California deputies shoot, kill 13-year-old carrying replica

[gthaustex]

Mods...I wasn't sure if this should be in another forum. The LEO Contact / Blooper forum didn't seem right....

A tragic incident of child carrying a realistic replica of a firearm and then apparently refusing to drop it when ordered to do so by LEOs. Note that it is an "assault weapon"....sigh....

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/23/ca ... latestnews

I'm figuring the boy didn't understand / couldn't understand why they were ordering him to drop what he was carrying.

[texanjoker]

Tragic. Praying for all involved. This article has more info. I wonder if the the kid spoke Spanish and didn't understand the deputies? That gun looks pretty real in the photo so there will now be a call to ban those as well.

http://www.policeone.com/investigations ... ica-rifle/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Beiruty]

Guns are not toys.

[The Annoyed Man]

I was just going to post this story. So sad.

[rbwhatever1]

We used to carry lever action rifles and six shooting cap guns when I was growing up. We even carried snub nosed 38 cap guns that had a much better bang and loaded easier than the rolled paper caps in the cowboy guns.

Things sure have changed...

[puma guy]

We used to carry lever action rifles and six shooting cap guns when I was growing up. We even carried snub nosed 38 cap guns that had a much better bang and loaded easier than the rolled paper caps in the cowboy guns.

Things sure have changed...

For What It's Worth by Stephen Stills

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid

The world has changed indeed.

So sad for the family of the boy and for the officers involved.

[mamabearCali]

I was not there, so I do not know for sure. But from the stories I have read....the kid was simply carrying a toy gun. Not a crime. Not illegal in any sense. That he did not drop the gun is odd, but perhaps he was just scared and frozen and could not move.

I do wish the in this case LEO's would have used the restraint that I would be expected to use in such a situation like this. If a kid was walking around my neighborhood with a realistic looking gun my first thought would not be to shoot the kid. In fact we had that very situation a week ago here. One of my kids friends came out with a realistic looking gun. My kids came home and told me about it. I went outside walked over to the kid and talked with him about his new (shotgun looking gun). How cool it was...that it made sounds etc etc etc. Told him to make certain he left the orange cap on. I requested that he please not point his gun at my younger children's heads as they were not playing cowboys, but rather riding scooters. No one was in danger and no one died. A LEO should have as much sense as I do and more.


California in particular touts that the reason their LEO's can carry guns and the common citizen cannot is because they are so well "trained". I wish that they would use some of that training. They should know that toys can look like guns and vice -versa. They should know that kids in particular can have strange reactions when confronted (Such as freezing like a deer). They should be trained in how to treat children and the mentally ill to not exacerbate a situation. They should know that 13 year olds play with toy guns and the chances of him having a toy are high and having a real gun are low. Please! Use some of that training and some of that situational awareness we keep hearing about.

I am so tired of reading about kids being killed by people including LEO's that if they took another 3 minutes to asses the situation everyone would have gone home that night.

[rotor]

Would it be illegal in California for a person to open carry an AK-47 in California? Do the police have the right to order anyone that is carrying as such to "drop the gun". This is such a tragic story and i know the cops must feel terrible too. And to think that as kids we all wore our 6 shooter cap guns and holsters and cowboy hats and nobody interfered. One day I was a cowboy, the next day I was an indian. Times have changed for the worse.

[mamabearCali]

The kids have not changed.....The adults have gotten stupid. Kids are kids, when kids get killed by the police for being kids (which is what this looks like to me) then it is adults that are to shame and to blame.

[K.Mooneyham]

Maybe TAM can remember better about this, since I'm not 100% sure, but I thought that replicas of that sort were already illegal in California. And by that, I mean they have to have some sort of high-visibility cap on the end, something of that nature that makes it more obvious they are toys, to make them legal to sell. So, maybe the LEOs were looking for that, didn't see it, and since the kid didn't drop it (for whatever unknown reason), they opened fire. Still, pretty messed up, no matter what.

[rbwhatever1]

Well Said mamabearCali. Both posts.

[anygunanywhere]

Guns are not toys.

Toys are not guns.

Anygunanywhere

[longtooth]

Guns are not toys.

Toys are not guns.

Anygunanywhere

Anygun

[suthdj]

13 yo hispanic male with what appears to be a real AK is shot by police-urban/city enviroment = Gang banger

13 yo hispanic male with what appears to be a real AK is shot by police-rural/country enviroment = Innocent child

unless the banger was out guarding a storage house in the country, as much as I enjoy a good LEO bashing when it is deserved I see no fault in what they did based on the story as written, had that been a real AK and a real banger it could have gone south for the LEO's real fast, as it stands I thnk the LEO's will be have scars for the rest of their life on this.

Found another link
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/o ... -boy-rifle

It was a pellet gun.

[mojo84]

I think it is tragic for all involved.

We live in a rural neighborhood with 3 acre plus lots. My son and his friends used to love playing air soft wars on our and the adjacent vacant lots. As most of you know, the air soft guns look exactly like real guns from a bit of a distance. In anticipation of any potential issues, I made sure our neighbors were well aware their guns were just airsoft and I made sure if anyone, especially a Leo, addressed them, they were to put their guns on the ground to make sure things didn't go south.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened and unfortunately isn't the last. Common sense needs to be used by all involved and common sense is become a rare commodity.