Quote:California police shoot and kill boy carrying replica of assault rifle

Santa Rosa officer opened fire on Andy Lopez Cruz, 13, as he walked down street carrying pellet gun, authorities say

• Reuters in Santa Rosa
  
• theguardian.com, Thursday 24 October 2013 04.34 BST
  

Andy Lopez was shot dead by a Santa Rosa police officer as he walked down the street carrying a pellet gun modelled on an assault rifle. Photograph: AP/The Press Democrat

A 13-year-old California boy carrying a replica of an assault rifle to a friend's house was shot dead by a sheriff's deputy who believed the gun was real, authorities have said.
The incident took place in Santa Rosa, northern California, on Tuesday, a day after a 12-year-old boy killed a teacher at a Nevada middle school with a gun he then used to take his own life.

The Santa Rosa boy's father said his son, Andy Lopez Cruz, a middle schooler who played the saxophone and liked basketball and boxing, was shot while on his way to a friend's house with a pellet gun that had been left at the family home over the weekend.

"It's not right what they did to my son," said the father, Rodrigo Lopez, as he sat with friends and family on Wednesday outside Santa Rosa City Hall in a quiet protest.
Lieutenant Paul Henry, who is investigating the incident for the Santa Rosa police department, said two Sonoma county sheriff's deputies had been patrolling a street near the boy's home on Tuesday when they saw him walking with what appeared to be an assault weapon in his left hand.

One of the deputies, who did not immediately realise that the person he was seeing from behind was a child, shouted twice: "Put down the gun," according to Henry and a police statement.

"The subject turned toward the deputies, and as he was doing that the barrel of the weapon was rising toward the deputies," Henry said. The deputy then fired rounds, killing the boy.

The incident took place against a backdrop of growing concern about officer-involved shootings in California, where a spate of such incidents in the city of Anaheim, south-east of Los Angeles, prompted protests in 2012. Concern over seven fatal officer-involved shootings in three years in Sonoma County prompted calls in 2000 for a civilian review board but none was established.
The pellet gun that police say Andy Lopez was carrying when police shot him dead. Photograph: AP/Sonoma county sheriff's officeDisplaying a real AK-47 next to the plastic one recovered from the scene, Henry pointed out the similarities in their appearances. The pellet gun was shorter and lacked a bright orange piece meant to mark it as a toy.
Pellet guns, which use compressed air or other gases to fire pellets or spherical balls, are sometimes manufactured to resemble assault weapons. Police also found a plastic handgun tucked into the boy's pants.
"It's a tragic event," Henry said. "It's tragic for the family, the community and the deputies."

Andy Lopez's family said he had been sent home from school early on Tuesday after staying out of the grounds too long on a break. In the afternoon he took the pellet gun, which had been left by another child, and made plans to see a friend, Luis Diaz. Later, when he did not return home, the Lopez family called the friend's home and found out he had never arrived.
Rodrigo Lopez said he then stepped outside, saw the police cars and commotion and eventually realizing that the body on the ground was his son.

The officers involved in the shooting had been placed on administrative leave as standard procedure, officials said, and the incident was being investigated by the Santa Rosa police department and other law enforcement agencies.

Paul Rigby Wrote:Cop who doused students with pepper spray gets $38,000 in compensation for emotional suffering

DAVIS, CA The cop who mercilessly doused peaceful, seated protesters with pepper spray recently claimed he has psychological injuries from the incident and demanded workman's compensation. And California is granting it to him. The University of California, Davis a tax funded college will pay the fired assailant $38,056 to ease his emotional suffering.

http://www.policestateusa.com/2013/john-pike-gets-compensation-for-emotional-suffering/

America: post-satire?

Paul Rigby Wrote:Cop who doused students with pepper spray gets $38,000 in compensation for emotional suffering

DAVIS, CA The cop who mercilessly doused peaceful, seated protesters with pepper spray recently claimed he has psychological injuries from the incident and demanded workman's compensation. And California is granting it to him. The University of California, Davis a tax funded college will pay the fired assailant $38,056 to ease his emotional suffering.

http://www.policestateusa.com/2013/john-pike-gets-compensation-for-emotional-suffering/

America: post-satire?

Quote:For many of us our pets are family members. We love them and care for them their whole lives, watching them grow, learn, play and age. When they die it can be hard, devastating even.

But imagine if your pet's life was cut short--not by an accident or disease but by someone you're supposed to trust: a cop. Worse yet, imagine having your pet gunned down right in front of you for what turned out to be a mistake or an overreaction or the callous nature of an unapologetic stranger.

Police officers unnecessarily shooting dogs has become a silent epidemic. It's called "puppycide," and every 98 minutes there's another victim:

Lily, a border collie, was killed in her own backyard. The officer shot the dog despite pleas from her owner that Lily wasn't dangerous. The officer was at the wrong address.

Cisco, an Australian cattle dog, was killed in his driveway after an officer was sent to investigate a domestic dispute. He was also at the wrong address.

Less than two weeks ago Patches, a 12-pound jack russell terrier, was killed by a 300-lb. officer who claimed the dog came toward him "in an aggressive manner."

These are innocent dogs whose only transgression was barking at an unfamiliar face. These are unsuspecting owners who suffer horrifying losses. These are law enforcement officers who choose lethal force as their first course of action.

There are thousands of instances of puppycide across America. Every state. Every income level. Every demographic. This is a national tragedy without a voice. Puppycide must end NOW. And with your help, we can stop it.

Police tools and tactics--from dashboard cameras to Miranda rights--are frequently influenced by the demands of the public. But for the public to desire change they must first be made aware. And that is what a documentary can do.

That's why we're making Puppycide, a feature length documentary that takes a journey with victims of puppycide, the dogs and their owners. From the moment they meet and seal their emotional bonds to the excruciating trauma of loss, we follow the dog owners' battles for justice with police culture and the legal system, both of which treat puppycides as acceptable collateral damage.

Quote:MOUNTAIN CITY, Tenn., Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Officials in a Tennessee city said a police officer was fired for shooting his gun and using pepper spray in an attempt to get a squirrel out of a dollar store.
Mountain City Police Officer Jody Putnam went to a Dollar General in Johnson County on a report of a squirrel running loose in the store and police department records state the officer fired off his gun in an apparent attempt to kill or scare the animal, WJHL-TV, Johnson City, Tenn., reported Friday.

"Shooting back there, of course that should not have been, that should not have happened," property owner Carl Duffield said.

Duffield said Putnam's gunfire did not get rid of the squirrel, so the officer then used pepper spray while customers were still inside the store.

"There was a lot of people that come out and just like me they came out and they were coughing and a hacking it was comical," Duffield said, "but I'm sure they didn't feel that way, the customers that came out."

Police records said Putnam refused to fill out a report, which is required when an officer fires a service weapon.

"Through a violation of the police department policy Officer Jody Putnam's employment, as a Mountain City Police Officer, was terminated by the Board of Mayor and Alderman," Mountain City Mayor Lawrence Keeble said.

Putnam had been with the police department for five years and had previously served with the Johnson County Sheriff's Department for 14 years.