I've seen a lot of stories lately on the Police in the US. This is by far the worst.

[Magicmad5511]

I happen to know that the rules involving firearms in these kinds of situations.
You can only shoot the person if they are in direct threat toward someones life.
A good example is if a guy has a bomb you can shoot him. As soon as he throws it he is no longer the threat and you should deal with the bomb instead and not shoot the man.
Makes some sense actually.

I believe a kid running then opening a shed door does not fall into "endangering a life" so this cop is unbelievably out of line. Know this news story is out he will get fired for sure.
This is why the British police don't have guns on them at all times.

 

[AlphaEcho]

Another reason why I believe that all cops within a jurisdiction need to be voted into their position by the general public who they claim to protect.

We pay their salaries, and we pay for the tools which they use to murder innocent children. We should at least get a say in who gets to be a cop.

You pay for their salaries? You realize how much they make? You are not paying enough.

 

[phelan511]

Snip

Holy fucking shitballs. This is my hometown, this is my fucking school district that this all happened in. With my personal experience with NISD police was always good, but then again I was in a good school, where fights were not very often and ended quickly. Now, in my personal opinion of this, the cop seemed (and yes thats a very light way of saying it) unstable. I personally think that he shouldn't have been armed, much less been a part of that police force. This man is a disgrace to the men and women that wear the badge honorably.

 

[Locke_Cole]

The officer confronted a couple of boys who were fighting (therefore already displaying aggressive behaviour). Upon ordering them to stop one of them fled. Why'd he run? The officer can't ignore the possibility that he might have had hidden drugs or a weapon on him that he didn't want the officer to find.
Now fast-forward to the backyard and the shed. The boy, who's probably got quite an adrenaline high, is hiding in a shed and could react violently when approached. The flight or flight impulse is very strong and at that point flight was no longer an option. Again, it's possible the boy had a concealed weapon or has found a weapon after the chase.
While approaching the shed, after clearing announcing that it was the was Police, the door was flung open into the officer which in the heat of the moment could have been misinterpreted as an attempt to knock the officer's gun out of his hands and gain control over it. I'm not joking, that kind of thing does happen and is a cop's worst nightmare. In all the excitement I'm not surprised a shot went off, though I firmly believe that it shouldn't have happened. In the end the officer should have had more control over his weapon and the situation. If he was honestly that concerned he could have called for backup when he learned the boy was in the shed. That may sound like a silly overreaction but it could have saved a life...

Fast forward past the part where the cop was told to stay put and not pursue but ignored dispatch and went after the kid instead? Hrm...

 

[Aesthetical Quietus]

Here's some of the story they "left" out.

The officer didn't see him at first, but "approached the storage shed to search further for the suspect announcing several times 'Police, Police.'"
The report also stated that the "(Lopez) lunged through the doorway at (Alvarado), intentionally knocking the shed door into (Alvarado's) face."
The report further details that "fearing for his life, (Alvarado) discharged one round striking (Lopez) in his torso."

http://www.ksat.com/news/25797958/detail.html

Even so, that's ridiculously trigger-happy. Whipping out a gun for a door in the face? Really?

As far as I can tell the gun was already out, he discharged the round after being struck. I dunno tho'. It's a sick story no matter the case.

 

[Schwenkdawg]

school police officer

There. That. That is the problem. When you actually have hired a fucking police officer at your school, you have made a terrible leap of stoner-dom.

In the west coast (or anywhere near the border, really), the idea of gang bangers in schools are real threats. This is not some sappy movie. these kids have access to actual guns (and weapons), and actual drugs. The gangs could also be connected to a Mexican cartel, who has enough firepower to match the US special forces.

When you see an American cop, the guns are not there because "its America being gun loving." It is there because they are necessary to fight such an imposing enemy. Schools have police forces because gangs also permeate schools. Kids are not immune to being gang members, and have no qualms about doing adult crimes. Its an actual problem.

People need to realize this is NOT the UK, and the situation of one area is not the same as another.

Why does a Cop even need a fire-arm to handle a 14 year-old?

Look up.

Whatever the boy did - the cop should not have been holding a firearm in the first place. The boy wasn't armed, there was no reason for this kind of readiness.

Yes, use of force was appropriate, but there's different stages to that. Cops should be better trained in using non-deadly force to subdue perpetrators instead of being schooled that "gun=fun" in the good old, perpetuated by pop culture, Sledge Hammer school of thought.

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

You assume a perpetrator may be armed. A garden shed could easily contain any number of weapons. Not all kids are little bobby riding their bicycle. There are violent kids out there. To assume a kid is harmless is to assume a woman cannot murder a man. this is why a special rule was made to ensure the safety of an officer called the 21 foot rule.

pretty much this. that area's really dangerous with gangs and such, so the officer drawing his weapon was more a necessary precaution than an abuse of force. Although I'll admit that it seems this officer should have been removed from the force a while ago, this incident isn't very far out of line

 

[Dimensional Vortex]

Notice how with any other job, such as a politician or a lawyer, or even a doctor, if you mess up big-time, once in your life it's pretty much over? Well why the hell is it different with police offices? The people we give pistols and dangerous weapons to, many of them have similar back stories to this disgusting man but are allowed to remain on the police force. I remember one story of a police man who rammed someone off the road then shot him in the face because the person's parents called the police saying their son was off his medication. The police officer wasn't even punished.

I want to see some punishment in this case, this police officer should be sent to jail for murder... It's just sickening.

 

[JoJo]

Officers are only meant to use their guns in cases where they believe themselves or others are faced with a clear and present danger to their lives. I fail to see how a 14 year old kid opening a door on a full-grown adult constitutes a danger to the cop's life, so he's guilty of manslaughter at-least, if not murder, if this story is true.

garden sheds can house sharp weapons. If the kid found one, he could easily ambush and murder the cop. If he is stupid enough to run then he is stupid enough to take on an officer.

Note the words "clear and present danger". You can't shoot a civilian, especially not a child, simply because you believe they might possibly be armed, you need to actually know that they definitely have a weapon. Plus the cop was ordered not to follow, so he disobeyed orders from the start.

 

[LuckyClover95]

Whether the shed door hitting him scared him or not, why did he bring out his firearm in the first place? A decent cop can surely stop a fight between 14 years olds by, you know, seperating them. Teachers themselves do it all the time (although if they do it too roughly they can get charged. For splitting up a fight. Eugh.)

 

[Wicky_42]

Here's some of the story they "left" out.

The officer didn't see him at first, but "approached the storage shed to search further for the suspect announcing several times 'Police, Police.'"
The report also stated that the "(Lopez) lunged through the doorway at (Alvarado), intentionally knocking the shed door into (Alvarado's) face."
The report further details that "fearing for his life, (Alvarado) discharged one round striking (Lopez) in his torso."

http://www.ksat.com/news/25797958/detail.html

Dammit every damn time I post a story on here :/
Still he should not have had his weapon drawn, but he's not as Hitler as I make him out to be.

I wouldn't be so fast to redact. Bear in mind, that's just the cop's word - he killed the only person who could have disagreed with him. To me that doesn't put him in any sort of clear. Murdering witnesses is an action of someone with something to hide (even if the only witness is the subject of the investigation...)

 

[default]

Most people on here are reacting with their angry brains instead of their thinking ones.

A garden shed could hold FUCKLOADS of weapons. This is AMERICA for god's sake, he could have had a fucking AR-15 ready. The problem you people have is that you underestimate the capacity of children.


Now, put yourself in that officer's shoes. You're following some redneck little shit who just ran away from you after beating up another kid. He's run into his FUCKING SHED WHERE THERE ARE MANY SHARP OBJECTS AND MAYBE EVEN FIREARMS. You KNOW he has violent tendencies, SO ARE YOU JUST GONNA WALK RIGHT UP THERE UNARMED AND HELPLESS?

He followed the fucking procedure. He announced himself as he approached. He got SMACKED IN THE FACE WITH A DOOR. The kid could have had a 12-gauge and blown out his kneecaps.

He did the only logical thing he could do in that split second that could mean survival or death and fired first.

Are you people really pig-headed enough to white-knight yourself? What would you have done?

If you'd had a shovel blade jammed into your neck, are your last thoughts going to be 'Oh, well at least I didn't kill that child instead!'

What would YOU do in this situation? Think about it.

HOWEVER. Is the cop in the clear? Of course not, it's only his word to go on.

 

[Bobzer77]

Here's some of the story they "left" out.

The officer didn't see him at first, but "approached the storage shed to search further for the suspect announcing several times 'Police, Police.'"
The report also stated that the "(Lopez) lunged through the doorway at (Alvarado), intentionally knocking the shed door into (Alvarado's) face."
The report further details that "fearing for his life, (Alvarado) discharged one round striking (Lopez) in his torso."

http://www.ksat.com/news/25797958/detail.html

that doesnt change the fact that the victim was underage, which removes justification.

Just because he's young doesn't mean he's a good person.

14 year olds can still have guns and knives and can still kill people.

I'm not trying to justify what the cop did I'm just saying.

 

[Smokej]

During my school-exchange year in Tacoma i always wondered about those cop cars who were permanently stationed at the entrance there (although the school itself was really nice, with cool people and alot going since they filmed "10 Things I Hate About You" in that time)...

So those High-School Cops are a pretty common thing i guess, but what are they exactly doing? Keeping out Trespassers, catching people who take a day off school? I mean couldn't you do that thing without guns or even assign the task to a security firm...

Yeah in my country we have alot of f*cked up troublemakers in our basic schools as well but they are mostly only loud and resistant against any form of education... But nothing that would justify an armed police squad hanging around

 

[AngloDoom]

I think I'm actually rather shocked and disgusted with the amount of people who are saying things long the lines of "well, he should have expected this - he ran from the police."

Just how fucked-up does your legal system have to be to make people the ordinary citizens jaded to the fact that a police-officer shot a teenage boy because he played peek-a-boo with a door.

This is not 'Darwinism' this is not 'stupid' on the kid's account: if people are saying he should have expected to be shot when dealing with a police-officer then I have a pretty good idea of why he ran.

 

[Your Fearless Captain]

Here's some of the story they "left" out.

The officer didn't see him at first, but "approached the storage shed to search further for the suspect announcing several times 'Police, Police.'"
The report also stated that the "(Lopez) lunged through the doorway at (Alvarado), intentionally knocking the shed door into (Alvarado's) face."
The report further details that "fearing for his life, (Alvarado) discharged one round striking (Lopez) in his torso."

http://www.ksat.com/news/25797958/detail.html

that doesnt change the fact that the victim was underage, which removes justification.

I don't suppose that any of y'all are criminal justice majors? Because a lot of the time the media does go overboard.

in the US its only justifiable homicide (ie you are within the law to kill the offender) if:
"homicide may be considered justified if it is done to prevent a very serious crime, such as rape, armed robbery, manslaughter or murder. The assailant's intent to commit a serious crime must be clear at the time."
therefore this is unjustifiable homicide, which is murder.

also, why does a school police officer have a gun?

In the U.S., everyone has a gun. Guns are more common in the U.S. so if some whack job starts shooting in the school the school officer can fire back.

 

[Shadowkire]

From the OP's second link:

Gonzalez said Monday that Lopez had been expelled from Pease Middle School and then from from a Northside alternative school and was attending the Bexar County Juvenile Justice Academy.

So this wasn't your average high school. It was a "one step away from juvenile hall(kid's jail)" school. And correct me if I am wrong but the officer encountered this kid beating someone up. Later the officer catches up with the kid at a garden shed and the kid rams the officer with the shed door.

So let us review the situation: a kid in a school of violent kids who was just caught beating someone up rams an officer of the law. Sounds to me like the officer was a bit jumpy but I can understand why he would have felt threatened for a moment.

Oh and for those of you who think they wouldn't have felt threatened by a "child," a 14 year old is usually just a few inches short of his/er maximum height. This kid wasn't scrawny either, you can see a picture of him in the links the OP posted.

 

[Jerre138]

Wow, 10 posts without some moron spouting out "I lost my faith in humanity!". That's probably a record.

OT: That's a shitty cop.
After seeing the post with the explanation, I take back what I said. The cop was pretty much in the right.

So getting hit in the face is a justifiable reason to shoot an unarmed civilian?

Wow.

 

[Death_Korps_Kommissar]

Okay this fucking rediciulous, I've had five or six people now suggest that the cop was right to have his gun drawn, loaded and with no safety because the kid could have been armed. It's a fucking kid! I get he's a Latino so he must be carrying a bajillion knives but he was 14! He just punched a kid and was afraid of the cop who just doesn't seem like the nice/stable type the amount of times he has been suspended and disciplined and whatnot.
I'm of the opinion that the kid ran away so he wouldn't get in trouble or was just plain freaked out and hid in the shed. He was arming himself for fucking war with all the axes and AR-15 he could carry, he was hiding. Also, I doubt he attacked the officer with the god damn door, he was more than likely just trying to make a quick get-away.
I can understand having the weapon drawn if he had safety on, but he didn't. The cop was completely retarded, irrational and wholly incompetent and should never have been an officer or have been allowed a lethal weapon.