7-Year-Old Girl Shot and Killed During Police Search of Detroit Home

7-Year-Old Girl Shot and Killed During Police Search of Detroit Home

www.foxnews.com

A 7-year-old girl was shot and killed when an officer's gun went off during a struggle with a woman in a house where Detroit police were searching for a suspect in the slaying of a teenager, MyFoxDetroit.com reported.

Assistant Chief Ralph Godbee said at a news conference Sunday that Aiyana Jones was hit in the neck by a single bullet and died at a hospital.

The lead officer encountered a 46-year-old woman immediately inside the front room of the house and "some level of physical contact ensued

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[edit on 16/5/2010 by Mirthful Me]

At first I saw the headline and thought ATS would like to see more police brutality, then I read the article, now I am confused. This article does not add up.

So the police get the warrant to go into a house where a murderer is believed to be hiding(Good!) Police set off single flashbang(overkill, but necessary in some eyes) Here is where it gets weird, police enter "physical contact" with a woman, with child present, and a round goes off?"

I would be happy to believe the police's stance on the issue if they can provide a plausible explanation, its just sad that kids get caught in the crossfire sometimes.

what does ATS think?

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[edit on 16/5/2010 by Mirthful Me]

I'm speechless mate ...

If a struggle took place and a round goes off because of the said struggle, the whole incident is plausible. When officers do an entry with a flash bang grenade, their weapons aren't usually holstered or have a safety mode on.

Imagine how the officer feels about the death of the child.

It's not like he pointed the trigger to shoot the child.

I think this is one of those situations where unless you were there, the absolute truth will never be known.

From what I have seen and know of police proceedure, they go with a warrent in hand. If they have to kick down the door or forcefully enter the place, weapons are drawn and the safeties are off. Usually they are screaming/yelling get down on the ground, moving around quickly to take control over the situation. If the woman ran or attacked the officer, it is possible that a discharge could have happened.

What a horrible horrible situation. A 7 year old dyeing is beyond disgusting. Whomever shot her is going to be devastated for the rest of their life. How can you not walk away from that forever burdened, horrible all around. I hate these stories.

The article is VERY vauge so tough to comment on overall. I will say this, the stuggle could definitly be true, since I myself have had them as well making entry, even after a flashbang, but what gets me is how the struggle led to a discharge. In my experiance that woman wouldn't have gotten anywhere near my firearm. Long gun or pistol is irrelevant considering this was probably a full element of guys...meaning she should of been overpowered, BUT in the same token, things can and do go wrong...(in walks Murphy, and his presence sucks).

Bottom line is this is a sad day for the parents (mom) and for anyone involved..hell not even involved. My heart goes out to the poor girl....and makes me wonder if thise mom knew she was housing a suspected murderer.

Also let me add that serving these warrants with kids in the home CANNOT be avoided sometimes. When you weigh the suspect, his/her actions and history, with most suitable outcome, hitting a house is usually the safest place overall.....because if and when you try to serve a warrant like this in public..(traffic stop, or on the street), it can easily turn into a shootout or chase and now there are A LOT more people that can be injured, killed, etc....its a double edged sword that none of us like, but we HAVE TO use the duller side.

[edit on 5/16/2010 by rcwj1975]

[edit on 5/16/2010 by rcwj1975]

Very tragic, but as usual we don't have all the details to understand what really happen, regardless of who is at fault, this is not just and "accidental" death and somebody will held accountable for it.

This is the sad result of the hyper-militarization of our police forces. When you bomb people, kick down their doors and enter with loaded weapons you can expect tragedy to happen.

Originally posted by Happyfeet
So the police get the warrant to go into a house where a murderer is believed to be hiding(Good!) Police set off single flashbang(overkill, but necessary in some eyes) Here is where it gets weird, police enter "physical contact" with a woman, with child present, and a round goes off?"

Imagine being a 46 year old woman, probably this kids mother. And you're standing in the front room and someone has just kicked down the door and tossed in a flashbang. You can't see.

Originally posted by Blanca Rose
Imagine how the officer feels about the death of the child.

It's not like he pointed the trigger to shoot the child.

I think this is one of those situations where unless you were there, the absolute truth will never be known.

Oh please.. as if that cop is going to have any nightmares...as he deserves. The department will hire expensive ' counselors' to make sure that the cop suffers no ' trauma' from the ' incident ' and can return to his ' job' of storming into homes with kids present AND his FINGER ON THE TRIGGER OF A COCKED GUN !!

The cop entered ready to shoot and did....so why the suprise? The cop SAYS it went off accidentally...that should be investigated of course...but if it WAS, then this cop was acting dangerously and should be charged with reckless homicide at least.

You do NOT place your trigger finger on the trigger until a threat has been positively identified...he should have had his trigger finger off the trigger and ready to slide onto it if he decided to fire. You place your trigger finger on the trigger and squeeze, as ONE MOTION, AFTER you have decided to use DEADLY force.

But in this case the guy could not use his hands to move, subdue or whatever with the woman because his finger was ON THE TRIGGER.

When a ' contact ' happened, God knows what that means...he may have simply run into the woman trying to get in and his gun went off. think it is far fetched?

I know personally a cop who many years ago was called to a possible burglary at a home. He eneterd with gun drawn and cocked, and his finger on the trigger, just like in this case...and as he turned a corner into a abthroom, he used his gun hand to push the door open and his finger put a hair too much pressure on the trigger and the gun went off...destroying the toilet!! It was repaired ebfore the owners came back from out of town.

Now this cop may not have intended to shoot anyone that day, but his carelessness DID cause a death...of a child.

Sure, he may regret it, but in this day and age of cops coming from Iraq and other wars and hitting the streets with a gung ho slam em and jam em attitude and itchy trigger fingers we will see MORE of these cases.

This child will end up being called ' collateral damage ' in the ' war on crime ' and the family can be left to take scant comfort from the excuses offered by the police....they are NEVER wrong...just misunderstood...right?

If the killer cop in this case is truly sorry and repentant, he will quit his job and never touch a gun again....he will offer to pay all funeral expenses for the slain child...he will offer to give 50% of all future money he makes from whatever source to the family to try and show his continuing sorrow...he will plead guilty to reckless endangerment charges and gladly accept the maximum sentence under the law...he will do his time uncomplaining and when released, he will forego ever owning or touching a gun again..ever.

That MIGHT be a first step in his redemption...but we all know what WILL haooen..the kid gets buried...the family ruined..the cop takes a leave..paid...and then returns...and on we go..

thought ATS would like to see more police brutality

Not everyone is a sensation and doom seeker you know.

I hope the full truth comes out.

If this story is true, you would think the police like normal will be covering up for the officer.

Sickening isn't it, a waste of another life, by those who are supposed to protect us.

No words for who did this, but man do the police ever learn. Its easy for them to say this and that, but aren't the police supposed to be trained, to deal with such things.

reply to post by richierich


Your assuming his finger pulled the trigger. What if mom, while fighting got HER finger in the trigger guard and discharged the firearm? As I said she should of never been able to get that close, but it happened, now its only right to hope the truth and facts come out before judging....because a dead little girl deserves that.

reply to post by richierich


It's not clear from the article exactly how the fire arm discharged. For all we know, the woman might have shot the child, if she was grabbing the gun.

The article does say that they went to the home to look for a suspected murderer. Were they supposed to bring a boquet of flowers?

Would you even have replied to this thread if the police officer, who was doing his job, was the one shot?

reply to post by rcwj1975


Hey i don't usually post so i'll be brief..My question,just as it was in Waco,or Ruby Ridge.Why not arrest the person when they come out of their house?Or at the market or at a store..etc..It seems crazy to me that you would delebritetly break into the one place where that person knows better than you.He will come out eventually and when he does get him.Even if you were to say well he's never coming out as he has someone else get his stuff.Grab her then wait till he get's hungry and nab him then.No exuce for ever entering a house with kids...ever.

Originally posted by rcwj1975
Your assuming his finger pulled the trigger. What if mom, while fighting got HER finger in the trigger guard and discharged the firearm? As I said she should of never been able to get that close, but it happened, now its only right to hope the truth and facts come out before judging....because a dead little girl deserves that.

Make no mistake, this kid is dead because a paramilitary police force busted in her door and then she died. Stop trying to make excuses. This isn't Iraq it's America.

They went to this place searching for a suspect. I'd really like to know if he was actually even there or if this suspect even committed the crime at all.

reply to post by earthship35


So, they should just wait for a suspected murder to find his way out of a house, where a child was located? What if this murderer decided to kill everyone there?

Perhaps, just perhaps, the police were concerned for the occupant of the house.

The whole thing ended tragically. If they had not gone looking for this person who was suspected of murder, who's to say everyone in the house wouldn't have ended up dead, anyway? The suspect allegedly killed a teenager, mind you.

reply to post by earthship35


Read my first post...last paragraph. You have any idea what measures a suspect will take knowing he may be going to jail for life, or to be put on death row? Better yet, if they have already been to the pen and now face going back? Outside warrant service/takedowns can be VERY bad....atleast in a house it is normally confined....thats the REALITY of it...may not be what anyone wants, but once weighed...its normally the best option.