Parents ask why Texas police killed 8th-grade son carrying pellet gun

[Dave]

Did the police overreact to the situation? Hard to say. This is one of those cases where you almost have to see video of the event to know if the police reacted accordingly. In the heat of the moment, it can understandably be tough to know if the weapon in question is a real hand gun or just a pellet gun. From what I understand, the kid was told at least a few times to drop the gun and refused to do so, so the officers did what they believed to be the right thing. IF that is what happened, I don't think I could find fault with their actions... again though, I'd probably have to see video of the event to be sure.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- The parents of an eighth-grader who was fatally shot by police inside his South Texas school are demanding to know why officers took lethal action, but police said the boy was brandishing - and refused to drop - what appeared to be a handgun and that the officers acted correctly.

The weapon turned out to be a pellet gun that closely resembled the real thing, police said late Wednesday, several hours after 15-year-old Jaime Gonzalez was repeatedly shot in a hallway at Cummings Middle School in Brownsville. No one else was injured.

"Why was so much excess force used on a minor?" the boy's father, Jaime Gonzalez Sr., asked The Associated Press outside the family's home Wednesday night. "Three shots. Why not one that would bring him down?"

His mother, Noralva Gonzalez, showed off a photo on her phone of a beaming Jaime in his drum major uniform standing with his band instructors. Then she flipped through three close-up photos she took of bullet wounds in her son's body, including one in the back of his head.

"What happened was an injustice," she said angrily. "I know that my son wasn't perfect, but he was a great kid."

Interim Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez said the teen was pointing the weapon at officers and "had plenty of opportunities to lower the gun and listen to the officers' orders, and he didn't want to."

The chief said his officers had every right to do what they did to protect themselves and other students even though there weren't many others in the hallway at the time. Police said officers fired three shots.

Shortly before the confrontation, Jaime had walked into a classroom and punched a boy in the nose for no apparent reason, Rodriguez said. Police did not know why he pulled out the weapon, but "we think it looks like this was a way to bring attention to himself," Rodriguez said.

About 20 minutes elapsed between police receiving a call about an armed student and shots being fired, according to police and student accounts. Authorities declined to share what the boy said before he was shot.

The shooting happened during first period at the school in Brownsville, a city at Texas' southern tip just across the Mexican border. Teachers locked classroom doors and turned off lights, and some frightened students dove under their desks. They could hear police charge down the hallway and shout for Gonzalez to drop the weapon, followed by several shots.

Two officers fired three shots, hitting Gonzalez at least twice, police said.

David A. Dusenbury, a retired deputy police chief in Long Beach, Calif., who now consults on police tactics, said the officers were probably justified.

If the boy were raising the gun as if to fire at someone, "then it's unfortunate, but the officer certainly would have the right under the law to use deadly force."

A recording of police radio traffic posted on KGBT-TV's website indicates that officers responding to the school believed the teen had a handgun. An officer is heard describing the teen's clothes and appearance, saying he's "holding a handgun, black in color." The officer also said that from the front door, he could see the boy in the school's main office.

Less than two minutes later, someone yells over the radio "shots fired" and emergency crews are asked to respond. About two minutes later, someone asks where the boy was shot, prompting responses that he was shot in the chest and "from the back of the head."

Administrators said the school would be closed today but students would be able to attend classes at a new elementary school that isn't being used.

Superintendent Carl Montoya remembered Gonzalez as "a very positive young man."

"He did music. He worked well with everybody. Just something unfortunately happened today that caused his behavior to go the way it went. So I don't know," he said Wednesday.

Gonzalez Sr. said he had no idea where his son got the gun or why he brought it to school, adding: "We wouldn't give him a gift like that."

He said he last saw his son around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, when the boy said goodbye before leaving to catch the bus to school. And he said nothing seemed amiss the night before when he, his wife and their son went out for nachos then went home and watched a movie.

Gonzalez Sr. was struggling to reconcile the day's events, saying his son seemed to be doing better in school and was always helpful around the neighborhood mowing neighbors' lawns, washing dogs and carrying his toolbox off to fix other kids' bikes.

Two dozen of his son's friends and classmates gathered in the dark street outside the family's home Wednesday night. Jaime's best friend, 16-year-old Star Rodriguez, said her favorite memory was when Jaime came to her party Dec. 29 and they danced and sang together.

"He was like a brother to me," she said.

Associated Press writers Diana Heidgerd and Danny Robbins in Dallas, and Mike Graczyk in Houston contributed to this story.

[Lisa O'Brien]

If the child was told to lower his gun and he refused, then absolutely the police did the right thing. As far as the boys father wondering why they didn't just bring him down - unless the cop is a sharp shooter that is not a realistic option. They are trained to go for the upper trunk of the body (more mass to hit). It is a terrible loss, and my heart goes out to his family.

[Willy]

I think the kid was looking for trouble knowing the police would be coming and refusing to lower his weapon. There's a lot more to this story than what has been reported so far. I feel bad for the family.

[XLFD]

I am disturbed in this story that the authorities are withholding what the kid said before he was shot down, and that no other school employee's or student's witness accounts of the events leading up to it were presented.   With everyone having camera phones, and cameras being so prevalent in schools nowadays, it would have been nice to have footage so that the police's actions could be reviewed and hopefully, exculpated. 

Try to provide us with updates, Dave.

[Lisa O'Brien]

Maybe they are withholding the information because it is an on going investigation, as far as no one capturing it on video, I'm sure that is because the police cleared the vicinity so that no one else would be hurt - which should have been their first priority. Personally I would question someones common sense if they had taken the time to video a student with a gun, to me that would show complete lack of judgement.

[XLFD]

I could see where they would fail to disclose the last words of the student if it involved what could be considered private and involving other students, or was some accusation about some other uninvestigated matter, but the police should be able to divulge a precise reason why they choose not to divulge it, instead of withholding it without any disclosure of why. 

It is within police officer's best interest for them to have their reactions to such incidences videotaped as a matter of course.  But You-tube is populated by videos showing the police's reluctance to having their methods recorded on camera.  Since there doesn't seem to be any video of this event, it leads many to wonder if the police acted within the law, even if they did.  Some will think the worst, especially when they read about the shot in the back of the head.

[easymoney]

Being proficient with a hand gun is almost impossible. Even those of us who belong to gun clubs and shoot alot, can attest to that.

As for the shot in the back of the head, ever consider that a chest shot would cause him to spin and the head shot would be a second shot fired by another officer?

With so many school shootings happening nowdays, the police can't take chances.

I feel for the family and the police, they ALL have to live with it. I don't agree with all police procedures, but they are in place for a reason. Also. cops are human beings also, not some unfeeling entities.

[XLFD]

I am not insinuating that the police did anything wrong in this incident, nor am I saying that the shot in the back of the head was an indictment to the police. 

What I am insinuating. without reading any other articles on it, is that what they did afterwards that leads me to question their protocol and their procedures.   

"About 20 minutes elapsed between police receiving a call about an armed student and shots being fired, according to police and student accounts. Authorities declined to share what the boy said before he was shot."

Not disclosing why they are withholding information is a red flag to me, the use of deadly force when a long time had elapsed and the area was secure, the lack of police accounts, or any recording (video or audio) not disclosed continue this list. 

There will be an investigation, and some of this stuff may come out, but I think the police would be more helpful in getting the story out if they believed they acted 100% according to protocol.

[Lisa O'Brien]

And really who knows, about the shot in the back of the head for all we know the cop was shooting at his chest and really missed his mark. I'm sure the police are horrified at the events of that day - unless you seriously have a mental problem no one would want to be put in the position of shooting a child. 

[Willy]

Unless the police had him in a crossfire, a situation in which they would not have open fired for fear of hitting each other,  then easymoney would be correct. The police must have been firing from the same position. When the boy was hit, he spun around and was shot in the head as he was going down or he was shot in the head first then spun around and the second bullet pierced his chest. In any case this is a sad story.

[AQUAMAN]

If three shots were fired by two officers, all the bullets entering the suspect, how come no warning shots were fired, as per protocol for police? Why would grown men with special training and knowledge in handgun usage not try to wound such a youth instead of shoot to kill? Esp. if no shots were made by the student to begin with? Cause he didn't have any to start with, and this would easily prove that. I think, and this is based on the evidence Dave gave so far, that police actions were over the top, unnecessary, unwarranted, could have easily been done with more professionalism and safety, and that the parents are going to be future multi-millionaires as a result of a lawsuit to come. This wasn't some troubled kid with absenteeism, attitude, social conduct problems in his past. Maybe he just snapped one day because he was being picked on too often, and officials looked the other way too long, I don't know. For sure, a useless waste of energy and wasted life now.

[Dave]

In this situation, I don't know if a warning shot is safe as I believe they were within a building and couldn't be sure if the building was totally clear or not. And being that the kid apparently wouldn't follow the orders of the officers and place the gun on the ground, they opted that taking the subject out was the alternative. I saw a picture of the gun and it didn't have the typical orange end on it so that the officers would of knew it wasn't real, mainly because pellet guns don't fall under the same law that toy guns do.

As much as I hate to say it, from what we know so far, the kid is as much to blame for what happened as the officers are. All the kid had to do was do what the officers told him... for whatever reason he opted not to and it unfortunately cost him his life.

[AQUAMAN]

Consider this Dave, and others. It's the duty of the officers to avoid the usage of lethal force at all costs, unless this is the last recourse. At least that's what I've always heard and seen. If I was in their place, with a simple kid as suspect here, I would have tried several other methods to mediate the situation as follows: 1) talk the kid down, use psychology, and keep talking till things change, 2) the use of pepper spray if close enough, 3) the use of tear gas, 4) the use of the tazer gun, 5) shoot to wound in the legs as a last recourse. Any or all of these are preferable to outright killing imho, and the police have all these at their disposal for such incidents. Imo, the police used poor judgment and failed miserably to defuse the situation that they are skilled and thoroughly trained to do. Testosterone won, a kid lost.