Is it wrong for cops to do this?

Question

I recently heard from a friend that a kid in our neighborhood had stolen a truck and was trying to break into a commercial building. When the police arrived they shot him in his head. He was only 16 and is now in critical care at the hospital. Is this extremely wrong of the police officers that claim he tried to run them over or is it okay considering he shouldn't have been getting into illegal activities? I was just wondering what the thought was on cases like this.

Answer 1

Police are only allowed to use deadly force if they believe their life or some one else's life is in mortal danger, that includes people trying to run over them.

Answer 2

Put your self in the situation of the police. It is very obvious the police are armed and will use deadly force to protect the Innocent. When this child stole some innocent persons vehicle and intended on using it as a deadly weapon they had to shoot to protect themselves and others. He is lucky they did not shoot him more than once.  

Answer 3

It really depends on what actually happened. If he was coming at them and trying to run them down then despite his age (which they never would have been able to see while he was driving a car) then yes I think its the right thing. All he had to do was stop. Its pretty clear the kid was a moron anyway considering what he was doing at the age of 16. Where are his parents? Honestly its sad, but if you try to run down a cop then don't expect to walk away. If they had just let him go he could have gone on to seriously hurt an innocent person; then whose side would you be on?

Edit: Unfortunatly these days police are told not to shoot in the leg or arm. A lot of times that will just anger someone who is doped up already. Plus if he was driving a car while this happened where exactly should they aim??

Answer 4

I believe that it is wrong in the sense that the kid was so young, but a cop once told me that they may NOT shoot if the kid is under 13...so no it wasnt wrong in their eyes if they claimed he tried to run them over

Answer 5

Mess with the law and things like this Can and DO happen.

You are a  police officer. Your life is being threatened. You have two seconds to make a decision,two---one---???????????????????...

Answer 6

Yes, it's very wrong for cops to do this. Now he is going to be a drain on our society and resources even worse than if they had arrested him and put him in the prison system for his entire life. Since he was threatening the lives of our brave police officers, they should have shot him SEVERAL times so he could no longer be a plague on society and waste our resources that could be used on someone more deserving. Shooting him only one time was definitely a mistake.

Answer 7

They shot at his head?

If I remember correctly, don't they get training to aim for parts that aren't vitally...dangerous?

Personally, I think it's wrong, even if he was trying to break into a commercial building, but I don't know all the facts about it.

EDIT: If he did try to run them over, though, I think they were justified.

Answer 8

Well, if the kid tried to run them over then the police were probably justified in the shooting.  Something like this should be in the news somewhere though.  What city is it in?

Answer 9

It depends on whether or not the suspect tried to run the cops over. If he did try to run the cops over, then he was using deadly force and the cops were justified in using force to try to stop him. If he did not try to run them over, then they were not justified unless he used another form of deadly force against them.

Answer 10

If the kid tried to run them over, then they were justified in what they did.

Answer 11

The police put their lives on the line every day to protect the public and the thanks they get is bleeding heart liberals second guessing their every move.  Split second decisions have to be made and a slow or wrong decision can, and often does, end in death or injury to the police officer.  If you haven't walked a mile in their shoes you have no right to judge.

Answer 12

If he truly did try torun them down, then yes they had every right to shoot.  If not then it would be unjustified and their internal affairs will take care of them.

Answer 13

If the police felt their lives were in danger they had every justification in the world to shoot him.

At the police academies recruits aren't trained to aim for the fleshy part of the hip or to aim for the pinky toe; they're trained to shoot for center of mass and/or to disable thier attacker as quickly and efficiently as possible. (A head shot will certainly disable a bad guy poste haste!)

IMHO, if the kid tried to harm the police officers he got exactly what he deserved.