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February 08, 2005
Joyrider Shot
I heard about this on NPR while driving to school this morning.
Patrol officers tried to stop the 1992 Toyota Camry about 3:50 a.m. Sunday when they saw the car moving erratically near Century Boulevard and Grand Avenue and believed the driver was drunk, said LAPD Officer Kristi Sandoval of the Media Relations Office.
"The suspect collided with a fence, the officers were behind him, attempted to make a traffic stop, and at that point an officer involved shooting occurred," LAPD Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell said.
Police said the driver ignored orders to surrender and backed the car into a police cruiser.
The driver was 13 years old. His community is in an uproar over the shooting. In the NPR interviews, the general consensus was that the police shouldn't have shot him, he wasn't doing anything wrong.
Excuse me?
Assuming the reports of his actions are accurate, he stole a car, ran from the cops, and then assaulted them with a deadly weapon (the car).
What were the police supposed to do? Stand there & let him run over them? Sheesh.
If they would start shooting more of the bad boys who start car chases to get their 15 minutes of fame instead of taping them & broadcasting them on national tv, you'd see a whole lot less of that dangerous nonsense. And I don't care if they're 13 or 30.
Change the mentality of "I'm gonna be on tv" into "I better stop or they gonna shoot my ass" would make the streets a little bit safer for everyone.
Posted by Rita at February 8, 2005 10:27 AM
Comments
I heard the same story this morning. I heard his friends and family stating that he was only 13, that he was a good kid, that this is why they don't trust the cops, etc. I was floored. He (a) stole a car, (b) ran from the police, (c) collided with a non-moving object, and (d) backed into their cruiser. Maybe I have a non-complicated world-view, but I think that shooting was justfied. Maybe shooting the car 10 times was a little much, but firing at the seemingly belligerent and violent subject seems fully justifiable to me. The people on the radio kept commenting that they "shot him and was wasn't armed." Excuse me? What about the 1+ ton vehicle that he used to back into the cruiser? Does that count? I also don't care that he was "only 13." If he had killed the officers, his age wouldn't have made them less dead.
OK, I'm done ranting. ;)
Posted by: Bob at February 8, 2005 11:14 AM
Feel better? ;)
You can bet your ass if someone tried to back over me and I had my gun, I'd definitely empty it....or shoot until they stopped, whichever came first. I don't expect police or anyone else to behave differently.
There is the question of whether this incident actually happened as reported. Given the state of MSM these days, that's not a given.
Posted by: rita at February 8, 2005 11:49 AM
"I'd definitely empty it"
But, the police don't have that luxury. They are, as you are aware of, allowed to use only the force necessary. I've brought down deer with fewer rounds.
I'm not saying the kid didn't deserve it .. heck, he got what he asked for ... but, if I were part of that community, I'd be upset over one officer firing 10 rounds ...
Posted by: Tony Rosen at February 8, 2005 03:15 PM
On the other hand, the deer wasn't charging at you in a car. It doesn't say how many shots actually hit the driver, just that the officer shot 10 times in the car. I'd be real surprised if all 10 hit the driver.
I agree, the officer should've stopped shooting when the car stopped or it was obvious the driver was disabled. It's not clear from the article whether it took all 10 shots to do that or not.
Posted by: rita at February 8, 2005 03:42 PM
"This happens far too often and far too easily in our neighborhood," resident Gene Conner said.
You might want to evaluate the neighbors a bit more carefully there, Gene. It ain't always the cops' fault.
Posted by: Keith at February 8, 2005 05:40 PM
Another report in this last weekend....a 4yr old was caught doing the same thing. FOUR...
Can you imagine Wild Child doing this?
Posted by: Da Goddess at February 9, 2005 02:47 AM
Well yes, I can. He loves cars and knows the basics of how to start & drive one. Which is why we keep the keys out of his reach.
I blame video games.
Posted by: rita at February 9, 2005 08:32 AM