A community in California wine country north of San Francisco remains in mourning today after sheriff’s deputies shot to death a 13-year-old boy who was carrying a replica assault rifle they believed was real.
The boy, identified by his father as Andy Lopez, was on his way to a friend’s house in Santa Rosa on Tuesday afternoon carrying the pellet gun designed to resemble an AK-47 automatic weapon. It had been left at his house earlier by another boy.
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that deputies had shot and killed “an unidentified male” carrying a replica of an assault weapon.
Residents of Santa Rosa, a city of about 170,000 people, were shaken by the boy’s death. Many left candles, teddy bears and flowers at the edge of the overgrown field where the boy was shot.
Some questioned whether deputies acted appropriately when they decided to fire on such a young person.
News story here.
Santa Rosa is North Coast, Wine Country. North Bay.
Birthplace and childhood residence of:
Rebecca De Mornay, film and television actress
Guy Fieri, celebrity chef
Charles M. Schulz, cartoonist of Peanuts
Natalie Wood, film actress
Santa Rosa California
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncqkxlrn5e8
Here is the low level ruling class, flying their true colors:
California Sheriff’s Deputy Feared Being Shot by Boy
http://www.officer.com/news/11202806/sonoma-county-calif-deputy-feared-being-shot-by-boy
Comments:
SGT_3091 day ago
This was a good shooting. Tragic? yes. But justified none the less. And anyone making an issue about ten seconds, should count out ten seconds…under duress or in combat 10 seconds in a very long time. I can’t imagine what the officer is going through. I hope his agency doesn’t hang him out there to just to satisfy the public skepticism.
I love the comment “…deputies should have been able to tell the difference between a real gun and a replica weapon.” Please…really? Some of them are so “real” they weigh and cycle just like the actual firearm and will accept accessories intended for the actual firearm…get real. Time to educate the public. Especially people who are buying these “toys” for thier kids. +1
Bill Roscoe4 days ago
Tragic. All the kid had to do was drop the gun. What if it was a real A-K and now we have two dead cops, and perhaps some of the “witnesses” too? Come on parents, get your heads out of the sand! “Parent” instead of watching reality TV!
Pray for the families and the deputy’s. +2
Joe Truesoldier4 days ago
Job well done, One less Trayvon type but from the other side of the Border!! -1
Scooter3 days ago
Hey Joe ‘Truesoldier'(??? LOL), your message is too cryptic for me – what are you trying to communicate?? I assume your reference to Trayvon relates to Trayvon Martin, but I don’t see how his killing is relevant to this situation, and the border reference is beyond me too. Please elucidate.
2 replies
+1
Anonymous3 days ago
Joe can’t respond. It seems like Joe might be a racist republican ignorant redneck. His comment is so out of line & in such bad taste & so irrelevant to this shooting. It’s sad for all involved. 1 reply +1
SGT_3091 day ago
So, because Truesoldier makes a dumb a** racist statement, he must be a Republican? Oh, and a redneck? Well, I know plenty of Democrats who are both racist and rednecks, so don’t be so quick to jump to conclusions…as in prejudge, as in prejudiced, as in ignorant. Remember the adage about remaining silent and being thought a fool or stating your opinion and removing all doubt…both of you need to take that to heart. +1
Dennis Duncan4 days ago
It’s ludicrous to expect any law enforcement officer to intuitively know the difference between a replica weapon and a real one that looks the same. A split-second decision made in the heat of a dynamic situation too often turns to an opportunity for “protest” and demands for justice by people who don’t, or won’t, accept the factual accounts of what happened. We always hear about the community uproar, but never about how the officer involved in an incident like this one is affected by it.
Good job, deputy! You did what you had to do. +1
The Icefish4 days ago
If someone turned that toy gun towards me, I would have done the same. Its an awful situation for everyone. I am sure that the officer feels such pain too. +3
OldRookie764 days ago
Sad situation but I had to stop reading the article when the victims associate said “we need justice”. Nothing about preventing future misunderstandings by changing the kids behaviors, such as listening to the police directions, or not riding around with a real looking gun, or perhaps some increased parental intercession.
FBI Whitewash & Deflection Op – Andy Lopez Murder
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57609456/andy-lopez-fatal-shooting-by-santa-rosa-police-to-be-investigated-by-fbi/
– funniest joke in cop/soldier land? “Am I Being Detained? Am I Free To Go?”
Those punchlines accompany video where men and women are blown up by RPGs, murdered point blank by police, have their skulls split open and fractured into hundreds of pieces for contempt of cop.
There is nothing funnier than that for them. That those not of the ruling class speak in defense of themselves, even when it is their last moment on Earth before being murdered or disfigured for life.
The inside-the-house-plantation-nigger members of the ruling class with badges, costumes, and guns have nothing but contempt for you. They are dark souls not easily made even slightly uneasy.
The cops/soldiers posting supportively here probably ran into issues of their own with child support and exwife restraining orders, being caught embezzling, and so forth. If they are true anarchists because of that, then I welcome them.
Under the diamond rule, anyone can potentially transform from carbon to being diamond given the right conditions ability to respond to pressure by becoming something rare and valuable.
Find a way to post here anonymously and feed us some true inside info, we are not anyone’s judges or juries here. Cops, soldiers, FBI, FEMA, what’s really going on, how bad is it now, how bad is it going to get?
Being my old dogmatic, repetitive self, I’ll state again that the cop just wanted to kill somebody. He was a “veteran deputy” which tells me that he’s been pushing people around for a long time, and never gotten any pushback.
Too many people become cops or join the military because they simply want to kill someone. I doubt that they care who they kill as long as they can skate away from it and do it again when they get the urge.
Fuck you Canadian Broadcasting Cunts. British Empire Pravda Poodles. Geographical Tops of the Amerifag Bottoms – may your commonwealth nafta gangbangs go horribly awry. These are the highest rated comments:
Working_Stiff
I feel bad for the parents here – but in today’s gun-mad culture, especially in the states, people have to change the way that they think about guns, fake or not. If he was told to drop it, he should have dropped it. Now because of that persons negligence, and negligence of the parents, he is dead, parents and family are mourning and the officers lives are changed forever from a personal and professional standpoint. All avoidable.
I Hate Plastic
I feel really bad for the boy and his family, but also for the officers that shot him.
Even if they were probably following protocol after the boy refused to drop the gun, I am certain that these brave men did not sign up to the police force to kill children, but rather to protect them.
I bet they will have a tough time ahead of them, notwithstanding the investigation and public scrutiny. I hope they get the counseling and support they will need from their friends and community.
Vandallay
Fake gun?? A pellet gun is not a fake gun. It’s certainly not an assault rifle…but it’s not a ‘fake’ gun.
Why didn’t the boy drop the gun when he was ‘repeatedly asked’ by deputies?
Either way, an unfortunate tragedy.
TheTruthyMoose
When i was a boy, I like many of my friends owned an “air rifle”, however my parents made it clear to me that if a police officer saw me with it in public there was a good chance they would err on the side of caution and assume it was a real gun. They also made it clear that the most likely outcome in that type of situation would be me getting shot.
In California, no one under the age of 18 is permitted to buy air guns so obviously an adult purchased this “toy” and gave it to this young man. Too bad they didn’t give him any advice on how to use it responsibly. Also in California all air guns must have a bright, hunter orange tip when sold so that police can easily identify them at a distance as an air gun. From the picture it looks like the safety tip was removed.
Bottom line, I’d blame the parents. The boy and the sheriff’s deputies are victims in this case.
W. Muller
Very sad story but if I were a cop and saw someone with an AK-47 who didn’t drop the gun when ordered to I might have reacted the same way.
Ben Nickelworks
This story is sad regardless of how often we imagine the scenario in our minds. I recall, when I was 14 years old, (1977), I stood 6′ 1″, I weighed 140 lbs. One evening, walking to my high school, by myself, practicing out loud, the one line I would have to say on stage, during a school performance. I played the part of a soldier. I was carrying my prop with me. It was a toy rifle.
The police called me over to their cruiser when I walked by. They calmly asked me if I had a real rifle in my arms? I showed them my prop. I explained what it was, the reason why I was carrying it, and my destination. They didn’t step out of their vehicle. They didn’t ask me to drop my weapon and raise my arms in the air. They didn’t draw their weapons. They smiled, wished me luck, and sent me on my way. The times have changed. My condolences to the family. Rest in peace Andy Lopez.
Delphus
“Some questioned whether deputies acted appropriately when they decided to fire on such a young person.”
Right, because young persons are not going out on killing sprees every few months in the States… tragic story all around, but really what do you expect when a country loves guns more than it’s sons 🙁
KenCurtis
“Some questioned whether deputies acted appropriately when they decided to fire on such a young person. I’m sure you can tell he’s a 13-year-old boy,” Abrey Martin told KGO-TV”
Nonsense.
Even if Police could tell he was 13 years old they did exactly the right thing: an assault rifle will kill you whether fired by a 13 or a 30 year old. And this weapon presented exactly as an assault weapon.
Of course it’s sad the boy died. But no one in their right mind would have behaved any differently than Police did.
Sheik Yerbouti
At the risk of sounding insensitive, I will nevertheless state the obvious: If this boy had been carrying a musical instrument instead of a replica high-power killing utensil, this tragedy would more than likely have never occurred.
What’s with people and their sick obsession with instruments of death? Why are these things always to be idolized and fetishized and fantasized about? Mental health issues anyone?
lanieanne
Toy guns are made to look real. An onlooker, just like the police or a bank teller during a robbery assume this weapon is real.
What a tragedy. My condolences to all concerned.
Heroes Murder Andy Lopez March, a 13 Year Old Boy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9qWqE1Rwwg
@ Tor – The kids age is a meaningless issue to me. He wasn’t a 5 year old girl. He was obviously big enough to aim and fire a rifle, which is all that matters.
What bothers me about this one is two things.
One, unless he was drugged, Darwin Award stupid or crazy, the idea that he moved to take aim at the cop is a huge question that hopefully will be answered in due time. On the surface it doesn’t sound right.
Two, is the shooters partner (trainee) never fired a shot. So either (1) he froze in panic, or (2) he did not perceive a threat from the kid.
I can only hope the truth will come out on this one.
My final though is how much I like the Redlands PD practice of mandating their officers wear mini-cams that document all that they do.
Garysco,
I would be willing to take the journey of approaching the crux of this problem. It requires serious effort and patient dedication if you or anyone wants to attempt it.
1) Unjustified militancy. Santa Rosa is 55 mi north of San Fran. it’s not adjacent to Oakland. Urban military tactics are out of place there. With a population of 167,000. It was rated one of the Happiest Cities in the US in 2013.
It’s 60% white 29% hispanic 9% asian/islander 2% black.
The violent crime rate for Santa Rosa (401.7 per 100,000 people) is only slightly than the average rate of the United States’ (386.3 per 100,000 people)
2 Correct me if I’m wrong, but how many AK-47s are there in Santa Rosa? If any, then how many of those aren’t black?
A 13 year old kid with a plastic gun shouldn’t be confusable with a man who capable of violence with a weapon he is intent on using.
On average he is 5 feet, 95 pounds. He has not yet entered puberty and is not yet much different from a girl, except for his clothes.
http://www.everyjoe.com/2013/10/23/crime/andy-lopez-photos-killed-police-toy-gun-ak-47/#2
3 Did officers see the boy? Did someone call and report something? Why, in a typical American city, is it reasonable to overreact and be on a hair trigger for no reason, without finding out what is even going on?
4 Eye witness / expert accounts – Eye witnesses say Andy was walking with his headphones on listening to music. The police were behind him shouting at him to put his gun down.
When he realized he was being called, he turned around while taking off his earphones. The police then opened fire and shot him multiple times.
Cop fired 10 seconds after spotting boy with bb gun
http://www.newser.com/story/176484/cop-fired-10-seconds-after-spotting-boy-with-bb-gun.html
“When Andy turned in their direction, a veteran deputy told investigators he fired eight rounds, fearing for himself and his partner. The 13-year-old was hit seven times,”
California kid shooting
http://rt.com/usa/police-shooting-california-teen-719/
What horse pucky. I’ve love to give those cops what they so richly deserve but would much rather turn back the clock and give that kid his life back. I can’t believe the comment section, on this site and others where it’s been posted. The people who stand up for the cops just need to be put down. What’s the matter with this country? Stupidity.
Morning, Eight –
Yeah… winds me up, too. And yet, the copsuckers continue to bray about the “heroes” … who are “just doing their job.”
How much of a “hero” does it take to confront a 13-year-old holding a plastic toy when you yourself are armed to the teeth, have armed to the teeth back-up, are (probably) wearing body armor and (certainly) the knowledge you’ve got legal sanction to use deadly force with virtually no chance of serious legal repercussions? In effect, a license to kill?
A hero puts his own life at risk for the sake of others. He would give a kid the benefit of the doubt – at risk of his own personal safety. He would try something else before shooting. And he’d only shoot when it was absolutely clear he was in mortal peril and there was no other option.
How many cops fit this description?
This is not simply a PR thing, although it is that too because very negative feedback would stop this type of thing. People vote with their pocketbooks to some extent in every election so this type of thing would certainly affect the money doled out at the cop shop. 20 years ago the public would have been aghast but this radical MSM bs fomented by 9/11 now says we simply don’t ask, don’t question anything anyone with any “legalized” power of any sort does. But even after saying that, how does a “man”(I”ll use the term loosely here)become such a moral deviant to simply murder a kid holding an object that is clearly not a deadly weapon? I have a hard time believing anyone with any firearms knowledge would be that stupid. Even if he thought it really was a firearm, why would you not wait till you knew you were being targeted before taking coercive action? I don’t think it’s a stretch of the imagination to say police are hiring the wrong people and teaching immoral behavior. This story really hit me where it hurts, murdering innocent children, absolutely no excuse, none, nada, zip.
Thing is that the peashooter had a silver barrel and other such parts, nothing like an AK47 where every bit of metal is black.
http://stevengoddard.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/screenhunter_1792-oct-23-22-41.jpg?w=640
The kid was holding it in his left hand. They said he turned and raised it, unknown if that’s even remotely true but it takes decent strength to do that one-handed with a real one. Bunch of murderous thugs.
“Some questioned whether deputies acted appropriately when they decided to fire on such a young person.”
That line kept me from clicking the link to the rest of the story. It was obviously written by someone who is terrified of questioning authority. That alone would indicate that the writer isn’t a journalist, but then, who is these days?
@Ed – Where is the call for drug testing of the cops. That level of paranoia and rage comes from somewhere.
That line is alone is so absurd that I threw my hands up in disbelief. Question? Question what… damn it all?
I keep expecting people – not the people here, of course; I mean the somnolent sheep out there – to notice the fly in the soup.
They are told/taught relentlessly to reverence these “heroes” – and yet, every day we have clear-cut evidence these “heroes” are poltroons of the worst sort. Bad enough to be a coward. But to be a coward with legal sanction to use deadly force without repercussion is an affront that ought to choke a horse.
Yet most people still talk respectfully of “heroes”… instead of spitting in their faces. Literally as well as figuratively.
Ed, your first line from the story is what I was about to repost. “Some”, for god’s sake, “some”? I didn’t read beyond that point. Pathetic, no worse, inhuman, lowlife, scum….and I”m just describing the author, cops don’t rate that high although if I could arrange it, they’d be hanging high. I don’t know Ca. law but most states it’s legal to carry a long gun in public, it is in Tx. and even Wa. and Or.
8, it seems to me, as an outsider who hasn’t been to Cali since ’69, that everything is probably illegal there. ‘Course the cops don’t have to obey any of the laws, just like it is everywhere else.
Ed, never mind. I haven’t been there since ’68 myself. Must have been an old man brain fart. Of course everything but public sex is illegal there. I say public sex cause I occasionally see it happening in front of the armed thugs in those pics in those Brit rags LRC links to sometimes. Damn, I always thought they could find a better source. Or if it’s semi-legit, wait for ZH or somebody else to write it.
8, I have those old man brain farts regularly. The only way to keep from getting old is to die young. I missed my shot at that a long time ago. If I hadda knew I was gonna live this long I woulda took better care of myself. 😉
On LRC and their links, old Lew links to some sites that make me cringe. The Brit tabloids are an example, and he links to Mother Jones etc. They don’t always get it right over there. I’ve seen a few of their blog entrants in raptures over Zinn’s “Peoples’ History of the US”, and Lawrence Vance habitually uses the leftist term “reich-wing”.
I go along with Murray Rothbard on leftists. He found that they were untrustworthy allies, and better kept as enemies. Tea Partiers and fans of the Paul family forget that the republicans were the first leftist party to gain power. Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul will criticize the GOP, but only from inside the big tent. That they are such loyal republicans is why distrust them both.
Lew is blind to some things. I still read the site pretty often, though.
” If I hadda knew I was gonna live this long I woulda took better care of myself. ” I love that line. Once when “King” Petty ran for guv and lost his response was “If I’da knowed I wantndt gonna win I never woulda run”. Hell, he must have been the first to feel that way and hopefully the only person who ever ran for guv with that sort of vocabulary. He’s a friggin genius, a genius I tells ya. I’ll forward what Pat had to say today, hilarious since no matter how much he bashes, he’s as Republican as it gets. Anyone who still claims loyalty to Nixon is fair game for anything but I do like to read his tirades. And no joke, if they’d do what he says, he could bring the Republican party back singlehandedly although it wouldn’t be the party as those who are Republicans would want. Gee, that was a terrible sentence but you get the idea I hope. I keep hoping RP can just put the R behind him but at this point that’s just wishful thinking. You’d think he could see how far out of step he’s always been with it. Abortion is about the only thing Republicans agree with him on and I can’t agree with him on that. There are countless reasons for abortion and a woman shouldn’t be held hostage by a zygote when she has good reasons not to give birth. Pregnancy can be the tipping point for many women who aren’t physically up to it for the long haul and others who aren’t up to it mentally which can be just as bad. I’d be a sorry politician since I don’t think it’s up to a woman to convince ME or anyone else why she doesn’t want to have a child. Men shouldn’t even have a right to open their mouth about it as far as making laws governing it.
Thank you for sharing yet another piece of evidence that only a handful of “us” will comprehend, let alone even know it exists. This is yet another shocking story that I found from only this website, and not from any mainstream new outlets. That said, I don’t think I can bitch too much about what the mainstream news attempts to shove down my throat because I try my best to ignore “them”.
Those cops are freakin’ morons if they thought this toy was real from twenty feet away, did you see them hold up the toy next to the real thing at the press conference?:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/a-fearful-police-mindset-leads-to-a-dead-child/
The final line in the link above, says it all.
This is preaching to the choir here but I just read that article you linked to and if the cops had any sort of dignity they would have questioned the CHILD WITH A TOY GUN BEFORE SHOOTING HIM.
Even if it was a real gun and the kid was shooting at them… it’s a fucking kid! This should’ve been a “bring in the swat team and all the news agencies because society needs to know there is a child shooting at police with an “assault” weapon, SOMETHING IS TERRIBLY WRONG WITH OUR SOCIETY AND THE CITIZENS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS SITUATION!” But no, let’s give a “get out of jail free card” to the sheep faggot who works for the government that gunned down this innocent kid because hey, they work for the government and you’re an idiot for not thinking the government is the end all be all of any and everything.
Jimminy fucking christmas.
Hey Jacob –
Yup.
When I was a kid (not that long ago – 70s and ’80s) kids walking along the road with real rifles (a .22 for plinking, etc.) did not have to worry about summary execution. In high school (’80s) several of my friends had shotgun/rifle racks in their trucks. Parked on school property. Not even a ticket for that – much less a hailstorm of lead.
The only upside is that these incidents reveal cops to be pussies. They can’t deal with anything in a manly way. They are only “tough” so long as they can count on the submission of the people who outnumber them 100,000 to one (or more), only so long as they have the aura of “authority.” But one fine day, this will vanish overnight. God help them, then.
Amen.
Roth, they didn’t want to know whether it was real or not. They wanted to kill someone. Fuckin cops. Who needs ’em?
Read the comments. Our Canuck neighbors to the north should stick hockey sticks up their collectivist asses to replace the spines they lost years ago
I read some of the comments as well and did not read any comment that said maybe the 13-year old had earphones in, and since he wasn’t expecting to be confronted since he was not doing anything wrong, just didn’t realize the cops were even there and that they were yelling at him.
We’ve all watched far too many videos of cops firing 10+ shots before any normal person is even aware they are in the crosshairs.
Officer safety trumps everything, Linda. Even a police dog holds higher status than a 13 year old human.