AnotherAvatar said:
Someone who would do what? Have a mental break down due to unknown pressures and cry out for help with an absurd stunt? Yes, I do think that a cops life, which at no point during this event was on the line, should be put on the line for someone who does something like that. I am SURE that it is in an oath they swear when the get the badge and the gun.
Not a single person's life was in danger here except for the boy who is now dead, the simple fact was he WASN'T going to kill anyone because he couldn't, he didn't come equipped to kill anyone. He was acting out, and it was stupid, and he's a total prick, but he didn't deserve to die, and if those cops were real men they would have put on swat gear and rushed him rather than capping him three times and toe tagging him. Did anyone try and talk the kid down? Was there a negotiator or a psychologist sent in to deal with him?
I can tell you right now, if I were a cop on the scene my first question would be if anyone heard shots, if they hadn't (and trust me when I say the sound a real gun makes is very distinct from a pellet gun, regardless of how it looks) I would suit up myself, as much as possible and I would give rushing him a go and risk my life as it IS THE JOB. That's why cops WERE given so much glory in the old days, and why that's faded in recent years as they've started placing themselves above the people.
I'm not saying cops should let themselves get killed, they should protect themselves with the absurd defense budget they've been given, but I am most certainly saying they shouldn't murder people they aren't even sure are armed.
That's just insane.
...You have obviously not read a single thing in the article or in this threat.
1: "They're lives were in no way on the line". They didn't know that. At all. They saw what appeared to be a live weapon being waved at them and in the surrounding area by a suspect saying he was going to "kill everybody", after ignoring repeated warnings to lower his weapon. They're lives do NOT boil down to 'dying for you'. They are men and women too, they have family, parents, sons and daughters at home. While yes, their duty by putting on that uniform is to protect innocent citizens, they are under no obligations to get themselves killed because "they didn't know it wasn't real". The officers there already have to live with the knowledge they shot and killed a minor, but the idea that they would have had to theoretically wait until one of their own is possibly dead in order to act is ludicrous.
2: "The kid wasn't ANY danger at all, and if the cops were real men, they would have slapped on SWAT gear and rushed him". Lay off the action movies and their theatrics, why don't you? They already didn't know the gun was fake. On top of that, 'rushing' an armed suspect in a crowded building is extremely stupid. If the gun was real, he could have shot fellow officers, the officer rushing him (ballistics armor ISN'T invulnerability), or civilians in one of the class rooms.
They already told the suspect (I refuse to call him a 'kid', at 15 he was damn well old enough to know what he was doing) to drop the weapon multiple times, only leaving him waiving a seemingly real weapon at officers and civilians, talking about how he was going to kill them. He refused those warnings and he paid the price. When you have a situation that unfolds as rapidly as this one seemingly did, you don't have time to bring in negotiators or psychiatrists, who are not even remotely a guaranteed answer to the situation.
Also, if you honestly don't think those cops were 'real men', either go sign yourself up for the force or enlist in the military, see how well you last. It took guts to make the call that they did, so either literally put yourself in their boots or cut them some slack.
3: 'If you were a cop on the scene'. Well guess what, you weren't. They were the ones there, on the other hand, and they followed their training and duty to the letter. 'Rushing' suspects is a tactic only ever seen in Hollywood 'maverick cop' glorification movies, there are real reasons why it isn't used by the actual police force. As to it being 'their job', their job is to protect innocent citizens and bring themselves home to their families, not die trying to ensure the safety of an armed suspect. Also, I'm not sure what country you live in, but their 'defense budget' is pathetic, leading to department cuts, underfunding for basic equipment and staffing, and even patrol route cuts. It's the military that gets the crazy 'defense budget'.
