I think the bigger issue here again is the mass proliferation of hand guns in the us . Had it been in Ireland and a pellet gun been pulled , the kid would not have been shot. It would have been assumed it was a toy gun. There is no room to assume such in the USA and therefore we end up with a situation where leathal force almost becomes acceptable. it should never be acceptable to shoot a 15 year old and therefore tighter gun controls and a wholesale attitude to guns is required. Can’t se it happening anytime soon tho, so expect more sad situations like this one instead.

But had in been in Ireland and the kid had of had a real gun, there could now be one or more dead guards, and the debate about the gardai carrying guns would be opened up again. I’ve been to countries where the police carry guns walking down the street and quiet frankly, would rather move to an uninhabited island than live in that sort of enviroment. The kid should have had more common sense.

Plus the cops responsible now have to live with the trauma of having to shoot our witness the shooting of a 15 year old boy. He didn’t drop the weapon….what did everyone expect? The line has to be drawn. They would be asking very different questions if it was a real gun and he had shot his classmates.

I doubt all three shots where fired from the one officer’s gun. It is very tragic, but had it been a real gun and there had been a massacre it would have been more of a tragedy.

Because it’s not possible to be as accurate as that. You’re talking about a possibly moving target, maybe the length of a corridor away. Arms and legs are too small a target to be pretty sure of hitting. The best they can do in the circumstances is aim for the torso and hope its not fatal.

Because people in real life cant aim as accurately as in the movies, its not possible, an shot at the arm could easily miss in which case he could have shot back. An arm should is also not debilitating.

Cos it’s not like the movies, if you aim a gun at police, especially in America, you get shot. Pretty sure that counts for most armed police forces

Why 3 shots, and not one? Cos it’s Texas. Yeeeeehaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!

There are countries that have gun ownership just as high. It is the attitude that is wrong. Look at the Swiss, most of the men there are in the reserve defense forces, the country is awash with military guns and yet they never have incidents like this. Guns are only the tool, America is a fucked up society.

Interesting point Tim.

Police are trained to shoot “central mass areas” (the body). A pistol is a fairly inaccurate weapon past 25 metres, except in Hollywood. Aside from all of that Canada has a similar or higher rate of gun ownership/person without the gun murder rate. Yankland is the world’s biggest, and worst ratrace, no wonder people go nuts. Glad thats off me chest

What happened to the non lethal bag of pellets from a shotgun?

Doesn’t get used when you’re in Texas holding a gun. That’s a bit glib, I know, but it’s a known factor. No different than me threatening somebody with a punch and then crying no fair when they hit me first. I accept comments made below that the gung-ho attitude of some American police forces is over the top. That said if the gun in question was a real loaded rifle, using a bean-bag would look unnecessarily foolhardy with people’s safety

True the US and Canada have the same percentage of fire arm ownership. I would argue the main difference in cases leading to gun crime is poverty though. Far less people living in poverty in Canada, far more people struggling to put bread on the table in the US, and with relatively easy access to weaponry thats only asking for disaster.

What are you talking about ?

Sorry i have been trained to use a handgun in the military accurate up to 25 metres ok in practise environment but out in the field under stress you go for the largest target which is the torso thats just the way it is.The kid done a stupid thing should dropped the gun when told.Armed police do not fool around.

@EM – Nooone is saying the kid deserved to be shot. Simple fact is the police were put in a position where they were fearful of their own lives. The didnt have the full lot of information available to them at the time i.e. they didnt know it what a bb gun. Of course he doesnt deserve to be dead, but he should certainly have known better.

People are bothered by it, EM, but they also realise that he left the police with no other option. It’s a terrible situation, but when someone aims what looks like a firearm at police, they have no option but to shoot immediately. Nobody has any right to ask them to put their own lives or those of the public at risk by delaying, or trying to shoot the suspects limbs first, where there is a high chance of either missing or failing to debilitate him, giving him the chance to kill. This has been examined and teased out by ballistics and tactical experts the world over and they’ve all come to the same conclusion: the lesser of two evils is to shoot for the torso and just hope it’s not fatal.

You don’t fire ‘warning shots’ at someone with a gun it encourages the subject to shoot back! As has already been said a 15yr old pointing a gun is the same as a 25 or 30yr old pointing a gun, the tragedy is that he had a gun in the first place and could bring it into a school, if you aim something resembling a firearm at an armed police officer or soldier the consequences are pretty clear universally I would think…

Remember the Red Lake massacre? 16 year old killed 8 people. How about Fullerton? Iowa, Virginia Tech, Columbine.

The police have all those incidents in their minds when they are called to these. They were preventing this kid from shooting other children.

The important thing is that the 15 year old idiot brought a gun to school. It was an air gun but these things are indistinguishable from the real thing. In America, this is only going to get you shot dead. A 15 year old with a gun is just as capable of shooting several people dead as a 25 year old. Not taking sides, just being realistic. America is a bloodthirsty country.

wow linda!!!you must live in the perfect world with butterflies. a world where 15 year olds play with action men figures.the reality is that 15 year olds these days are committing gangland murders on the streets of dublin never mind texas.

An ethnic in Texas… I guess that means American then. So what you’re saying is that life is cheap in Texas if you’re American? Sounds fun

My brother is a cop in LA if someone points a gun at him he is duty bound to require them to drop the weapon if they refuse he is duty bound to protect his own life and the life of others.The only way to do this is to shoot the offender.The torso is where they are trained to aim as it is the biggest target.Wounding is hopefully the outcome but if you point a gun at the Police and refuse to drop it never going to be a good outcome.To the kid RIP but you were stupid.

You don’t shoot a beanbag at someone armed with what can reasonably be considered a genuine gun!! That’s just stupid, so the bean bag knocks him to the ground, and he still has a gun and can still shoot at the officers or civilians…same goes for the tazer- Less lethal devices are for a specific scenario, as are lethal ones

I agree that lethal force is far too prevalent in the states. Less than lethal alternatives should be utilised wherever necessary. However, firing a gun at someone is use of lethal force. No police or army in the world train people how to maim with a firearm. You aim for the centre of the body because that’s the biggest part. It also happens to have all the major organs inside.

It is a tragedy here that a 15 year old has died, and the police that were forced to fire that fatal shot will also have to live with that decision. My sympathy to all involved. Unfortunately there are no winners here.