SWAT Team Shoots Armed Flarida 8th-Grader

No one of us was there, so "monday morning" quarterbacking is all too easy to do.

I put the blame on the idiot wielding a weapon in front of a SWAT team. Why didn't he simply comply with the verbal commands to surrender ?

Why did he even committ the act to begin with ?

Maybe the disturbed teen wanted to die..Suicide by cop...who knows ?

On the other hand, why didn't the SWAT team use flash bangs, gas, bean bag rounds, etc...?

So many questions...but ultimately the fault lies with the criminal...period.

P.S.

You misspelled "Florida"

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River City Associates
Decatur, Al. 35601

Well we are each entitled to our own opinions. I understand your viewpoint, but I respectfully disagree with you.

At the age of 15 he knows the difference between right and wrong. The schools are not here to raise our kids; that is the parents responsibility...so where were they ?

In past history 15 yr olds were rulers of entire continents; cowboys, soldiers, sailors, explorers, engineers, artists, musicians, etc.

Weapons: People smuggle weapons into restricted areas all of the time. Even our own professional leo's can't even catch all of them, all of the time.

In response to your question regarding why the schools don't do anything?..the answer is complicated:

1) Money

2) Turning what is supposed to be a safe and nurturing environment into a concentration camp

3) The implementation of metal detectors and human screeners (like Airport TSA Personnel) is not a fail-safe solution.

Several, if not most, of the airports have failed-repeatedly, threat anlasysis performed by experts on terroristic intrusions: they have smuggled guns, knives, "fake" bombs, etc onto airplanes and into restricted areas.

So you can blame it on the school all you want...but in my opinion, it's not the school's fault..it's the criminal's. No one twisted his arm to brandish a weapon in public, or to hole up in a barricaded position in a public school, or to threaten professional leo's that have teen age children of thier own.

You have not even addressed the issue from a Leo's point: How do you think those cops are dealing with this tragedy ?...have you ever had to kill someone, sufffer through the investigation, and then go home and look your 15 yr old in the eye ? Knowing that it very well could have been your child out there ?

NO it is not the school's fault. It is the individual person's fault for making the decision to committ a crime and put himself in harm's way foolishly.

No one to blame but the criminal...period.

_________________
River City Associates
Decatur, Al. 35601

All he had to do was simply surrender to the cops when ordered to do so. He would still be alive today if he had.

_________________
River City Associates
Decatur, Al. 35601

I think the problem is that we DON'T blame anybody. We have become a society of vicitims. It's always someone else's fault for the bad things we do.

Age 7 is the Jewish age of "reason" when a person has the ability to differentiate between right and wrong.

To Ruffin's point, people in the "old days" did a lot more at 15 and younger than we do today. Miyamoto Musashi killed his first man at 13 (THIRTEEN).

The "Black Prince" fought in his first battle at 16 (SIXTEEN) and no doubt was trained from when he could first pick up a sword.

We could go on and on.

The point is I believe we do need to BLAME someone. In fact, we should BLAME the Fifteen Year old FIRST. Then we find out if his parents had anything to do with it.. they are SECOND.

I think if kids today were forced to accept responsibility for their actions we would have a lot less problems out of em today.

When I was an active LE, a lot of the most frustrating criminals I've had to deal with were kids.

In fact there were many cases in which these "kids" would cuss out and threaten us stating we couldn't do anything to em because they were "juveniles" LOL. Go figure. They aren't as stupid or innocente as everyone wants to make them out to be. In fact they can be very cunning and intelligent.

In a lot of cases it is also the parents fault because they defend their child even when they are wrong... this teaches the child that there is no consequence for their actions.

In some cases it is not the parents fault as they have tried to control their kids but, due to the idiotic thought that juveniles do not know right from wrong, are unable to dicipline their kids because they fear legal repercussions (instituted by those same idiots who think kids are incapable of knowing right from wrong).

When you were 15 were you an idiot? Didn't know right from wrong? How come you aren't in jail for murder? How come you didn't go around raping and killing?

Come on now.

_________________
-The Solution-
Indiana Agency #: PI20700211
Indiana Notary Public - Exp: 12/20/13

"Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath."
- Kingdom of Heaven

This child put the officer in this situation. NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
Reguardless of wether or not it was a real gun, or a pellet gun. The officers did not know that. The threat was there, and was dealt with accordingly. A handgun can be just as dangerous in a childs hands, as is in a stark-raving mad lunatic. I feel bad for the officer for having to shoot a child, as he will live with that forever. I also feel bad for the family, for their loss.

I know many people that were shot at by 13 year olds!!!!do you know appro 125 years ago in this country at 15 you were married and most likely working on a farm--In the jewish religion at 13 you are a man--in old england at 10 years old you could be a cabin boy with the english navy--even today hundreds of illegal alien children work the fields every day-at 14 i worked after school in the fall picking apples in upstate ny for .25 cents per bushall-many states it is legal for a 14 year old to hunt big game--in nh a 15 year old can learn to drive a car

if a weapon is pointed at me that 15 year old is history no ifs ands or buts-i have taken life 6 times before as a leo-i will not hesitate i will double tap to chest and worry about the consequenses later--unless you have been there you have no idea how slowly that split seconds passes--almost every time you wish you can call that bullet back-a gun does not care about age or social status or or mindset it is just a mindless tool being used incorrectly and as such is lethal--as said before the swat officers decision to shoot was made by the 15 year old not by himself--the proper reaction to a weapon pointed at him is automatic(if he is trained correctly)

my friend and team mate was shot at by many approx 8 year olds in iraq(he estimates their age) and he believes he has killed children that age in self defense--I have seen a 10 year old empty a mac 10 into a police car--sure you are right you can blame the world -you can blame the parents you can blame the teachers you can blame the bullies--when i grew up in ny i got my butt kicked many times by bullies until i learned to hide around a corner with a ball bat and beat the crap out of the bully when he past me--all of sudden no one bothered me
as a cop it was my job to protect the weaker person-it was also my job to teach the weaker person to protect himself

in todays society that is a big problem - many people look at the goverment to protect them instead of standing up and protecting themselves--we as a people have lost the instinct for survival our forefathers had-we are not self sufficent -we also lost our sense of community-most of us live a city lifestyle-always a little aloof from from our neighbors--again when i was growing up if the neighborhood cop saw me hanging out on the corner during a school day he would grab me and kick my butt than bring me home and my dad would kick my butt-not today if a cop did that he would you most likely be charged and jailed and so would my dad--I am not saying this is good or bad(i am not that smart)i am just saying this is-in my opinion the pendulum has swung to far left and we need to bring back some old ways and traditions but again just my opinion--

we are all entitled to our opinions but until you walked the walk the value of your opinion is moot--it goes along with a civilian reveiw board-a waste of time - i faced both a police shooting review and the civilian board 6 times also grand jury six times bunch of crap