Boy Playing Cops And Robbers Shot By Deputy

[festus]

A boy playing "cops and robbers" with a toy handgun has been shot and wounded by a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy, officials say.

The boy was shot shortly Sunday night in Palmdale. Deputy Jeff Gordon says the boy was hospitalized in stable condition and is expected to survive.

His age and identity were not immediately released.

Gordon says deputies were responding to reports that someone was riding a bicycle and brandishing a handgun. They spotted the rider and ordered him to drop the weapon but instead, Gordon says he pointed it at the deputies.

One deputy fired a shot and hit the boy in the upper body.

Palmdale is about 50 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.

Source: FOXNews.com

[Piece Corps]

SEE? This is why guns should be outlawed! Those crazy cops, going around, shooting little kids with toy guns! Cops should NOT carry guns, they're too dangerous! If only ONE little kid is saved by taking guns away from cops, then we have accomplished our goals!

[Brady anti-spasmo mode OFF]

See how stupid this looks? But I'm surprised that the kid was allowed to even HAVE a toy gun in CA. Beside the fact that it LOOKED like a real gun, it probably contained minute particles of lead in the paint and springs, and he could have died of cancer just carrying it around. Oh, for shame!

In CA, no one is allowed to have a gun. So say the politicos.

[2nd_AMENDMENT_KNIGHT]

It is really unfortunate when you hear stories like this on the news. i am a big fan of cops but i thought they were highly trained and at least able to know when to not shoot kids. this cop should have his badge taken away and the family should file a civil lawsuite.

[MADnMO]

It is really unfortunate when you hear stories like this on the news. i am a big fan of cops but i thought they were highly trained and at least able to know when to not shoot kids. this cop should have his badge taken away and the family should file a civil lawsuite.

How about the family accepting responsibility for the kid having a gun that looked REAL and was not taught to treat all guns as though they are real. You don't ever point a gun at a police officer or anyone unless you want to kill them.

[FN1910]

It is really unfortunate when you hear stories like this on the news. i am a big fan of cops but i thought they were highly trained and at least able to know when to not shoot kids. this cop should have his badge taken away and the family should file a civil lawsuite.

You need to rethink that statement on being a fan of cops with a response like that.

[R&M]

Not a lot of details, time, age ect. Somebody point a real looking gun at me under the right circumstances the result would be the same. This kid is not dead and that may be the result of the officer making the right decision in a split second not to kill him. Might not be, might be the kid got lucky, we don't know.

I saw a ride-by shootout while working in downtown Charleston at 3 am or so under the old Cooper River bridge one night by 2 "Kids" not over 15 or 16 riding bicycles (the transportation mode of choice of the local gangsters). End result was one "kid" riding his bike through the hood, two more came from opposite directions and first "kid" very dead. If you were the first officer that came up on that what would you do?

We don't know the whole story.

[fredmaidment]

Not a lot of details, time, age ect. Somebody point a real looking gun at me under the right circumstances the result would be the same. This kid is not dead and that may be the result of the officer making the right decision in a split second not to kill him. Might not be, might be the kid got lucky, we don't know.

I saw a ride-by shootout while working in downtown Charleston at 3 am or so under the old Cooper River bridge one night by 2 "Kids" not over 15 or 16 riding bicycles (the transportation mode of choice of the local gangsters). End result was one "kid" riding his bike through the hood, two more came from opposite directions and first "kid" very dead. If you were the first officer that came up on that what would you do?

We don't know the whole story.

If the officer fired, his intent was to kill. "Shoot to wound" is a concept that exists only in the movies and with dead/very lucky people.

As for whether the cop was wrong... Well, we weren't there. We don't know the situation. If the tip had been removed, well... Gangs in LA are well known for recruiting kids before they turn 10. Wouldn't be surprised if this cop had already experienced that.

[JimmyFingers]

I wonder what that cop would say to one of us if he responded to one of us shooting a kid with a toy gun? Just a thought. He would arrest us, and be calling us an idiot the whole way to the station.

[FN1910]

Not a lot of details, time, age ect. Somebody point a real looking gun at me under the right circumstances the result would be the same. This kid is not dead and that may be the result of the officer making the right decision in a split second not to kill him. Might not be, might be the kid got lucky, we don't know.

I saw a ride-by shootout while working in downtown Charleston at 3 am or so under the old Cooper River bridge one night by 2 "Kids" not over 15 or 16 riding bicycles (the transportation mode of choice of the local gangsters). End result was one "kid" riding his bike through the hood, two more came from opposite directions and first "kid" very dead. If you were the first officer that came up on that what would you do?

We don't know the whole story.

From the article linked above.

PALMDALE, Calif. — A 15-year-old boy playing "cops and robbers" with a toy gun was shot and wounded by a sheriff's deputy who mistook it for the real thing, authorities said Monday.

The boy, whose identity was not immediately released, was hospitalized in stable condition, Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Jeff Gordon said.

"He's expected to fully recover," Gordon said.

Deputies answering reports of someone riding a bicycle and brandishing a handgun went to 20th Street shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday and spotted the rider, Gordon said.

They ordered him to drop the weapon but instead he pointed it at deputies, Gordon said.

One deputy fired a shot and hit the boy in the upper body, he said.

Gordon said the teen apparently had been playing "cops and robbers" using a replica gun that resembled a black semiautomatic pistol with brown grips.

Gordon said the gun lacked the orange tip that most toys carry to distinguish them from real weapons.

This isn't the Matrix where Neo can move out of the way of bullets. The cop had only one chance and less than one second to make the decision whether he wanted to die or not.

[Austin]

I wonder what that cop would say to one of us if he responded to one of us shooting a kid with a toy gun? Just a thought. He would arrest us, and be calling us an idiot the whole way to the station.

The all-knowing JimmyFingers

Please explain to us mere mortals how you know how someone you have never met would react in a situation you have never been in.

I will be awaiting enlightenment.