Armed Texas eighth-grader shot and killed by police

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By the CNN Wire Staff


http://i.imgur.com/F0sLS.jpg

(CNN) -- A 15-year-old student was shot and killed by police after he brandished a weapon in the hallways of a south Texas middle school, officials said Wednesday.

"The student engaged the officers and was shot," the Brownsville Police Department said in a statement.

An ambulance was called, and it rushed the student to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to Israel Tapia, a spokesman for Cameron County Justice of the Peace Kip V. Johnson Hodge.

No other students or employees were injured.

School officials and students have since been sent to a nearby high school gymnasium while authorities investigate.

[Hal-9000]

If ya take the bull by the horns, yer gonna get...............shot with .50 cal hollow points :dance:

[Godfather]

That just blows for everyone involved... the parents, family, students and faculty, and the officer who had to kill a child :wha:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Police kill Texas student armed with pellet gun
Reporting by Jared Taylor and Jim Forsyth; Editing by Daniel Trotta


McALLEN, Texas (Reuters) - Police fatally shot a 15-year-old student armed with a pellet gun at a middle school in Brownsville, Texas, on Wednesday after he pointed it at officers, police said.

Brownsville police received a call of a student with a handgun at Cummings Middle School about 8 a.m. local time Wednesday, department spokesman J.J. Trevino said.

The boy, eighth-grader Jaime Gonzalez, aimed at officers after they confronted him in a main hallway near the school's administrative offices, police said.

Police ordered Gonzalez to drop the gun, but instead he pointed it at the officers, who shot the boy twice, police said.

"The subject pointed the weapon at officers, which in turn, the officers had to use deadly force," Trevino said.

The gun, a .177-caliber pellet pistol, resembles a Glock semi-automatic handgun, police said.

The student was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, said Cameron County Justice of the Peace Kip Johnson Hodge.

A preliminary investigation indicated Gonzalez assaulted a student before officers arrived and told witnesses he was going to "engage officers with the weapon," a police news release said.

No other students, school staff or police were injured. Students were evacuated to a nearby high school and classes were dismissed for the day.

The school remained locked down for two hours after the incident, and SWAT officers searched the building "room by room," said Drue Brown, public information officer for the Brownsville Independent School District.

The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave, police said. The Texas Rangers will assist city and school police to investigate the fatal shooting.

Brownsville is at the southern tip of Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border, near the mouth of the Rio Grande about 280 miles south of San Antonio.

[KevinD]

Was watching this on the evening news. Apparently, the kid took a air gun pistol to school, Attacked another kid with it (unclear if he shot them or beat them with it) A school administrator saw him with the gun, didn't know it was an air gun, called the cops, and of course they came in hot. The cops tried to get the kid to drop his weapon, he refused, then pointed it at the cops. They then shot him. In defense of all involved, some of these air guns are very realistic. I guess they are gonna have to regulate them like toy guns now (orange colors, etc.)

[Loser]

After seeing the picture of it, the fking thing looked real.


Was watching this on the evening news. Apparently, the kid took a air gun pistol to school, Attacked another kid with it (unclear if he shot them or beat them with it) A school administrator saw him with the gun, didn't know it was an air gun, called the cops, and of course they came in hot. The cops tried to get the kid to drop his weapon, he refused, then pointed it at the cops. They then shot him. In defense of all involved, some of these air guns are very realistic. I guess they are gonna have to regulate them like toy guns now (orange colors, etc.)

There is already a federal law in place for this.

[KevinD]

I thought that law was just for toy guns? I mean, you can go to wally world and buy a pellet pistol that looks real.

[Godfather]

Fuck that sucks. Eight grade is still a kid, but old enough to know what he was doing... Suicide-by-police I guess is what it boils down to?

[Loser]

I thought that law was just for toy guns? I mean, you can go to wally world and buy a pellet pistol that looks real.

Nah, it included pellet/bb guns and airsoft guns.

They're required to be manufactured with an orange tip on the end of the barrel, but most people just paint over it.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Yeah, I don't blame the cops in this one bit. They were called to the scene with a report of an armed student. Student has said gun in his hand and the cops can't tell it wasn't real (as Loser said, it looked like a real gun). He was ordered to drop it, and instead he decides to point it at the cops. Kid made his choice.

[KevinD]

Nah, it included pellet/bb guns and airsoft guns.

They're required to be manufactured with an orange tip on the end of the barrel, but most people just paint over it.

I'm still trying to find that law. I see references to it all over the place, but, no direct quotes in regards to pellet/bb.

I'm not arguing, but am actually interested in how the law is worded. Like I said, you can buy them at retail stores without any special markings all day long, at least here in Texas you can.

Here's an example:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Crosman-Pro-77-Semi-Automatic-.177-BB-Pistol/17173782

Note the lack of any special markings/colors. This isn't "painted over" by the owner.


I found the law:


TITLE 15 > CHAPTER 76 > § 5001
§ 5001. Penalties for entering into commerce of imitation firearms
How Current is This?
(a) Acts prohibited
It shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, enter into commerce, ship, transport, or receive any toy, look-alike, or imitation firearm unless such firearm contains, or has affixed to it, a marking approved by the Secretary of Commerce, as provided in subsection (b) of this section.
(b) Distinctive marking or device; exception; waiver; adjustments and changes
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) or (3), each toy, look-alike, or imitation firearm shall have as an integral part, permanently affixed, a blaze orange plug inserted in the barrel of such toy, look-alike, or imitation firearm. Such plug shall be recessed no more than 6 millimeters from the muzzle end of the barrel of such firearm.
(2) The Secretary of Commerce may provide for an alternate marking or device for any toy, look-alike, or imitation firearm not capable of being marked as provided in paragraph (1) and may waive the requirement of any such marking or device for any toy, look-alike, or imitation firearm that will only be used in the theatrical, movie or television industry.
(3) The Secretary is authorized to make adjustments and changes in the marking system provided for by this section, after consulting with interested persons.
(c) “Look-alike firearm” defined
For purposes of this section, the term “look-alike firearm” means any imitation of any original firearm which was manufactured, designed, and produced since 1898, including and limited to toy guns, water guns, replica nonguns, and air-soft guns firing nonmetallic projectiles. Such term does not include any look-alike, nonfiring, collector replica of an antique firearm developed prior to 1898, or traditional B–B, paint-ball, or pellet-firing air guns that expel a projectile through the force of air pressure.

[Pony]

Wow, this thread here is so different than the identical thread over at TP. There half the members are arguing the cops should have shot the poor kid in the leg or used a tazer.
:rolleyes:

Seriously though, if you point a lethal weapon (fake or not) at anyone you should expect to die. I give the cops credit for at least trying to talk him into dropping it.

[Hal-9000]

Fuck that sucks. Eight grade is still a kid, but old enough to know what he was doing... Suicide-by-police I guess is what it boils down to?

I think that's the key element.He had a realistic looking weapon and knew that if he pointed it at the police, they would react.

I have no sympathy for anyone in this incident.The 15 year created a situation the police had to address for their own safety and the possible safety of innocents nearby.