If the cops tasered him the cop haters would still whine about the cop using a taser. No matter what cops do, the haters gonna hate and whine. They can't help themselves, I suppose.

This is a tragic situation. I don't necessarily see police abuse in this situation, but I don't know for certain, and I will not give in to a knee-jerk response.

I do want to see an investigation. But I don't know if that investigation will do any good.

This just makes me so incredibly sad. I have a son with severe autism, so it hits home for me, too.

This is the end result of a whole web of factors. This boy needed HELP. He needed it his whole short life.
It was the absolutely wrong answer to the problem. His mother must be completely shattered. May our family, by the grace of God, never experience such a tragedy.

People with autism can be violent, but they are not wild animals; this boy probably needed to be in specialized care, or to have constant in-home care for behaviors and medicines, etc. But who can afford that? That is why we have Medicaid - private insurance? Forget it - they don't generally pay for autism related issues. Trust me, I know! Depending on the plan there might be some insurance assistance for medications, but not all plans cover that. Families like this one, need solid assistance with the extraordinary circumstances they face, that private insurance, and most family incomes will not provide. Otherwise, many more people will be hurt, or killed, needlessly. Kids with autism are not in control of their aggression - but it can be greatly reduced through communication and behavioral therapy, and a Team approach to care, including medication when needed. Not getting on a soapbox here, just hoping someone looks at everything that led up to that moment, and new systems can be put in place to get assistance to folks BEFORE a kid is a danger to himself/herself and others.

*sigh* I don't have all the answers, mind you, just a heaping dose of experience. This. Hurts.

peace,
AB

Originally posted by alfa1

Originally posted by newcovenant
He thought an autistic kid with grass clippers was going to do him in.

There you go again.

He's 18, not a "kid".
Not "grass clippers", they are described as "hedge clippers" (bigger, tougher).
You deliberatly fail to mention the second weapon he was carrying, the hammer.

Its tragic enough already, you dont have to lie about it to make it worse.

You are no Ronald Reagan.
Even with Alzheimer's, it's possible he was sharper.

Tragic? Beg to differ with you. You call that lying, which incidentally is a lie in itself.
It's unconscionable, possibly criminal, and could have been avoided.
He was a child, her child, and in many states 18 year old's can't even drink.
I think a mentally handicapped person may have a chronological age of 18 and yet be far "younger" in real mental capacity.

Regardless, this 'young adult' was dependent on these officers for help. The mother called 911 herself, said the boy was armed with the garden equipment. This was no surprise attack. She said she needed assistance getting him under control...not shot and killed.

Shooting her handicapped son is not "helping."

What Nazi fascist state do you think we live in?

You minimizing, making light of and completely disregarding facts to glorify and make excuses for a bully, a poorly trained chicken sh_t with a gun - is not only lying, it is repulsive and inhumane.

As far as I am concerned this cop murdered an 18 year old handicapped boy in cold blood in front of his mother,

In my opinion, a lot of the police that we hear about in the news are gigantic cowards. They mar the name of the good LEO's and should be kicked off the force.

Cop needs to be fired. Cop should be made to work with autistic kids for the duration of his life. Un-armed. For minimun wage. Or taken out and shot in the back of the head, which ever he prefers.

So, I guess ":Serve and Protect" is out the window now.
Plus, when they shoot, they shoot to kill --no if's and's or but's. Why don't they shoot to injure to prevent the forward progress of that "threatening" individual?? Since when has it become standard protocol to just eliminate a human life upon arrival at a scene? Where is the adequate time for an accurate assessment? Arrive at a safe distance, assess the situation, then approach. They just come in guns a-blazin'!

It's sad when a cop, who wears a vest and has a gun and a partner who has the same, is threatened by someone with clippers, who may or may not even have them.

I notice a few things that are present in ALL of these cops who kill innocent people articles...and that is, there's ALWAYS "confusion" as to what really happened. Remember one of the rules is to build confusion --Roswell, JFK, Oklahoma, Waco, 911, and all cops who kill incidents --they all have confusion interwoven into not only the center of the story, but into the sides of the stories as well. There's MANY reasons for this.

Something needs to be done. If this is "by the book" actions, then a new book needs to be bought!

No more gun's for police if they want to be cops then they can be officers with tazers, pepper spray, and batons like the bobbies in London. At this point in time they don't show themselfs capable or responsible enough to handle fire arms as well as executing extremely poor judgement.

Originally posted by Thunderheart
Stupid woman, don't you know? "Medication before altercation"
dumbass,you got your son killed.

If you think it's proper procedure to kill anyone who you "think" is threatening, then I personally think you should have someone take a look at you.

Just my .2 cents.

Am I the only one who thinks the mother doesn't seem very sincere or broken up in her interviews?

Shes hardly that broken up when you take into consideration that she is making the claim that her son was murdered in cold blood right in front of her, and then left there to die for 10 minutes.

I think she knows her son screwed up but you bet your ass shes gonna file a lawsuit and sue the city. Its a terrible loss but lawsuits don't help anyone, it just takes money out of a system thats already broken. Great idea...Ya sure she might feel better cause she has some money, but it won't bring back her son. Its just taking money from people who weren't even involved.

Originally posted by bjarneorn

Originally posted by Thunderheart
Stupid woman, don't you know? "Medication before altercation"
dumbass,you got your son killed.

If you think it's proper procedure to kill anyone who you "think" is threatening, then I personally think you should have someone take a look at you.

Just my .2 cents.

edit on 5/10/2012 by bjarneorn because: (no reason given)

if you think an emotionally unstable person with 2 weapons in hand isn't a threat, then I personally think you are extremely naive.

You guys get pissed at a cop for doing what they are trained to do, you realize these types of responses are drilled into them when they go through the academy right? If you wanna blame someone blame the people who thought up Police Procedure, not the people who follow it cause its what they were trained to do.

Why can't they just bring in some dude dressed in riot gear to take out someone with a hammer?

Why don't police hire martial artists to take out the hand to hand combatants rather then send in the paramilitary to just simply shoot the situation to an end?

Bull, to everybody who is remotely justifying what this killer did.

You know, he COULD have just shot him in the arm or leg.

It's not that hard - if you're trained - to shoot somebody below the torso.

But noooooo, he HAD to shoot and kill him because it was absolutely necessary. There was NO OTHER possible way to have ended this moment without casualty.

No other way...

Originally posted by Dan001
You know, he COULD have just shot him in the arm or leg.

Exactly, the way I see it, the officer had no choice but to react, he had to defend himself, but shoot a knee cap if you have to.... they knew the kid had issues and isn't necessarily in control of himself. To go right to a 'shoot to kill' mentality is just downright disturbing.

The number of rabid cop haters in this forums really is disheartening.

This is a tragic story, but based on what I've read, and putting myself in the officers position, I'd have to conclude that I'd have done the same thing.

Everyone wants to condemn the cop for making a split second decision that NOBODY here can truly understand.

The officer was responding to multiple 911 calls.

* Autistic teen turned violent
* Suspect is armed
* Suspect is known to resist officers
* Suspect refused to drop the weapon(s) he was carrying
* Suspect refused to get on the ground when commanded to, and continued to approach the officer

Based on the above, if I were the responding officer, I may have very good reason to believe that I was in imminent danger. The officer was forced into a bad situation, and I truly feel sorry that not only will he have to deal with his actions, (which I feel were justified), but he will also have to suffer the biased wrath of thousand/millions who would probably have done the exact same thing had they been forced into that same situation.

It's not that hard - if you're trained - to shoot somebody below the torso.

Which they aren't trained to do, so your point is irrelevant.

Once again, stop blaming the police for following protocol, blame the people who came up with protocol and drilled it into the Police.

When a Marine or Soldier kill an innocent person overseas in some mishap, do you blame the Soldiers for following orders? Or do you blame the Government for going to war?

I agree they should train cops to get off this shoot to kill idea, but until they do the idea of "If you're trained" means nothing cause its not the way things are.

Do you Hate your other half?
do you wont to collect on their insurance?
then call 911 (we kill for you)
and tell them he has a knife and is very angry.

then the police will come around and shoot them for you.
BUT dont be home as the police will shoot you to.