"... eight times in the back."

A little undocumented follow-up on the latest police killing (I couldn't find the story on the news web site) in this area. Okay... not a follow-up but further explanation. An 18 yr old boy goes to a party and gets drunk. No other drugs found in his body. His alcohol level at the time of autopsy was .18 (driving with a level of .08 will get you arrested).

Friends say he was despondent over some personal things. At home he threatened suicide and had held a pocket knife up to his throat and probably threatened the three other adults at the house. Then the police came....

They're all outside and the police immediately start yelling at him to put the knife down, which he doesn't. The police tell him over and over, yelling, 'We're going to shoot you! We're going to shoot you, do you understand?!!!!'

The boy is telling them to stop yelling, to stop yelling at him. They don't. He turns to go into the house and the police shoot him eight times in the back. EIGHT FRIGGING TIMES....IN THE BACK!!!

Well darn... the police won't be able to say they were afraid for their lives since the boy was walking away from them. However, they are saying they were afraid for the lives of the people in the house.

Who knows what really happened. The information I'm sharing here is from TV news casts, so there is some room for error. Who knows how dangerous the drunk boy was... certainly not those who were not present. But really.... eight times in the back? Two officers shot.

Its just a mess all the way around. The boy is dead. The mother/family only wanted help in keeping their child safe, even if it was from himself. Who knows how the officers involved are reacting to what happened. Are they sorry? Are they questioning their actions? Who knows. Certainly not me.

Its been a long time since the Grand Jury has brought a police officer to trial for killing someone. Will it happen this time? If not, will the family bring a civil suit? Will anyone be held responsible? Or will it be labeled suicide-by-police? Only time will tell. My heart goes out to the mother.

And as a word of warning, think twice, perhaps three times, before calling the police. There's no telling how things will escalate when they are involved.