Posted on 10/26/2001 5:18:46 PM PDT by chance33_98
(KSDK) -- A bill to ban the sale of bb guns in the city was introduced today to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.
In June, 16-year old Torrence Mull was fatally shot by a St. Louis police officer that mistook the BB gun in Mulls waistband for a semi-automatic pistol.
Alderman Jim Shrewsbury introduced the bill hoping to prevent similar tragedies. If approved and signed by the mayor, the law would immediately go into effect.
Another one down. I suppose the "pseudo-conservatives"
will insist the cop was correct in his instant assessment
that anyone carrying a gun is a threat to life.
Justified killing by a cop? My ass. There's too damned
much of this garbage going on. A cop has absolutely no
right to shoot first and ask questions later.
We've been reduced to a Fearless Fosdick comic strip.
Another idiotic knee jerk reaction by a liberal fool of a politician. Maybe a better if more expensive idea would be to invest in better training for policemen.
Any cop who shoots someone after seeing a gun in his waistband is in serious need of better training.
From what I can read in your post no threat was made with the weapon against the officer, hence no need of deadly force.
Poor training for police leads to dead civilians.
My ass too. The fact that a gun of any type is in a waistband gives no justification for the shooting. They should ban this cop, not bb guns.
6/24/2001 5:44:19 PM
A St. Louis police officer is on administrative leave after fatally
shooting a 16-year-old Saturday night.
Police Chief Joe Mokwa says Officer Anthony Martin was on
routine field patrol when he approached 16-year-old Torrence Mull
on Natural Bridge Road Saturday night around 11:30 p.m.
Martin asked Mull whether he had any weapons and the boy
showed him a gun tucked into his waistband. Martin said he
thought Mull was reaching for the gun to take it out, and he
shot the boy in the chest from his patrol car.
Police say Mull has no history of trouble or criminal activity.
Mull's family say the teenager was a good kid and they want
St. Louis police to investigate further.
6/25/2001 5:30:31 PM
For the first time since a St. Louis teen was shot and killed
by a police officer, relatives of Torrence Mull met with the
media to demand a full investigation into the incident.
Saturday night, Mull was carrying a very real looking BB gun
in his waistband, when a police officer drove by and asked
if Mull had a weapon. When Mull reached for the BB gun,
the officer reportedly felt threatened and shot Mull.
But, Mull's uncle says he was there when the fatal shot was
fired, and claims that Mull never reached for the weapon in
a threatening manner. Tomorrow, Mulls' family will meet
with representatives of the NAACP to determine what to do next.
And the family's left to find some sort of resolve?
I'm so disgusted, I can't find the words.
I am normally considered a cop hater on this forum because I think SWAT teams and the resultant killings are a step to a military type police with no accountability. In this case I don't know.
It sure seems like the kid wouldn't act stupidly enough to provoke a shooting but the Darwin Awards are around for a reason.
That's the big birdwatching secret....old ladies in tennis shoes whacking millions of weavers, pigeons, and starlings, making the world safer for bluebirds and tanagers.
Another unintended consequence of stupid legislation.:^)
Gonna have to rig some kind of electrified perch for dem bad birds!
If it happened the way it's being reported, the cop will be held liable for civil damages....like shooting fish in a barrel....slam dunk. Also the city will lose a chunk of revenue.
BUT, maybe it didn't happen that way? That's what grand juries are for.
I was with you up until the time you got revolting.
They say that "it's all in the timing", well the timing for any
"revolt" is not now.
Sure, we can petition our Congress to insure no freedom
stealing legislation is passed, but it's too late for this last
"terrorism bill" debacle. The best thing to do now, is write
the date of expiration down and make damned sure you rally
for it's repeal before that date; make certain that bill expires
when it should.
Patriotism is a sensitive issue. It's a time of war, and any
internal disturbance may be construed as being un-patriotic.
Best to sit tight and let the energy build. Work towards
removing democrats and corruption from government. And
work even harder to convince politicians that the only thing
more important to us than life, is the preservation of our
Constitutional freedoms.
(that's my opinion!)
Thanks.
This is bad.
This cop is probably incompetent and should lose his job.
But bring in the NAALCP and they will turn this childs death in to a media feeding frenzy.
The liberal Congressional Black Caucus will turn out and demand a Justice Department investigation of the local police force for discrimination.
Next will be the calls for the DOJ to take over management of the local police force.
And the Federalization of the nation will continue.
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