'Cleveland police shoot dead 12 year old boy ' When will it end.

I'm not sure if you've seen the bb gun in question but it looks remarkably like 1911 pistol. There was no signs on the bb gun to distinguish it from an actual gun. The officer told him to put his hands up, instead the kid tried to go for his bb gun. The officer had to make a split decision, and unfortunately it resulted in the death of boy, but that isn't the fault of the officer.

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I'm so glad you don't do politics

But surely if using bullets that don't kill but still aiming for the chest and spine it can still be effective in neutralizing him ?

What? I used an article on the internet not blackmail, maybe this example of a dead child isn't good. How about the cinema shooting where 12 people died? No? How about all those school children where little kids died?

We're told the kid reached for the gun in the holster despite being told by the police to put his hands up. If this is true, maybe they were were justified in shooting him although they could've aimed for his legs at least and made a rush towards him immediately afterwards. They couldn't have know whether the gun was real or not and were not told by the dispatcher that the caller who alerted them wasn't sure about it being real or fake either.

Nevertheless, I do disagree with the US's gun policy. They should just outright outlaw them or however the rule is in the UK. There are too many of these shootings.

But thinking about it, if this happened in the UK, armed response units may have been dispatched and the kid may have ended up dying anyway if he indeed reached for the gun because the police are trained to shoot if the person reaches for the gun.

I feel uncomfortable with the initial police account of events...

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I think the problem, however, is that if such a report came to the police here in the UK the response would be entirely different because the chances of a 12 year old possessing a gun in the first place would be nearly impossible

Guns are so endemic to US society that it forces police officers to act so cautiously, causing these awful situations.. :/

I agree, in my opinion they are definitely covering something up. My concern is they apparently saw that the orange safety indicator was missing when the gun was in his waist band....

If you consider the right to bear arms and by extension the right to defend life and property (laws in many states support both) an endemic, sure.

What are these bullets that don't kill, and how do they neutralise someone? If you are talking about weaker guns with smaller bullets, then those won't stop someone.

People can still fight back even after being shot in the chest sometimes.

I think you're confusing endemic with pandemic/epidemic

That's what I'm saying why can't we research into non killing bullets that can still put a person down momentarily.

Although if this were to happen it should only apply to children. Adults can be shot with proper bullets.

That's what I'm saying why can't we research into non killing bullets that can still put a person down momentarily.

Although if this were to happen it should only apply to children. Adults can be shot with proper bullets.

You're right, I am.

Ninja-edit: "Regardless, however, any police officer with half a brain would give a 12 year old the benefit of the doubt in that situation, the child isn't capable of letting off an insane burst of deadly fire, especially if dead in the officer's sights. Should have waited to see what the gun was before killing him"

A police officer with half a brain would have done what the two in questioon did. A boy was reported to have a firearm. The boy attempted to brandish the firearm, potentially injuring or killing himself or others. I've re-iterated this maybe 5 times in the last 3 pages, look back for my opinion on it.

How do they know the child posed any harmful intent?
Reaching for the gun could have been an attempt to hurriedly rid himself of the arm or to show it is fake.
Since when do children always have the state of mind to spell out exactly what they are doing before doing it without being properly asked especially in a stressful/panic situation? More often than not they definitely do not. And that's also why they don't carry real guns around to begin with.

Even if it was a modified BB gun how ridiculous are the public and police for not noticing/realising that the gun is light enough for a young child to freely wave it in the air. They allow the use and ownership of firearms yet can't make the simple deduction that the gun would be carried in struggle by a child if it was genuine.

A responsible society does not need armed civilians.

This would never happen in the UK because a child would never carry a replica gun in public.

But that means they weighed up the chance of a 12 year old:
a) carrying a loaded firearm
b) being able to accurately shoot and kill someone with the firearm in a split second before being gunned down

and decided that that was more likely than him possessing a toy. If they had him in their sights it wouldn't be hard to shoot him if he actually fired off a round.. I believe they should have given the benefit of the doubt in an attempt to save the most lives

Unless you live in a place where police are stationed at every street corner, said police make no mistakes ever and the government is always honest and always works in favour of its citizens then a responsible society has every need and should have every right to bear arms.