17-year-old teenager fatally shot by East Pittsburgh police. UPDATES: OFFICER CHARGED WITH HOMICIDE

the muntjac said:
I understand that the kid made a poor choice by running away, and if he was part of or is an accessory to attempted murder, then it definitely makes it harder to sympathize for him. It's not unfathomable for me to understand why the cop would shoot, but at the same time, can't I find it unfortunate that a person was shot down in the back? Or is that unreasonable?
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Unfortunate? Obviously it’s unfortunate. The whole situation is unfortunate. It’s unfortunate for the cop too. You just need to realize the cop did the right thing & it’s the teens fault he was killed. I find it bizarre you aren’t focusing on the fact the guys just shot someone. Instead you focus on the fact the suspect got shot in the back after running from the cop.

If you were the cop, would you have let the guy run away?
 
Why would people protest until some facts come out?
 
The rule of thumb should be not to shoot fleeing suspects in the back. Regardless of crime.
 
Drive by shooting? Firing on the guy is acceptable.
 
They need to train police to aim for the legs when shooting someone in the back running away
 
Cubo de Sangre said:
The rule of thumb should be not to shoot fleeing suspects in the back. Regardless of crime.
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I’m sorry but if Jeffrey Dahmer is running from me and a bullet is the only thing that will stop him, his ass is going down.
 
Cubo de Sangre said:
The rule of thumb should be not to shoot fleeing suspects in the back. Regardless of crime.
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unless they pose an immediate threat if they escape.

this will have a hard time getting prosecuted if that's what you want.

also:

The officer shot three times at one of the fleeing people -– the 17-year-old -- and struck him three times, police said. 100%.
 
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Drenalin said:
10 minutes ago yahoo news had this story as their headline, titled something like cop shoots unharmed black teen in the back. Now it looks they’ve already pulled the story. After the facts came out they probably got worried about a lawsuit.
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phew, glad he was unharmed!
 
Drive by shooting.....if there’s a more ghetto scum crime out there, I don’t know what it is lol.
 
Officer reasonably believed he was an immediate life threatening danger to the community, and was a high risk to commit a violent felony. Likely justified. That's the law.
 
spin_ said:
it wasn't poor wording, it was specifically your point.

have a little integrity. or barring that, do bother to be dishonest about something so easily quotable.

they must follow the law, and use their discretion when the need arises. as we all can. they can still be found negligent. if you have an actual argument against any of that, present it.
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Yes, I understand this. I was more so questioning the law itself. It seems it grants an officer to resort to shooting quicker. I would hope it's not being used as a safeguard for unjustifiable circumstances where somebody running from an officer being deemed in the moment as part of that law's criteria can just get that officer excused. As you mentioned, hopefully they would be found negligent. As for this case, it just feels unfortunate that it ended the way it did, considering how quickly it resulted in the kid being shot. As I've stated earlier, maybe the cop could have given chase first, regardless of this law or not. However, at the same time, I can comprehend why he might be seen as an immediate threat, given the nature of why they were pulled over. I feel I've said a lot of this before. In this thread...which is all easily quotable...
 
Car matches drive by description with gun damage and guns inside... person flees from cops. Sounds like skin color should be irrelevant in this case.. unfortunately skin color will be the reason for protests and possible riots and all other information will be discounted.
 
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Drenalin said:
Unfortunate? Obviously it’s unfortunate. The whole situation is unfortunate. It’s unfortunate for the cop too. You just need to realize the cop did the right thing & it’s the teens fault he was killed. I find it bizarre you aren’t focusing on the fact the guys just shot someone. Instead you focus on the fact the suspect got shot in the back after running from the cop.

If you were the cop, would you have let the guy run away?
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It's obvious you have it in your mind that I'm sitting here foaming at the mouth with anger at the cop. From my post that started the thread, I was trying to see the situation on both sides. I questioned why the cop didn't give chase before firing, but also mentioned the reason they were probably more quick to fire was because they pulled them over believing they just shot somebody. I even state in a later post that if it is these kids that were tied to the drive-by, which I've already stated is more than likely, than it makes it harder to sympathize with them. However, can't I find it unfortunate that a kid lost his life? Wouldn't you have rather seen him go to jail? Was the way it ended ultimately the way it had to end? We don't even know what his culpability is with the drive-by. Granted, innocent people usually don't try to run from the police.

From the onset, I've been trying to wrap my head around this whole situation. Can't I think it's sad that this kid ended up dead, but at the same time try to process why the cop shot him in the back? I feel that's what I've been doing this whole thread. Knowing the circumstances leading up to the teenagers' car being pulled over, the kid fleeing, and him being shot, I completely understand the argument in favor of the cop. But as I've said, can I still not feel the end result is unfortunate?
 
IngaVovchanchyn said:
So in this case it seems key to know whether these are the same teenagers who just shot another person. If they were, I don't see much to get upset about here.
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If it's proven that these kids were in fact that same car that tried to kill somebody earlier, obviously I'm not going to be upset to a level of, "Oh, those goddamn cops!" However, I'm still going to think it's unfortunate that this kid lost his life, when possibly there could have been a different outcome.
 
the muntjac said:
Yes, I understand this. I was more so questioning the law itself. It seems it grants an officer to resort to shooting quicker. I would hope it's not being used as a safeguard for unjustifiable circumstances where somebody running from an officer being deemed in the moment as part of that law's criteria can just get that officer excused. As you mentioned, hopefully they would be found negligent. As for this case, it just feels unfortunate that it ended the way it did, considering how quickly it resulted in the kid being shot. As I've stated earlier, maybe the cop could have given chase first, regardless of this law or not. However, at the same time, I can comprehend why he might be seen as an immediate threat, given the nature of why they were pulled over. I feel I've said a lot of this before. In this thread...which is all easily quotable...
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yes, and none of it is an argument against the law, or what happened here. you tried a strawman argument, and that didn't work.

and this:
the muntjac said:
It seems it grants an officer to resort to shooting quicker.
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is gibberish.

you don't have an argument against the law or how its followed, and you dont have the integrity to admit it.
 
90 minutes into the job. Sadly that's probably not even a record at this point.
 
justbetter said:
They need to train police to aim for the legs when shooting someone in the back running away
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Lol makes me think of the scene in The Sopranos when the dude gets shot in the ass coming out of mcdonalds



In all seriousness though being a cop has gotta be one of the toughest jobs on earth. Under constant critique for imo one of the most stressful jobs as it is. People don't often think of the split second decisions that have to be made, especially considering the circumstances in some cases. I would not want to have to make a split second decision where my life or someone elses was on the line. I couldn't imagine the stress, no amount of training can prepare you for those true life or death type moments.
 
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