Police Shoot Dead 15 year old

[adamc11]

Source: Shooting prompts call for police Tasers

The fatal shooting by police of a 15-year-old boy has prompted Victoria's police union to renew its call for all officers to be armed with Taser guns.

Officers shot the boy in the chest on Thursday night, fatally wounding him, as he approached and threatened them with two knives in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote.

Police Association secretary Senior Sergeant Greg Davies said while the full circumstances of the tragedy were not clear yet, a Taser gun may have prevented the fatality.

"Certainly, it seems this may have been a situation where a Taser gun could have been deployed," Snr Sgt Davies told AAP.

"You can almost guarantee if the circumstances were conducive to the use of a Taser, then using a Taser would have meant he wouldn't have had to have been shot. He would have been temporarily disabled and handcuffed."

Police said they fired warning shots and used two hits of capsicum spray to subdue the boy, with no apparent effect.

They were called to the All Nations Park at Northcote shortly after 9.30pm (AEDT) following calls from a number of people reporting a young man behaving irrationally and violently.

Snr Sgt Davies said the police association's members were doing a tough job without the best technology available.

"Our people are being sent out there on behalf of the public to do a pretty difficult job and they're clearly not being provided with the range of technology that they should have," he said.

Read this in the morning. Really don't see how 4 cops couldn't subdue the guy, and why it was necessary for 3 of them to shoot him in the chest. Sort of reminds me of the Hollywood movies where 20 cops shoot someone... so unnecessary. One shot in the leg or foot would have had him on the ground.

[stocky]

yeah, subdue a guy with 2 knives...

[trentvy]

that hole foot thing leg thing is bull**** mate. my dads a cop, and they are trained to shoot the largest target, which is the torso. mate if ur in fear of your life your not gonna take a pot shot at his thigh, with a higher miss rate as a bodyshot.

[minux]

I say well done to the police. One less scumbag crim that won't be on our streets after walking free of any crime.

Feel for the police officers that had to do this, but at the same time, they deserve congratulations, this approach should be used more often. Seriously, warning shots, capsicum spray did nothing, last resort, shoot the scumbag.

[CSP]

I've read two separate news sites with the same story and I get sick of the comments people are making about Police being "trigger happy" or "why did they have to shoot him?"

Police are under paid, under appreciated and over worked. Their job is to protect the community from violence and dangerous maniacs. Someone with two knives, acting aggressively and not overcome from the use of capsicum spray is a serious threat to the community and to the Police involved in the situation.

Shooting someone with a pistol is not as easy as a lot of people think. Training in weapons technique is about "shooting at the centre of the seen mass". Hitting a moving target specifically in the leg or the foot is exceptionally difficult even with a rifle and scope. Doing it with a pistol deliberately is something only the most elite of trained specialists can achieve. In a situation where some (most likely) drug ****ed violent moron has a knife in each hand, shooting them in the leg and having them drop to the ground isn't a solution - in fact it probably only infuriates them more and makes them more determined to cause harm. Would you try wrestling someone to the ground if they were holding two knives? Would you approach them even if they were immobilised on the ground with knives still in hand? No. When life is at risk, shoot to kill is the only strategy that should be employed.

The Police should be commended. They removed the threat without anyone else or themselves getting hurt. We can do without deadbeats like this.

[minux]

that hole foot thing leg thing is bull**** mate. my dads a cop, and they are trained to shoot the largest target, which is the torso. mate if ur in fear of your life your not gonna take a pot shot at his thigh, with a higher miss rate as a bodyshot.

Not sure about police, but it is illegal(against geneva convention) as a soldier to shoot to wound.

[trentvy]

wouldnt know mate, makes sense though.

[VL_5SPEED]

why didnt they just shoot him in the knee caps?

[minux]

why didnt they just shoot him in the knee caps?

Why? So he can keep committing crimes and be a major cost burden on the state? **** that, only costs $1 to kill these morons, keep it going I say.

Would love to see some of you even hit a body mass with vic police revolvers, they are pieces of ****.

[trentvy]

and yet the big blue jelly bean christine nixon had promised new 45 cal semi automatics. thats been on the cars for a good few years

[CSP]

Something else to consider...

The Police cause the suspect injury. Paramedics attend and have to treat the suspect. This means that there is one less Ambulance and two less Paramedics to respond elsewhere in the community which increases avg. response times. It's at this point someone you know and love has a heart attack or is involved in a car accident and they die because the Ambulance that had to be called from further away got there 2 minutes too late. All because some violent moron was injured while being apprehended. It is also likely that Police sustain injuries while making the arrest and therefore also require medical attention and more Police need to be called in... That stretches the Ambulance resources even further and brings other Police in to assist etc etc etc...

Then the tax payer has to foot the bill for medical expenses and ongoing housing at a correctional facility.... I could go on!

Nope, give the Police medals as far as I'm concerned. If this was the reaction to all violent crimes, it would make the country a better place to live.

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

I agree with some of the above comments but there is also the fact of mental health? Some of these kids get bought up in pretty screwed up homes and are just repeating the cycle ect, now while society can do without this problem i do think tazzers would of been a better option!

[VN_Luke]

I think perhaps if the coppers had tazors, this death could have been avoided. - I'm not sure why they haven't introduced them yet?

Granted, I'm just speculating, but to me, this just screams iced-up kid on a mission - and if there was a bloke with two knives charging towards me, despite being talked to, sprayed with pepper spray and given a round of warning shots - I'd likely have done the exact same thing. (unwillingly! - for the sake of self defence only)

I wonder where he was going to go with those two knives and all that rage?

[Farlig]

Why? So he can keep committing crimes and be a major cost burden on the state? **** that, only costs $1 to kill these morons, keep it going I say.

Would love to see some of you even hit a body mass with vic police revolvers, they are pieces of ****.

harsh but so true
when cops screaming at you to throw your weapons on the ground, shoot cspray on him, and fire warning shots dont help? fark what other warnings does the little punk need?
his friends quote saying hes a good kid, but has his problems. lol clearly hahaha

[CSP]

If someone is not subdued by capsicum spray, they are unlikely to be subdued by a tazer.

Bullets and LETHAL force is all that will put an end to some situations.

[commsirac]

Obviously more facts will emerge, but I do have concerns here. The person was obviously menacing and whatever demobilisation materials the police had were inadequate. There must be other ways of stopping someone other than bullets to the chest that can be used. Perhaps if the person pulled a firearm on police or was waving an automatic weapon around in a public place that warrants taking them out, but this wasnt. This person may have been a scumbag and completely worthy of the death penalty, or they may have been some normal teenagere that's tripped out on a spiked drink, who knows.....either way just penalty can be determined when they have been subdued.

[trentvy]

I wonder where he was going to go with those two knives and all that rage?

timezone??

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

If someone is no subdued by capsicum spray, they are unlikely to be subdued by a tazer.

Bullets and LETHAL force is all that will put an end to some situations.

I beg to differ there mate! Sure he might not feel the pain of the cap spray in his eyes but whether he likes it or not a tazer will lock all his muscles up in his body and then cause him to collapse in a heap on the ground!

[CSP]

I beg to differ there mate! Sure he might not feel the pain of the cap spray in his eyes but whether he likes it or not a tazer will lock all his muscles up in his body and then cause him to collapse in a heap on the ground!

Wrong!

YouTube - Not Affected by Taser

[Farlig]

I agree with some of the above comments but there is also the fact of mental health? Some of these kids get bought up in pretty screwed up homes and are just repeating the cycle ect, now while society can do without this problem i do think tazzers would of been a better option!

that also leads to other incidents like cops using the tazor inapprioately since it is non-lethal "aparantly" instead of the old school arrest, they'l just tazor you to make sure.

i'd rather be in america, anyone can get a permit for carrayin consealed weapon. and as a % of total population, they infact have less crime. rob me you die warning shot goes in the air after i've shot you hehehe.

[minux]

For ****s sake, lets say the cops had tasers, they used it, the kid died, what would you say then? Oh ban tasers they are dangerous...

For ****s sake, this world is going to ****, the guy didnt stop after warning shots, kept going after caps, he wasnt going to stop. I do not give a **** if he was a good kid iced up, he was a menace. The result was the best possible outcome. It is a pity they do not just do this to pedo's, murderers etc.

[CSP]

For ****s sake, this world is going to ****, the guy didnt stop after warning shots, kept going after caps, he wasnt going to stop. I do not give a **** if he was a good kid iced up, he was a menace. The result was the best possible outcome. It is a pity they do not just do this to pedo's, murderers etc.

And that right there should be the end of the argument...

[trentvy]

O.C spray only work on a percentage of people. and the tasers will never be brought in. every time a copper shoots someone theres a big uproar for use of taser guns but if you want to give crims an unfair advantage why not just cut the cops breaks

[VT-565]

Read this in the morning. Really don't see how 4 cops couldn't subdue the guy, and why it was necessary for 3 of them to shoot him in the chest. Sort of reminds me of the Hollywood movies where 20 cops shoot someone... so unnecessary. One shot in the leg or foot would have had him on the ground.

A ruptured femoral artery would have had him dead in a minute or two, if his heart rate was as high as I think it was.

I say well done to the police. One less scumbag crim that won't be on our streets after walking free of any crime.

Feel for the police officers that had to do this, but at the same time, they deserve congratulations, this approach should be used more often. Seriously, warning shots, capsicum spray did nothing, last resort, shoot the scumbag.

I'm with Minux, why give them guns? Intimidation factor? obviously wasn't working with this kid. They used them as they are intended.

Speaking of tasers, I saw a clip the other day of a taser used on a ****ed off bull, it was designed for use on rogue animals, it went down like a bag of ****, but as soon as the trigger was released, it was straight back up ramming the yard rails. Is that what a criminal can do? I mean are they incapacitated even with the gun inactive?
I don't think I would like to find out.

[CSP]

and the tasers will never be brought in

AFP carry Tasers.