Police Shooting of 12-Year-Old in Cleveland
Nov 26, 2014 23:05:03 GMT -6
Mystic Wanderer, bonhommearmonica, and 1 more like this
Post by blackcatmagic on Nov 26, 2014 23:05:03 GMT -6
Cops Kill Boy, 12, Carrying 'Airsoft' Toy Gun in Cleveland
Cleveland police shot and killed a 12-year-old boy who was allegedly carrying an "airsoft" toy gun at a recreation center, police said. Tamir Rice, who was shot in the torso and went into surgery Saturday, died Sunday morning, police said. Two officers were placed on administrative leave.
Police said the officers were responding to a report of a person waving a gun around at a playground at the Cudell Recreation Center about 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Tamir was shot after he allegedly refused to put his hands up and reached in his waistband for what appeared to be a handgun, police said.
The handgun turned out to be an "airsoft" replica toy gun, which shoots pellets in a similar way that a BB gun does. Cleveland police said in a statement that an orange marking designed to make the toys distinguishable from real firearms had been removed.
A man who called 911 told dispatchers before police arrived that the boy was on a swing set and pointing a pistol that was "probably fake" and scaring everyone. "I don't know if it's real or not," the caller said. Jeff Follmer, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, told The Assciated Press that the officers weren't told the caller thought the gun might be fake.
The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office and police are investigating the shooting.
The Cuyahoga County medical examiner released Tamir's name Sunday. An attorney for the family, Timothy Kucharski, said he didn't know the details of what led to the shooting, saying he would be conducting a parallel investigation.
"I'm trying not to cry about the situation, but the situation hurts," Tamir's father, Gregory Henderson, told NBC station WKYC of Cleveland.
"Who would've thought he would go so soon?" Henderson asked. "He had his whole life ahead. To be 12 years old — he doesn't know what he's doing. Police, they know what they're doing."
Cleveland police shot and killed a 12-year-old boy who was allegedly carrying an "airsoft" toy gun at a recreation center, police said. Tamir Rice, who was shot in the torso and went into surgery Saturday, died Sunday morning, police said. Two officers were placed on administrative leave.
Police said the officers were responding to a report of a person waving a gun around at a playground at the Cudell Recreation Center about 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Tamir was shot after he allegedly refused to put his hands up and reached in his waistband for what appeared to be a handgun, police said.
The handgun turned out to be an "airsoft" replica toy gun, which shoots pellets in a similar way that a BB gun does. Cleveland police said in a statement that an orange marking designed to make the toys distinguishable from real firearms had been removed.
A man who called 911 told dispatchers before police arrived that the boy was on a swing set and pointing a pistol that was "probably fake" and scaring everyone. "I don't know if it's real or not," the caller said. Jeff Follmer, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, told The Assciated Press that the officers weren't told the caller thought the gun might be fake.
The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office and police are investigating the shooting.
The Cuyahoga County medical examiner released Tamir's name Sunday. An attorney for the family, Timothy Kucharski, said he didn't know the details of what led to the shooting, saying he would be conducting a parallel investigation.
"I'm trying not to cry about the situation, but the situation hurts," Tamir's father, Gregory Henderson, told NBC station WKYC of Cleveland.
"Who would've thought he would go so soon?" Henderson asked. "He had his whole life ahead. To be 12 years old — he doesn't know what he's doing. Police, they know what they're doing."
So far this is what we know:
- Citizen calls 911, from a bar, to report kid with what may or may not be a real gun:
"A man who called 911 told dispatchers before police arrived that the boy was on a swing set and pointing a pistol that was "probably fake" and scaring everyone. "I don't know if it's real or not," the caller said. "
- Child was pointing gun at passers by. Caller states passers by are scared of the kid pointing the gun at them.
- Child happens to be African American. (Caller doesn't say that until dispatch asks several times.) Not a crime but the MSM is painting it like this is why the child was shot and not the fact that a person reported to weapon.
- The child altered the "toy" by removing it's orange safety indicator.
- Parent(s) were not present with child.
- Cops were not told suspect's age, that he was African American, or that the gun may be fake. We can only speculate what would have happened if they had that information.
- Neighborhood has history of gang violence.
- The Recreation Center was full of people at the time.
- From the video it does appear the child lifted his shirt and reached for the gun. (Depending on which story you go with he either reached for or pointed the gun at police. )
- Cops fired twice wounding child in abdomen. Child later dies of injuries at hospital.
- The Child was exposed to domestic violence. Both mother and father have violent pasts. This is important if you know the statistics. Stats Here
- This is being made out to be a racial incident even though cops races were not reported. I haven't found reports of the cops race anywhere so far.
- Both cops are placed on administrative leave pending investigation.
This is an unfortunate incident. The police, the child, and the child's parent(s) have fault in this incident. Could this have been prevented? Most likely.
A lot of this falls on the lack of parental responsibility. The parent(s) should have taught their son that the gun ( bb or other wise) was not a toy and that you do not point it at anything you do not intend to shoot. I am irritated that the MSM is even calling this a toy. BB guns cause injury and deaths from misuse, accidents, and irresponsibility every year. If the parents would have taught their son 1. everything you see in movies, on TV, or hear in music is not how you should behave and 2. that all behavior has consequences and you are not immune from them regardless of age/race/religion/sexual preference/creed, then maybe the child would have behaved more responsibly. The parent(s) should have also been supervising their son. As stated above a gun, BB or otherwise, is not a toy. With out the safety indicator most people could assume it was real and could react aggressively. Their poor parenting was the foundation for some thing like this to happen. If it wasn't the cops then it very well could have been a gang or fellow citizen neutralizing a potential safety threat.
The child in this is also responsible for his actions. He should have not alter the "toy" to appear more realistic. He should not have played with said altered gun near a playground or a crowded rec center. That was an open invitation for a misunderstanding. He should not have been pointing the "toy" at people or waving it around. He should have obeyed commands by police. He should not have made any movements once cops were on scene.
The cops should not have reacted so quickly. They were in close proximity (aprox. 10 ft.) to the child. A taser probably would have done the trick. Or one cop could distract while his/her partner distracts. Maybe then the kid would still be alive. We can only speculate. It one thing to speculate from behind a computer screen and another to actually be in that situation.
However, the cops didn't get memo that the gun may not be real. Without dispatch passing along the all the information I can't really blame them for the knee jerk reaction. Common sense states if it looks real treat it as such. The child reaching for the gun, for what ever reason, was not a smart call and only added to an already tense situation. With the limited information I could find, I can understand why they acted as such. I don't like it, but understand. I can't honestly say I would have reacted any differently as the cop reportedly acted.
I guess we will find out more as the investigation continues. There is talk of a grand jury indictment of the officers involved. Only time will tell what will come of this incident.
