quite honest, the police should be more aware of kids with guns nowadays with some of the recent shootings) so I'm not completely targeting the police here.

johndoe1112

November 16th, 2013, 03:32 AM

you people need to stop sticking up for the police after all of the shit that they do to people with there shoot first ask question mentality the kid is dead and he parents will never be able to see him again because the police did not follow protical really stop with this shit

pjones

November 24th, 2013, 08:06 PM

thatcountrykid

November 24th, 2013, 08:43 PM

does anyone remember the school shooting in CT last year? as thatcountrykid's sig says

THE WILL TO SURVIVE COMPELS THE HUMAN INSTINCT TO RUN AWAY FROM DANGER SO GOD MADE A POLICE OFFICER TO RUN TOWARDS IT.

THANK YOU!!! None of these people can tell
Me that they would have stood there and stared down a person with a gun. You may think police are horrible but take a minute to think who you'll call when some is breaking into your house trying to kill your family.