[RugerGirl]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/11/23/12-...g-shot-by/

CLEVELAND – A 12-year-old boy brandishing what turned out to be a fake gun is dead after being shot by a Cleveland police officer.

An attorney for the family says the boy died early Sunday morning at a hospital.

The shooting happened Saturday after officers responded to reports of a male with a gun. A man who called 911 told dispatchers that the boy was at a recreation center pointing a pistol that was "probably fake" and scaring everyone.

Police say the officer fired two shots after the boy pulled the fake weapon from his waistband. The orange safety indicator had been removed from the barrel.

Investigators say the boy did not point the fake pistol at officers but reached for it after being told to raise his hands.

Really, really, really sad. That's why I make sure my kids keep the orange tips on their toy guns and that they do not take them out in public, only just here on the property. And that they do not play with them around people who don't like guns. The guy on the 911 seemed to be calm and not freak out about it. The boy was an idiot to not obey the cops. I have told my son that if he EVER sees a cop at ANY time while he is playing with a toy gun (which would probably never happen) he should immediately put the gun down.

I think maybe the cops overreacted on this one a tad, especially considering the 911 caller stated he thought the gun was likely a fake.

It's sad that kids these days can't just obey "put your hands up". The kid was evidently so disobedient that he didn't think twice about obeying a command by an armed officer. The current generation has no fear or respect of authority. This is, sadly, unfortunately, what happens.

[soberbyker]

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/g...hot-police

This 'report' says it was a BB gun and has a photo of the gun.

12-Year-Old Boy With BB Gun Dies After Being Shot By Police



By Sean Kelly, Sun, November 23, 2014

A 12-year-old boy in Cleveland has died after being shot by police when he pulled a BB gun from his waistband.

When the boy reportedly began waving the BB gun around in a playground at the Cuddell Recreation Center on Saturday afternoon, people around him became increasingly nervous. The boy then allegedly began to point the gun at people, which prompted one man to call 911.

“I’m sitting in the park…there’s a guy in here with a pistol,” the man told the 911 dispatcher. “It’s probably a fake one, but he’s pointing it at everybody.”

According to the Daily Mail, the man told the dispatcher that the boy kept “pulling it in and out” and that the gun was “probably fake, but he’s scaring the s*** out of people.”

When police arrived, they reportedly spotted the boy putting the BB gun in his waistband. After ordering him to put his hands up, the boy pulled the pistol from his waistband, leading an officer to fire two shots at the unnamed young man.

~snip~

[spblademaker]

Riots in 3...2...1...

[JustinHEMI]

Very sad.

Justin

[Camper]

I feel a lot of sympathy for the parents of this kid--and the cop too--and it's certainly sad that this 12 year old got killed.

But all that said, it sounds like he was a special brand of stupid.

[RugerGirl]

Little more info:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/11/24/cle...latestnews

The Cleveland website was hacked. I haven't seen anyone mention the race of the officers though (sounds like the boy was AA). Also it isn't clear whether the rookie or the veteran was the shooter.

[Chazman321]

It looks real enough to me.


-Chaz

[RugerGirl]

It does look real. :-( Unfortunately I'm seeing hints of this being bad timing with Ferguson, as the boy was AA and the officers...well, nothing has been said, so I'm assuming white, although the lawyer of the family has claimed this isn't about race.

[jahwarrior72]

Can't say I blame the officer. Years ago, when my oldest was about four years old, my then-stepson came running home to tell me there was a kid in the playground pointing a gun at the other kids. I stopped him, and asked him hard if it was a toy gun or real. He insisted it was real. In his panic, he left his two sisters in the playground. I threw the phone to my ex, told her to call 911, and ran to the playground.

There was this twelve or thirteen year old kid waving a small chrome gun at other kids. He was trying to be menacing, the way he was pointing it. I yelled at him, hand on the butt of my gun, and his smile was gone. He threw the gun down, and started crying. The cops showed up about a minute later, and they once they secured the scene, they found that it was a toy gun. Specifically, it was a water gun the kid painteed silver to make it look real. The cops proceeded to tear new assholes in the kid, his mom, and his uncle (both of whom showed up shortly after the cops got there, and tried to blame me until the cops shut them up). They made it clear that he was lucky not to be dead, and he mightve been, if they'd shown up first.

If that kid had pointed that gun at me or my kids, I'm pretty sure I would've shot him, over a fucking squirt gun.

[RugerGirl]

Kids are just stupid. Parents have got to take the responsibility to tell their kids how to act before letting them go off by themselves to do as they please.

Like I said...if my kids ever play with toy guns outside for some reason (My one son who was really into them has sort of gotten away from it now) know they have to be careful who they play around and to always make sure the orange tab stays on....one gun had it come off and I wrapped orange electrical tape on the end of it, because it was the only way I would let him play with it.