Posted on 10/27/2012 6:44:49 PM PDT by Altariel
A sensitive and peace-loving 16-year-old boy from an affluent Georgia suburb was fatally gunned down by a police sniper in his own house after he threatened to kill himself following a bad day at school.
Young Andrew Messina cracked after receiving a bad grade and upon returning home he grabbed his parents .357 Magnum and told his mother he wanted to end his life.
Panicked, she called the police to come and talk him down, but instead, an army of deputies, an armoured tank and a sniper arrived at their Towne Lake home....
*****
However, the Messina's attorney Chuck Pekor believes that the police had no justification to shoot the suicidal teen.
'There is nobody in there with him. There is nobody at risk except himself. You just give it time, just wait,' Pekor said about the standoff which had lasted a little more than an hour.
'Not a single officer out there, not a one, ever saw the gun come through the hole where the break was.'
Furthermore, Pekor finds irregularities with the account that he was directly threatening the negotiating team.
This is because he was shot sideways through his abdomen, with the bullet entering his right side and exiting the left.
This meant that the right handed boy would have been facing the opposite direction to the police team when he was shot.
Furthermore, Yarbrough had only been on the scene for less than 20 minutes and has admitted he didn't even know if there was a hostage with the boy.
An internal investigation by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office and the district attorney both found there was no criminal wrongdoing by Yarbrough.
However, the Messina's are in the process of filing a lawsuit againt the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Dogs. Kids. What’s the big whoop?
Yet another example of the police making a bad situation worse.
Shooting dogs must be getting old.

Andrew Messina
and?
On the bright side they prevented the kid from committing the crime of suicide.
You give the cops ninja uniforms and arm them like storm troopers and they just can’t wait to try their new toys out.
And...
Sixteen-year-old Andrew Messina died from a single shot fired by a sheriffs deputy after the troubled youth threatened suicide, held his mom at gunpoint and attempted to set fire to their home.
...and this incident is responsible for at least one individual deciding she will never call the police:
“Would this make you hesitate to call the police?” Saltzman asked neighbor Leeanna Tucker.
“I would never call them for help now,” she replied.”
|
rew! |
Again, and?
Was he threatening anyone when they shot him? Was his mom still at gun point?
“was on antidepressant medication and partaking in under age drinking to cope”
yes a kid is dead obviously thats reason for a few jokes
“Andrew did NOT hold his mother at gunpoint!!That was a flat out lie reported by Garrison’s office that he later admitted was not true.”
and
“Andrew did NOT hold his mother at gunpoint, nor did he ever threaten to shoot her. His mother’s concern was for her son’s safety, not her own. She was never worried that he would harm her. I wonder if Garrison would have handled the situation any differently if it had been his own son who was going through an emotional breakdown?”
Both posted by a “Towne Lake Mom”
****
Do you have any evidence, aside from the claims of Garrison, the government employee, that the boy threatened his mother at gunpoint?
And according to forensic evidence, the officers lied about what the youth was doing at the time of his death:
How do you explain the bullet entering the right side of his abdomen and exiting his left?
His friend said this....
9:27 AM May 3-10
the gun was pointed @ the negotiators that were trying 2 talk2 him & calm him down . Looking @ the comments his close friends were making on the different pages it stands out 2 me 2B be a case of “suicide by cop” here is 1 of the posts:
Austin Wile 5:54 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2012 You guys are stupid. Andrew was always depressed, he has tried committing suicide several times and he was scared to. He was a smart kid and knew that if he made an aggressive action that he would get shot. He had no intentions to actually harm anybody but himself. He would never hurt his mom, he loved her. He just wanted out. It wasn’t some maniacal rage induced by alcohol and his lack of medication. He took anti-depressants, insomnia medication, and methylphenidate which is an ADHD medicine. Not taking those wouldn’t make him do this, he wanted to die so he got himself killed. It’s as simple as that
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/18066555/neighbors-ask-tough-questions-after-sniper-kills-teen
Apparently their new job is ensuring Obama has new voters for the rolls.
The kid will be voting, now.
Something for those who are defending the police officers’ actions in this case to think about:
You’re defending government employees who just gave Obama another *guaranteed* vote.
Still willing to defend them?
Well then its ok for the cops to shoot anyone who threatens suicide.
And yet another comment from your link states:
Cindy
7:04 AM May 26
“Austin W needs to educate himself on the FACTS. He does not know what he is talking about. He is only looking for attention. “
*****
Why are you attempting to justify the government employees adding another Obama voter to the rolls?
Give the local cops sniper rifles, armored vehicles and ballistics equipment - and they will eventually want to use them.
The police, just like the government, are not your friend.
He obviously had some serious issues, and needed much more help/intervention that he was getting, not killing. RIP.
He obviously had some serious issues, and needed much more help/intervention that he was getting, not killing. RIP.
He obviously had some serious issues, and needed much more help/intervention than he was getting, not killing. RIP.
Oooops, sorry; was trying to fix a typo, and *multi-posted*.
Andrew Messina’s mom called Cherokee 911 when her son threaten to kill them both in their Eagle Watch home in Towne Lake.
Lisa describes her son’s medications, past counseling, how he obtained the gun she believed to be locked in their home, what she said triggered his actions and how he threatened to kill them both to the 911 operator.
Listen to the recordings divided into four segments above.
http://woodstock.patch.com/articles/911-call-from-messina-s-mother
Well, the police took charge and prevented the kid from committing suicide.
Never call the police to “help” a disturbed family member.
The kid was likely looking for attention. Someone really *determined* to commit suicide doesn’t wait until he has his mother’s, father’s and the police’s attention.
That kid wanted to be *talked down*, based on his actual behavior that day.
Are you done justifying the addition of another Obama voter to the rolls, thanks to certain government employees?
... teaching Americans that police are not your friends, one bullet at a time.
The cop that shot that boy will one day stand before Christ.
Towne Lake is not an affluent Georgia suburb It’s in Cherokee County. For Woodstock, GA In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $58,506, and the median income for a family was $65,740.
Where does she say he threatened to kill them both?
Listen from about 1m35s to 1m55s on the first tape. She flat out says she does not think he's going to shoot her. She says she's afraid he'll shoot himself.
You can't say that enough. They will make a bad situation worse.
The best thing to do is never call the police—period.
Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison said that the 16-year-old boy had made an aggressive gesture by smashing through a glass window pane in the front door near to the negotiating teams.Suicide by cop.'We would still be sitting there today if it weren't for that very, very aggressive act that he made of ramming the gun and a pistol straight through a glass door at our officers,' said Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison, the day after the shooting.
Must be this family didn’t have a dog.
We need to get rid of SWAT teams now, period. I don’t like the idea of militarizing law enforcement, especially with tanks and stuff.
Good shot. The punk won’t be killing any unsuspecting law abiding citizens. Officers involved should get a medal and bonuses for saving taxpayers future court costs and incarceration costs
When I was a kid men knew to never run from the police. If you ran you were subject to being shot as a fleeing felon. We did not complain about this or have demonstrations. It was a fact of life and people did not run when police told them to stop unless one had committed a crime punishment for which was deemed to be worse than the chance of the cop being a good shot. Children learned from their parents to respect police and to stop when spoken to by police and co-operate. Now that is mus\ch less the case.You learn to clam up and request an attorney if a cop says anything more than "Hi." You avoid police even if you witnessed a crime or an auto accident. Policemen hshould be regarded as IEDs with unreliable triggers.
It is not uncommon at all. I remember when one such was killed because he threatened someone with a gun. the someone turned out to be the guy threatening suicide.
Or for almost any other reason. I can think of some rare and convoluted situations in which it would still be better to call police butI have to think ưp complicated "what if" scenarios to come up with them.
Cops aren’t supposed to shoot suicidal teenagers in their own home. That’s what one would call “common sense.”
What an idiot. She thinks the police can talk to her son better than she can? She thinks the police are interested in protecting and serving the public? She thinks the police are going to risk their own lives dealing with a 16 year old with a gun?
She set them up for some afternoon target practice.
I hope she can live with what she did.
I hope this episode cured her of her ignorance.
Whew! I am so relieved that the police were able to prevent that troubled young man from committing suicide!
Well done, officers! We sure are lucky to have the police around to respond so calmly and thoughtfully in such hazardous situations!
After all, preventing the suicide at all costs was the paramount goal, and, by golly, the police sure did that! Surely this heroic police sniper merits a commendation for preventing this troubled young man's suicide!
Murder.
Yeah...but Eagle Watch is a swim, tennis, golf community. Average price of homes listed For Sale right now is 200 large.
http://www.eaglewatchhoa.com/dotnetnuke/AboutEagleWatch/tabid/56/Default.aspx
and with their faces covered, who knows who shot who...hiding behind masks is uncalled for by police...meant only to intimidate.....
Did you read the article or doesn’t it even matter why the cop shot the kid?
Most cops will support other cops no matter what they do.
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