Written by: Aaron Nelson from theantimedia.org
On late saturday afternoon, a Cleveland, Ohio police officer shot a 12-year-old boy after the child pulled a BB gun from his waistband
A rookie officer and his veteran partner pulled into a parking lotoutside Cudell Recreation Center at Detroit Avenue and West Boulevard around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday where they witnessed a collection of people sitting underneath a pavilion.
The rookie officer saw what turned out to be a BB gun sitting on a picnic table and says he saw the boy pick it up. The officer got out of his vehicle and told the child to put his hands up. The boy reached down, pulled out the BB gun, and the rookie officer fired two shots.
The child, whose name has not been officially released, did not threaten the officer verbally or physically according to Ed Tomba, the Deputy Chief of Field Operations. When a police officer fires at a civilian (in this case a child), the officer’s life is supposed to be directly threatened.
The deputy chief made a vow to the community that the investigation will remain open.
“When an officer gives a command, we expect it to be followed,” Tomba said. “The way it looks like right now, it wasn’t followed, but we’re going to continue our investigation.”
The boy was taken to Metro Health Medical Center in critical condition. The unnamed child passed away early Sunday morning due to the injuries he sustained from the bullets of law enforcement.
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Credit: http://theantimedia.org/police-officer-shoots-12-year-old/
That pig better fry
Why the fuck did he put a bb gun at him ?! , of course Police officer could of thought it’s real gun , where the fuck were parent’s at who would teach a child to put a gun at the police officer ?! ?!
Probably didn’t know he had one. Probably working three jobs to put food on the table. Who knows.
REALLY! that pig better fry. Well who is prejudiced now!! If he were a “black pig” would he have to fry? I AM of course interpreting your suggestion that you regard the shooter as white. And is this how you address police as “Pigs”. How disgusting, and you are not doing yourself any favours. Grow up!
Who said anything about the cop being white? Jesus, chill the heck out
The cop should pay for what he did regardless of his race. Too long have we had to put up with police brutality, too long have we had to fear the police, too long have the police broken the law yet not get punished for it. We shouldn’t have to fear our “protectors”.
Stop you’re making me hungry.
Why pull out a BB gun to an armed Police officer? I know that there’s hundreds of cases where police officers fire at unarmed civilians. But why would someone with “common sense” pull out a BB gun and risk that? Surely that child knows what is going on in the U.S.A, and that police officers will fire at those with a weapon. From the officer’s prospective, that child was going to shoot a bullet at him, a quick reaction.
I am completely against police brutality ect. But I do see from the Police’s prospective.
I agree with you completely. It’s often the police fault for making stupid decisions, but this time they were not in the wrong
You can’t judge that quickly without further investigation and on top of that you clearly are missing details to post such a comment. What if the child was grabbing the gun to give it to the officer in a surrenduring manner, and the Rookie officer saw that as a menace because of his lack of judgement resulting from his lack of experience?
Actually this article is missing a few details. The child did not take out his gun in a surrendering manner. He took it out and pointed it at the police officer.
Also as a rookie officer, because of his lack of experience, he was probably afraid as the gun looked realistic and lacked the orange safety indicator.
He didnt pull it out in a threatening matter get ur facts straight my 12 year old cousin is a special needs child he pulled it out to give it to him as he and another child screamed it wasn’t real so get your facts right if it had been your child you would want justice to #JUSTICE4TAMIR
He was 12. It’s not really a subject brought up a recess
It was brought up at recess when I was in school because we watched it on TV all the time, and I’m in Canada. We aren’t even allowed to own the guns we were speculating about yet we still were learning common sense at a young age.
Danielle Asbury …. i think there is a clue to the answer in his age … (12) … duh
If you threaten with a fake gun, the one with the real gun will shoot you with real bullets.
He should not have pulled a gun, they look too much alike a real one, still sad though
I’m sorry for the kid. Thats aweful. But if he pulled a gun the shooting is justified. Yes I realize it was a bb gun, its still a gun. Most of them look like regular guns. Did he think the officer was joking? It was foolish and I’m truly sorry for him and his family.
ACAB !
That happened 5 minutes from where I live. It’s a warzone. The cop shot because he was scared. There are daily gunfights in the neighborhood and all across Cleveland. Cops are being shot. The gang violence is becoming real. Those kids, they shoot. That young! You can get killed here. Real easy.
Horrible place to live.
Just like our children have changed over the years, so have our law and law enforcement officers. Officers used to be well respected because they respected the rights of others and the laws that governed them. This is really not the case anymore. Most police officers are arrogant and act as if they are above the law. We as U. S. citizens can and have been treated by police as if we lived in occupied Germany many years ago. Although we have rights, they are violated by the police on a daily basis. I am a law abiding senior, but have seen this first hand many times…
Shoot first…ask questions later. Your fellow officers will stick up for you. You call it Brotherhood.. We call it a bunch of legal hoodlums.
Rap, you state the children have changed. Why is this? Where are these children’s parents? seriously, you sound like an educated person. But I do believe you summed everything up in your first sentence. Being a White Anglo Saxon, fortunately, I do not have the pre-judgement issues black people encounter, which I believe is the issue here. I am assuming this was a white police officer that shot a black child. If the roles were reversed, would there be the controversy?
I feel for this unfortunate child, but I blame the parents, not the police officer. Why did he have a BB gun in downtown Detroit. His parents realize that this could happen, surely? yet, there he is 3.30pm on a Saturday with a group of people, with a gun.
Stop saying it was downtown Detroit, it was Cleveland, Ohio, on Detroit Ave. Everyone is acting like they know everything and they can’t even get the timezone of the incident correct. This is a shitty situation where NO ONE is at fault. Kid was 12 and stupid, he also grabbed for a gun when told to put his hands in the air. If you think a 12 year old won’t kill someone in front of his friends you really are underestimated peer pressure in a low economic setting. A mother lost a son, a cop killed a kid. Everyone is going to have to live with what was done and hope that it doesn’t happen again
You tell him! Also I concur.
It’s Cleveland, but I firmly agree with your comment. Parents raise the children, they should be held responsible for the child’s early education and socialization.
When the cop told him to put his hands up, why would he reach for the BB gun? I’m wondering how real his BB gun looked. I know some kids paint the red top of it black to make it look real. I’m completely against police brutality, but it sounds like the cop saw a civilian reach for a gun when he told him to put his hands up, and he reacted to protect himself and those around him. I’m glad they’re continuong the investigation.
Looks like Police Officers doesn’t like 12 year old because their “faggots” or something XP
Not funny. And if someone picks up a gun after being told not to then that would scare me!
Can’t you see it, it’s totaly out of proportions. 1. If the firearms law is that lose that it is possible for a child to get hold of a gun, theres something wrong. 2. If a police officer can’t distinguish between a toy and a real weapon, and fears for his life. It only tell us that either the first point was right or that he/she shouldn’t be an officer of the police force.
No one can tell a replica gun from a real one at distance. They are made to look identical, that is the point of a replica firearm. Your point is moot. Next.
This is a child we are talking about common sense has not developed in a child. Just look at what interpretation the rookie made of the situation, wher is his common sense.
Weapons Laws in the United States is too bad, if there is such a large opportunity for a twelve year-old to come across a real weapon, so that a police officer feels threatened by a toy gun. Was it fired warning shots before? Is the boy Afro-American or white? Are The police Afro-American or white? Was there other circumstances that could indicate a threat?
ok you have all lost the plot . How can you blame a child??? How about blaming the society that promotes shooting on TV . Police have training to deal with this shouldn’t have happened . While we are at it how about banning fake toy guns. A child has died have some respect
Hux Flux– In a split second, you could make the decision that it was a toy gun could you? you are very brave and clever… No, I think you just want to make all police look bad. This is Detroit, gangs, violence. I would not like to take the chance. I value my life, where are the parents, drugged/drunk? obviously they are not parenting. And no, my child would never have a gun, not even a BB gun.
Not Detroit…
this right here is whats wrong its stated wrong. the gun had the orange cap removed. To the cops it was real and he pointed it at people. THEY did there job.
Hux Flux… You are very clever. Too be able to tell a toy gun, under these circumstances. You should take up Law Enforcement, they require people like you, who can make judgement calls in a split second.And the correct call to boot! Please apply, personally, I don’t think you even require training. They should put you patrolling the street’s immediately. Wow!
Why do cops always shoot to kill? Especially kids? If that cop was that scared, why couldn’t he have shot him in the leg or something instead of taking a 12 year olds life. I hope it haunts him for the rest of his life.
real life is not like in the movies, you cant just shoot someone in the leg, or shoot the gun out of their hand. It will haunt him for the rest of his life, or atleast it should. But when cops or soldiers or whoever shoot, they shoot to kill
His parents should be charged with neglect! You don’t ignore an officers request and reach for a gun, real or not! There was no neon indicators on the BB gun! Should the officer have waited to see what the boy intended to do with the weapon…I don’t think so!
The cops were right on this one… Even though he’s a little boy, most bb guns do look like real weapons. The orange tip can be easily removed.
The policeman saw a gun in a persons hand. That person used the gun to threaten people on the playground. Because the person threatened people on the playground they called the police. The police showed up thinking someone with a gun was threatening people on the playground. The person with the gun did not obey orders instead of choosing to disobey and reach for a gun.
He was shot and killed.
Only now the armchair quarterbacks know that person was a 12 year old adolescent and the gun he was caring was a air-soft firearm that resembles in detail an actual firearm.
Why do people want to blame police for doing their job, I don’t think this policeman woke up that morning and said I want to murder a 12 year old child today. A 12 year old with a firearm is just as dangerous as a 32 year old with a firearm. When you have fractions of a second to make a decision that could end your life you don’t have the luxury of dissecting the situation in detail.
R I P
Tom are u retarded a 12 year old with a gun is noway as dangerous as a 32 year old with a gun. a 12 year old has no experience with guns or atleast not enough to manage to shoot a kid on that range u guys are talking about if the offier couldnt see the difference its to far for a kid to get a shot at him and if he knew it was a gun he would have had a bullet proof vest ( the patrol officer ) and than he could have gone for the disarm shot instead of the kill shot to the kidney / kidney area.
i dont see a reason to shoot to kill when he see the age of the kid so this makes no sense but i see he was scared and he was a rookie patrol officer so he didnt have much of an experience but still he should have obeyed his chief that was with cause than none of this would have happened.
R.I.P Tamir E. Rice
You are a piece of shit.
THe video has been released and that statement is a lie.
The kid was simply playing with a toy gun in the park when the cop drive by killed him.
12yr old with BB gun, plays in park, gets shot by cop. What if it was a toy gun and he was playing with his sister.It must be a horrible place to live in when kids can’t play in a park without being KILLED. With gangs, looneys and cops all trying to kill the most people, America now seems to be the most barbaric and vicious country that is supposed to be civilized. you should ALL be ashamed of yourselves.
So before you guys blame the officer, here is the picture of the bb gun the kid pointed at the cop.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cleveland-boy-12-shot-and-killed-by-police-over-fake-gun/
whats a BB gun(sorry,i’m 12)?
When it comes to life and death situations, most people tend to think of ways to preserve their life as long as possible. It’s a natural human thing to do.
You get a call about some kid waving a gun at people, you go check it out, you have your gun pointed at them and tell them to raise their hands, instead they reach for the gun. Of course you are gonna get shot. the officer had just seconds to think of the best course to take. Most don’t understand that since they have never been in anything close to life or death, but you think of the quickest way to save yourself (most do). So the officer wasn’t gonna even take a chance that the gun was fake (I wouldn’t either). cause there is a chance he is wrong and he might die. shotting in the leg wouldn’t help cause the person could still shot you, so you have to shot to kill (lets not think movies guys). The officer has to live with knowing he killed an innocent person now, but if your life gets threaten, most do what they need to do live, and when you don’t know if it was real or not, you should feel pretty threatened.
I bet the kid panicked and tried to toss the gun, it was a 12 year old. I’ve done the same when getting caught, gun or for me it was a chocolate bar, tried to toss it right in front of my parents. Didn’t work but the plan was solid at the time.
Children especially between 8-16 simply aren’t capable of following orders , certainly if they feel they are in their right to act in their own volition .
So the child , knowing he’s not the culprit the officer believes he is , does what every normal person would do regarding common sense : tell it is a joke , and at the same time make the threat go away by showing the weapon is no danger , all in the same moment … Thus he gets shot by a rookie , cause they act up on instinct , but not well thought over . Supply and demand , from two different angles , for one his demise , for the other lifelong frustration and guilt .
The issue here is the child should have been taught better. I was caught in a situation at about the same age chasing my mate out of my house with a be pistol. Before I knew it the cops had taken their gas out and hand them pointed at me screaming drop it. Drop it I did and put my hands in the air. I survived. My mistake taking the gun out of the house. I thank my parents for teaching me common sense. I could have just as easily turned and pointed the gun at the police. And I can honestly say I wouldn’t be here today if I did.