The Sonoma County, CA sheriff’s deputy who shot a 13-year-old boy seven times for carrying a plastic BB gun is back on duty:
On October 22, Dep. Erick Gelhaus and a trainee responded to reports of a boy armed with an AK-47 walking along Moorland Avenue in southwest Santa Rosa. Gelhaus drove up behind Middle School student Andy Lopez in a patrol car and ordered him to stop.
When Lopez turned around with the “gun” raised, Gelhaus opened fire, killing the boy after shooting him seven times.
The “AK-47″ turned out to be a plastic airsoft toy gun that fires plastic BB pellets.
The encounter took place in the middle of a bright day and the toy gun had a transparent plastic middle, leading critics to contend that Gelhaus should have been able to ascertain that the toy was not a real AK-47 before opening fire.
The fact that Gelhaus was also a department armorer has prompted charges that he should have been able to identify the toy gun as a replica.
Gelhaus is already back on administrative duty and may return to patrol duty once an investigation of the incident has been concluded.
“He will remain on the desk assignment until District Attorney Jill Ravitch reviews an investigative report and makes a finding about whether he committed criminal wrongdoing,” reports the Press Democrat.
Website PoliceOne.com heralded Gelhaus’ return in a Facebook post which announced, “We’re glad to have you back, officer!”
Does the pig have piglets?
This lesson can be taught easily….
We should all contact Aimpoint and tell them we’ve bought our last product from them. There is one reason for this shooting, he wanted to impress a rookie. He’s so much scum.
http://www.ibtimes.com/meet-erick-gelhaus-all-about-sheriffs-deputy-who-shot-killed-andy-lopez-1448844
http://hiphopandpolitics.com/2013/10/30/meet-deputy-erick-gelhaus-shot-13-year-old-andy-lopez/
http://www.heavy.com/news/2013/10/erick-gelhaus-andy-lopez-shooting-cop/
By the SRPD’s own admission, Andy Lopez hadn’t fully turned around to see who might be calling to him before he was struck with bullets. That according to the autopsy, he was struck, among other places, in the right hip and buttock, from behind.
Gelhaus himself says he “couldn’t remember” if he identified himself as law enforcement… or not.
How could he have felt threatened if the boys back was turned?
8 bullets and 10 seconds later this boy laid dead in the streets a handcuffed victim of cold-blooded murder.
This lunatic even had his story and excuse ready:
In a 2006 post on the Firing Line Forum, an online network for firearms enthusiasts, Gelhaus discussed the use of force that might be appropriate when someone brandishes a BB gun.
“It’s going to come down to YOUR ability to articulate to law enforcement and very likely the Court that you were in fear of death or serious bodily injury,” — your ability to explain why — will be quite significant.”
This is occurring EVERYWHERE with the insane militarization of our civilian police. These cops are combat troops ready for insurrection in fallujah. Many, like Gelhaus, are actual combat vets.
Our Constitution prohibits the military within our borders for just such a reason. If we continue policing our civilian population like Taliban insurgents, we should expect to see some begin returning fire and creating a self-fulfilling collapse of civil society.
Get the soldiers out of the police uniforms! Soldiers fight wars and kill. Police help children cross the street, they don’t shoot them.
Witnesses say the cops only shouted once at him, then immediately shot him.
There are articles about him being in the “kill zone” while on duty. And that he had a civil law suit that he won for beating a minor.
He was walking to a friend’s house to return it. In a relatively safe small town. He was walking along a field at 3pm on a sunny day. The neighborhood isn’t bad! He was a nice kid from a nice family – he went to the same school as my son. Maybe if it was a really dangerous or urban neighborhood he might have been more on guard but it’s not that at all.
If he had seen the deputy and heard what he said, he would have dropped the gun. He didn’t get a chance.