Cops 'shot 13-year-old boy carrying toy rifle' only 10 SECONDS after first spotting him

dailymail.co.uk ^ | , 26 October 2013 | DAVID MCCORMACK, ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTER and RYAN GORMAN

[moonshinner_09]

Cops took no more than 10 seconds to fire six or seven shots into the body of dying teenager Andy Lopez after seeing him with a toy pellet gun. Mr Lopez was spotted by deputies on Tuesday afternoon in Santa Rosa, California, carrying the toy rifle, which they mistakenly thought was a real assault weapon. The time that elapsed between when officers reported the sighting to dispatch and then reported shots fired was only 10 seconds. Hundreds of local residents marched on Wednesday night to remember the popular teen and protest at the senseless shooting. They chanted 'We need justice' as they questioned how the deputies could mistake a pellet gun for an assault rifle.According to a police statement, Lopez was twice instructed to put down his weapon, officers opened fire after he failed to comply - only 10 seconds later. Sixteen seconds later, the cops radioed for medical assistance. Ethan Oliver, who lives across the street, told KTVU.com that the deputies continued to shoot at the boy, even after he had fallen to the ground. Oliver said he went outside after hearing two gun shots and by that time Lopez was already on the ground. ‘Then the cops went at it again and unloaded like six to seven shots,’ he said.When asked if he meant that the deputy shot Lopez while he was on the ground, Oliver said, ‘Yeah. Exactly what I saw.’ Authorities haven't responded to his claims, but it raises the possibility that Lopez was still alive when he hit the ground after the first two shots were fired.

[Mister Da]

To use such poor judgment, these cops must be on drugs. A sober, reasonably intelligent, sane person would not so quickly & callously kill someone.

After such incidents, the involved cops should be immediately tested for drugs, alcohol, & steroids.

IMO, cops are so afraid of the “mean streets”, so hogtied by politically correct rules & regs, they are using steroids & other drugs as artificial courage.

[Ken H]

So where’s the dash-cam?

[Ken H]

But the sixties and the culture today ARE NOT the same. They simply are not. We’ve had fifty years of the drug war that have seen to that. . . and that has made all the difference.

What do you mean when you say the drug war made all the difference?

[tupac]

How can you defend these cops? You weren’t there. Not like all of the idiot cop haters on this forum who were there and know the truth. Get with it man.

[MamaTexan]

Back then we had peace officers.

My Dad was one of those. Worked for the Sheriff back in the 70's.

The major rule when confronted at the scene with an armed person?

DO NOT fire until fired upon.

Amazing how few kids wound up dead back then because of toy guns.

[driftdiver]

What is to know?

We know the kid is dead and didn’t have a firearm.

[raybbr]

When was the last time a gang member immediately turned and fired on a cop? Maybe in the movies. Watch many of those?

With his back to the cops how did the cops know he had a weapon? Was it slung over his shoulder? The cops story is "he turned towards us with the barrel up"? How did they know, if the weapon was in front shielded by his body, that he had a dangerous weapon. If the ten seconds is true then they had even less time upon shouting at him and his turning. Maybe five seconds? Wow! Good judgment there.

What is your solution to the situation of a teenager turning and pointing a realistic looking weapon in your direction right in the middle of gang-banger-land?

They state the barrel was "up" not pointing at them. And, yes, I do expect the cops to wait till there is an imminent threat, like I am required by law, before shooting. Is there a less stringent definition of "imminent danger" for the cops?

I will post again my thoughts: "The blame for this is squarely on the anti gun movement. They have created an irrational, and in this case, deadly fear in minds of law enforcement. I am in no way excusing these two cops. They should go to jail for at least second degree murder. But, the true impetus behind this boy’s death are Sandy Hook anti gun nuts, Michael Bloomberg, the Brady campaign, etc.

[MamaTexan]

But the sixties and the culture today ARE NOT the same. They simply are not. We’ve had fifty years of the drug war that have seen to that. . . and that has made all the difference.

The difference is that cops used to know their job was to protect and serve and that such 'service' required them to put themselves at risk.

Most of today's cops want a risk-free job. As long as THEY get to go home at the end of the day, it's all good.....and they really don't seem to care who or what they have to shoot to do it.

[tupac]

You are so right. I’ll get the noose, you guys find a tree. Slam

[NCLaw441]

I am trying to envision someone pointing what appears to be a gun at me or a loved one. How long would I give the person to shoot before I took action?

If you were confronted with an unknown person, would you wait 10 seconds before protecting yourself?

[AAABEST]

Why did the parents allow him to carry such a realistic looking gun around in public? Those are the questions that need to be asked. It's ridiculous to blame law enforcement for something like this, but I guess the cop-haters will always come running to exploit every tragedy.

When I was a kid, I carried rifles in public all the time - especially going from my house to the woods. Cops never even thought to draw down on me. I'm not that old either.

How should this kid have gotten to a safe area to shoot a BB gun without getting swarmed on? You probably can't answer that, because it seems that nobody can bring a gun from point a to point b anymore without getting this type of treatment.

From what I can tell, the kid didn't do anything wrong, except running into a few easily-frightened idiots.

The reason why the right and the left alike are becoming "cop-haters" (if that's the term you like) is because modern policing is more and more being viewed as a menace instead of the honorable profession it once was.

[AAABEST]

I am trying to envision someone pointing what appears to be a gun at me or a loved one. How long would I give the person to shoot before I took action?

1. If you're in the habit of drawing-down on complete strangers minding their own business carrying rifles and/or BB guns, then you should be blamed as the cause of any altercation that follows.

2. If you shot this kid in the exact manner these cops did, you'd end up as someone's prison-ho. You're not allowed to behave like this, only cops are.

[Iron Munro]

It’s murder, clear and simple.

They belong in prison for the rest of their lives.

Wearing a badge doesn’t give them the right to shoot first and ask questions later.

[Cloverfarm]

Pellet guns don’t have an orange tip.

[Jonty30]

According to the article, he was shot in the back. This implies the kid was no danger to the cops at that point.

If he was turned around, the cops would have had at least a second warning before they would have returned fire.

[muir_redwoods]

This is cop culture 2013. If anyone thinks cops will be on our side when the SHTF, those people are sadly deluded. The vast majority of cops will eagerly be the camp guards.

[driftdiver]

ok, if its good enough for the kid, its good enough for the cops

[rdcbn]

Yep, you have swallowed the cool-aid and taken a dose of ignorance to boot. I’s obvious you have never handled one of these firearms.

An Ak-47 isn’t capable of doing anything but laying there by itself, it takes a person to hold it and fire it. Only a highly trained person could fire “40 aimed shots in about 30 seconds” and only if the AK was a fully automatic version. Of which there are very few on the streets, most are in safes. Muzzle rise will prevent anyone else from having 40 aimed shots in 30 seconds. Not to mention a 40 round magazine is much more likely to jam.

You have swallowed the hype and are pushing it. Cars kill more people then Ak-47s, as do peoples hands. Should the cops be free to shoot anyone who fails to drop those within 10 seconds?

---

Oh, really ?

You obviously need to get out more, Mr Expert.

In shooting, 30 seconds is an eternity and I can assure that it is very possible for a reasonably competent shooter can get off 30-40 aimed rounds in 30 seconds.

For a pro it's more like 30 superbly aimed shots fired in less than 10 seconds, often much less.

Exibit A - Travis Haley, who is more on the pro side of the aisle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYI72uBFc6M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hXV-Buvs1Y

He can reload fast too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6Ta8t16lrk

Exhibit B Jerry Miculek - He's kind of a pro too. The gun he shoots is a Fn Fal which is much harder to shoot controllably than an AK-47

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5wqSY9GW24

With AK -74

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkLfpgvm2Ng

Exhibit C - Watch the clock on this one, they are not bad at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seMNyBOF_tY

Exhibit D - Girls can do it too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hspDopQbT8o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgIqJYTidkE

Even little girls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZE-EDGw2vo

BTW, the disposition of my firearms ownership is none of your f**king business, Mr Expert.

[Mercat]

Ten seconds doesn’t sound like very long but count it out.

[driftdiver]

Right, so you take one highly trained and experienced person and claim the average kid on the street can do that.

Now go find all those examples of people actually doing it?

No you’d rather push the anti-gun hype and lies.