Ok let's sum this up.
Basically what I'm saying is this:
The facts are that there are:
1. many Juveniles (some younger than the 15 yr depicted in this thread) kill people intentionally, they have done so for thousands of years (if you believe history).
2. if a person (kid or not) points what appears to be a lethal weapon at you then he accepts the responsibility of what happens. Just like if you jump off a buiilding, just because you don't believe in gravity does not mean you won't go splat.
3. if someone has less than lethal means at hand than one should use them (provided that this does not sacrifice your own safety).
4. if you wish to sacrifice your own safety then by all means do so, but do not volunteer someone else's life, volunteer your own. Go out there to the "hood" and wait for a gang of teenagers to commit some type of crime (not to stereotype but I'm sure you won't wait long), then try to stop them with a can of pepperspray and/or a taser. By the way, there was an incident at my old dept. where they chucked in a cs canister (I don't remember the brand) to the house of a baricaded suspect who was armed. The canister set fire to the drapes and burned the house down.
5. police live through, see things, and have training and experience that most people who are not, or have not been le have seen (this is true for soldiers in combat as well, they have seen, done, and experienced things many who have not been in similiar situations have not).
6. To say that a highly trained individual could tell the difference between a real and a fake gun is ludacris - and I'm not talking about the rapper. As it was stated, go look at what's for sale out there in the pellet gun arena... now if the pellet gun in this situation was bright orange and looked like a super soaker then maybe (keep in mind though many "kids" and individuals in general are painting their weapons. There are some gangs which paint their guns red. In fact I know someone who got his gun professional durakoted in PINK for his wife).
7. this is not to say that there are not "bad" cops, but as hadley so elequently put, there are "bad" people in every profession. the fact is that there are just "bad" people period. that is why we have rules and laws in place to attempt to reduce them (notice I said "reduce" and not stop. due to the nature of humanity as well as the principles of duality, I do not think it is possible to elminate "bad").
9. I have no idea why "cops are bad and I would never be one" is your opnion. Nor do I see the relevance as it related to your original posts unless of course you are alleging the officer in question was a criminal rapist or something. I can only assume a bad experience had been had in which a police officer was involved. Kind of like being bitten by a doberman, and now one fears and hates dobermans, regardless of the fact that other dogs may be more dangerous.
8. That was a pretty creepy picture