Police: Teen hiding object shouts, 'Come get me, I have a gun'

[esb]

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A young man carrying what turned out to be a hairbrush died Monday night in a hail of bullets fired by New York police.

Twenty shots were fired; Coppin was struck eight times, Kelly said.

Read the story here.

 

[Aqua Dragon]

Why am I not surprised that he got shot when he said he had a gun and walked towards them even when told to stop?

Oh yah, earlier a kid who reached to grab his cell phone (which could have been a gun) was shot in the leg.

 

[Hero]

I heard about this on the news

makes me very sad

No offense but cops are stupid nowadays..

He had no gun on him according to the call

The cops should be sued and rid of the force....they are a disgrace

A DISGRACE I SAY...

They aren't suppose to shoot until they are physically going to be in danger.

STUPID COPS...god...this is horrible..now I'm all worked up..

 

[Matemeo]

I heard about this on the news

makes me very sad

No offense but cops are stupid nowadays..

He had no gun on him according to the call

The cops should be sued and rid of the force....they are a disgrace

A DISGRACE I SAY...

They aren't suppose to shoot until they are physically going to be in danger.

STUPID COPS...god...this is horrible..now I'm all worked up..

No dispute here, I can't understand what goes through some of these peoples minds, and makes me wonder, if just anyone can be a police officer

 

[esb]

Actually the call was "Family dispute with gun"

When authorities arrived at the Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment, the teenager had something stuffed under his shirt and several times showed a knife to police. "Shoot me, kill me," he shouted, according to Kelly. "Come get me. I have a gun. Let's do this."

Coppin ignored repeated commands to stop and get on the ground. Witnesses said the teen appeared to be holding an object underneath his shirt and pointed it at the officers. Coppin continued to approach officers, as they ordered him to stop, said Kelly.

So they had enogh reasons to shoot.

 

[DDRtists]

You guys make me sick.
He said 'Come get me, I have a gun'. You're a cop, you're going to go "But, they told me he didn't, hmmm...". NO! You're going to go "Wow, this kid/person may shoot me, taking my life". They are a criminal, and disobeying the law enforcement is pure stupidity, and walking towards them after you said you have a guy, is just pure stupidity.
Think about it, it's the whole "Shoot or be shot" phrase.

 

[ReVolver]

You guys make me sick.
He said 'Come get me, I have a gun'. You're a cop, you're going to go "But, they told me he didn't, hmmm...". NO! You're going to go "Wow, this kid/person may shoot me, taking my life". They are a criminal, and disobeying the law enforcement is pure stupidity, and walking towards them after you said you have a guy, is just pure stupidity.
Think about it, it's the whole "Shoot or be shot" phrase.

QFT

You have to decide about your life and the lifes of other even if the guy has a gun or not.

 

[PB_and_J]

I heard about this on the news

makes me very sad

No offense but cops are stupid nowadays..

He had no gun on him according to the call

The cops should be sued and rid of the force....they are a disgrace

A DISGRACE I SAY...

They aren't suppose to shoot until they are physically going to be in danger.

STUPID COPS...god...this is horrible..now I'm all worked up..

If your faced with some child threatening to kill you are you just going to stand there wondering when a good time for tea is?

 

[PurgeandFire]

I never knew cops would shoot people. I thought they just stunned them then they tasered them for no apparent reason. Sometimes, they don't stun first at all...

 

[DDRtists]

Lets keep this discussion civil please, or I will close the thread. No need to bash the cops, theres a difference between voicing your opinion and just flaming/ranting.

 

[mase]

Anyone ever hear of bean bag guns?...
They could have used those against the kid, it may have really hurt him but its better than them dying.

 

[Aqua Dragon]

I was wondering what everyone was thinking also (I was gonna post but the thread was locked) when they said the cops were dumb.

If anything, that kid was dumb. Who goes out, tells the cops to kill him, defy the cops orders, and approach them with what appears to be a gun. That, that my friend is dumb.

 

[sqrage]

Anyone ever hear of bean bag guns?...
They could have used those against the kid, it may have really hurt him but its better than them dying.

As if cops carry those around with them on regular occasions.:nuts:

 

[Rapmaster]

I've worked in IT for police and customs agencies, and instead of doing my real job I sometimes read their policies and talk to people.

Police have a use-of-force model. You can see an example of it here but it can vary a bit: http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/issues/102004/PDFS/page126_fig1.pdf

You can see that if an officer is presented with a lethal threat ("I have a gun") the response is at the lethal level. The only question is how much he checked to see if the guy really had a gun but remember, it's a split second decision and there are probably a lot of details the article doesn't give. Expecting them to pepper spray or 'beanbag gun' (something carried only by special units, usually) someone with a real gun is asking them to put their own life on the line. They already do enough of that.

You'll also see in that document why police officers will pepper spray even if you are just blocking them or pushing them away without actually going after them. Some models will even use tasers there. (Sounds harsh but baton to the face can be the next level.)

 

[seph ir oth]

He deserved being shot, maybe not 20 times, but maybe in the leg/hand to disable.

Eh, the world is down one smart aleck punk kid.

 

[Rapmaster]

Well he had missed his medication, obviously had problems so it's tragic. Cops need to take care of themselves too though. Tough situation, I'm sure they feel bad afterwards, knowing all the facts.

 

[sqrage]

>>Eh, the world is down one smart aleck punk kid.

Smart alec punk kid?

Kelly said the teen's mother reported he had not taken his anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medication.

I still don't blame the cops on this one though, had it been a real gun, which it was made out to be, it coulda been their lives instead.

 

[TheDamien]

It seems now that cops may actually require supernatural powers to avoid public scorn.

 

[seph ir oth]

>> Kelly said the teen's mother reported he had not taken his anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medication.

...and that's why I need to read the article completely first! >.<

 

[chovynz]

See this is a good time to use a taser. IMO (which doesnt really seem to count for much) Tasers should be standard issue BUT they should be used FIRST before the GUN as a nonlethal (but highly effective) combat for a LETHAL threat.

Not tasering an unarmed student, not taser an eightyyerold with a hammer, or a sleeping guy, but someone fully capable (and possibly) about to kill someone.

Police need to THINK. They are trained to kill, but you can just as easily disarm without killing. Even if the teen had lost his legs, it would have been better for him to still be alive. The kid was suicidal.

It seems now that cops may actually require supernatural powers to avoid public scorn.

Thats always been the case. They can never please everybody and SOMEBODY with a loud voice is always going to complain about police. I would hate to be a police man because of that fact alone, but also situations like these.

How's the cops who did the shooting gonna cope with this kind of thing? They'll go to sleep (maybe) knowing that they killed an unarmed guy. Even if he was crazy (remember the kid was 18, a time when hormones go nuts) or suicidal thats still gonna affect the cops. They shouldn't lose their jobs, or have to come under public scrutiny; they've been (and will be) punished enough by their own minds and thoughts and replays.