Some folks are going to scream about this being an over this case, and argue that this was an overreaction. IÂ’ll have to disagree. It looks like the cops behaved reasonably here.

Officers received the 911 call from the teen's mother around 7 p.m. Monday, police spokesman Paul Browne said. The 911 operator could hear the teen yelling in the background, claiming he had a gun, Browne said.

When officers arrived at the Brooklyn apartment building, they could see the 18-year-old, Khiel Coppin, pacing inside the first-floor apartment. His mother was outside.

The teen's mother had attempted to have him hospitalized earlier in the day, Browne said. He said the teen had a history of mental illness.

The teen began screaming from a window at his mother and officers before climbing out of the window and heading toward the officers holding a black object in his hand, police said.

The officers ordered him to stop, Browne said. When the teen refused and kept approaching them, they opened fire, he said.

Police said it was not immediately known how many of the 20 bullets struck Coppin, who was pronounced dead at a hospital.

So what have you got?

A young man carrying on, claiming to have a gun and making threats.

Cops trying to safeguard the public, ordering him to drop his weapon and quit advancing on them.

When he refused, they engaged in the reasonable defensive action of firing their guns.

Only later is the object identified as not being harmful.

But for those of you wanting to hang the cops out to dry, let me ask – how many officers needed to be shot (or stabbed) before firing on this threatening individual? How many widows and orphans needed to be made before you would accept that their actions were reasonable? It is really easy to say they were wrong now, in the clear light of day, after it has been discovered that there was no gun. Unfortunately, those officers didn’t have that luxury – all they had was their knowledge of the situation and their training, which it appears they followed appropriately.

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Posted by: Greg at 12:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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