<p>"When a 16 year old is shot and killed anywhere, I would like to think that people would have supported a non-deadly alternative whenever possible. "</p>
<p>If the kid first attacked the resource officer with a knife, there wouldn’t have been time to have a non-deadly alternative. </p>
<p>I’m a peaceful person and I believe in nonviolence, but if attacked, I also believe that a person has the right to defend themselves, and I understand that under such circumstances, it’s wise to quickly react, not to try to figure out how to defend oneself while being as gentle as possible to one’s attacker.</p>
<p>Its unfortunate that deadly force was used- I would hope in a school setting, a police officer would be physically capable of restraining children, even almost grown children without shooting them five times at close range.</p>
<p>" would hope in a school setting, a police officer would be physically capable of restraining children, even almost grown children without shooting them five times at close range."</p>
<p>I understand the hope, but the reality is that there are 5th graders that are bigger and stronger than are many adults. That’s because there may be, for example, 5th graders who are 14 and 175 pounds. When it comes to high school and middle schoolers, some are 6’3, 275 pounds and over. Even if they don’t have weapons, it still could be difficult to impossible to restrain them.i</p>
<p>Well, Northstarmom, it certainly isn’t a “fair fight” between a kid with a knife and an experienced police officer firing FIVE shots at him at close range. Five shots…horrible.</p>
<p>And were you the one who posted that the officer left the door open and the kid closed it? That is not reported in any of the articles I’ve read. They just say that the two entered the room, and the door was closed.</p>
<p>Agree with emeraldkity that resource officers should be trained with the idea in mind that they are dealing with students who are entrusted to the care of the school. This was an autistic kid who was probably killed for behavior related to his handicapping condition. That should not happen.</p>
<p>Five shots…horrible. Stabbing a police officer multiple times with a large knife…horrible. </p>
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<p>Look back in the thread. I posted an article earlier that stated that the officer kept the door open and the student suddenly shut it and started stabbing the officer.</p>
<p>I’d be interested to know how true that is… most of the departments around here have one officer cars. Of course in our county, I think there’s only like 5 or 6 officers on duty at a given time…</p>
<p>As for this incident, I haven’t seen anything to think that this officer did anything beyond what he needed to do to stop the situation…</p>
<p>The extent of the officer’s injuries has not been documented, but he was treated and released and was obviously able to get off five shots with his gun. He must not have been all that incapacitated.</p>
<p>Great. Maybe they’ll start training police officers not to fire until they see the pearly gates from now on. Adopt a “if he didn’t shoot you in the head/heart, he doesn’t deserve to be shot” policy?</p>
<p>Many different sources on the web state that the officer was stabbed multiple times. The student died of a shot to the chest. Perhaps the officer did try 4 shots to incapacitate the stabber to no avail and then was put in a position where he had to shoot to kill.</p>
<p>Your comment that the officer “must not have been too incapacitated” is ridiculous. At the time of the incident, don’t you think that the officer was a little too busy to assess the extent of his injuries? Someone was plunging a large knife in him over and over again—was he supposed to stand there until the attacker plunged it into his heart, an artery, or another major organ?</p>
<p>I’ve seen many of them use the saying “to be judged by 12 than carried by six.” Unfortunately for this officer, he had to deal with an incident that will be with him the rest of his life. He had to make a choice that day that I’m sure he feels bad about, but sometimes they aren’t given a choice.</p>
<p>“And compared to a dead cop and a permanently incarcerated autistic boy, I’d say that things turned out quite well.”</p>
<p>I totally agree. I agree with Cuse0507, nysmile and quite a few others. I don’t think that purpleflurp has the right logic here.</p>
<p>Obviously, this kid is a danger to people surroundings him (including his fellow students). While his death is a tragedy, what he did is certainly no comfort to other students and teachers in school. His underlying condition could be a culprit but did not make him less dangerous to other students. purpleflurp, think about your kid sitting next to him in the class, and this 16 year old suddenly gets angry and pulls out a big knife, starting to stab your kid…</p>
<p>“Police officers who are patroling almost always have another officer with them to help control the situation- I am wondering what protocol was at this school- especially since children are walking the halls, schools are usually pretty packed, not the sort of place you want to start firing a weapon. Are police officers not trained in how to disarm people anymore?”</p>
<p>Officers are not trained to try to disarm someone who’s trying to kill them, and that makes lots of sense to me.</p>
<p>Would you rather have had the teen escape and then begin butchering students, faculty and staff at the school? The officer was assigned to the school to help keep people safe, and sad as the outcome of the incident was for the autistic teen and his loved ones, at least more people weren’t killed.</p>
<p>" If I were part of a school district that employed this officer, I’d be frightened. You can’t even suspend a child if the behavior exhibited is part of his handicapping condition. And the aggressive behavior he exhibited may well have been expected with his autism diagnosis."</p>
<p>If a student is violent due to a disability, the school district is still required to provide the student with an education, but that education can be via a tutor at home or a special school. The student doesn’t have to attend the regular public schools.</p>
<p>What I am wondering about is if the school had a metal detector, since they felt there was sufficient risk of violence to hire a police officer to be in the building. Usually the metal detector is something they try first.</p>
<p>I think that my logic is entirely intact. I think it’s logical to question the death of any child at the hands of a police officer in what is supposed to be a safe place for students. That the student in question was autisitic makes a thorough investigation even more crucial. Why is it illogical to ask for an investigation into the death of a student? I do not take the word of either the resource officer or the school administration as gospel. That is not illogical. If an impartial investigation reveals that the officer acted properly, then I’ll consider it an unintended tragedy. It is not unreasonable to want proof that deadly force was the last alternative. </p>
<p>I do find it a bit frightening that some of the same people who consider what happened to this kid a “good outcome” posted for many, many pages about the grave injustice done to Skip Gates when he threw a public hissy and was arrested for disorderly conduct. Few people felt, like I did, that Crowley had the right and the obligation to try to diffuse the situation in the best way he knew how. </p>
<p>The death of a student is tragic. What happened to Gates wasn’t. What is illogical is the hypocrisy shown by some here.</p>