Cop shoots knife wielding teen at Nevada High School. Was this level of force necessary?

December 10, 2016

2–3 minutes

This past Thursday in Reno, Nevada, a school resource officer shot a student who was allegedly brandishing a knife at Hug High School. The teen was ordered to drop his weapon but when he failed to comply he was shot. The 14-year-old student is currently in critical condition but is expected to survive.

Many in the community, including the suspect’s family, think that the level of force used was excessive. Through their lawyer the family said…

“There are many questions to be answered as to what happened and what could have been done to avoid the use of lethal force,” the boy’s family said in a statement Thursday.

“We believe options were available to law enforcement that were not pursued,” the family said, adding: “All matters will be fully investigated and all answers necessary sought out.”

While it was not mentioned in this instance yet, in previous similar instances some people have asked why couldn’t the officer have shot the suspect in the leg or shoulder. As I have mentioned before, shooting a suspect like that is nothing more than Hollywood movie magic. Police are trained that if it is necessary to fire on a suspect they are instructed to aim at center mass, specifically meaning the center of the torso.

I’m not saying that the suspect was on his way to committing an attack like that at Mountain View High School, but what if the student had stabbed and killed someone before police acted. Then we’d be asking why police didn’t do enough?

While not every cop is a stalwart of society, many of them have a thankless task, and in today’s climate they must feel like that any move they make to protect the public could be seen as malicious. However what you don’t hear about is all the instances where police have done their jobs without incident in order to protect the public they’re sworn to serve.

UPDATE 12/12/2016: The suspect was said to have been bullied. These claims always seem to surface when an incident like this occurs but rarely ever proves to be true. If that even was the case, when you don’t surrender a weapon at the request of police, they have to make a split second decision to determine if you’re a threat to others. If you are it shouldn’t come as a shock when you’re shot.

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6 responses to “Cop shoots knife wielding teen at Nevada High School. Was this level of force necessary?”

Kimberly

December 12, 2016 at 12:51 pm

I read that the boy suffered a major stroke after surgery. His condition is listed as grave. I have mixed feelings about this one. Yes, cops are trained to kill but also, they are well trained to use non lethal force. It is just a sad situation all around. I am going to assume the boy was horribly bullied which seems to be a right of passage these days that I will never understand. Kids are just absolute assholes these days. (I just felt 80 new grey hairs pop out with that statement). I have a friend whom recently quit her 20 year teaching job because of discouraging lack of discipline in regards to really awful behavior. I also have several cop friends and family members that tell me stories of kids younger and younger with no thought process of ‘fear’ of getting into trouble.

I’m an old chick, FEAR was golden in our home growing up. Excessive beatings, sure. On the other hand, the fear of my parents kept my ass out of a lot of trouble. When friends would want to do something wrong, they all knew my parents and never did I feel peer pressure.

I completely digressed I do feel that the cop should have used non lethal force to get the kid to comply as he hadn’t hurt anyone with the knife at that point.

Reply
1. Trench Reynolds
  
  December 13, 2016 at 5:06 pm
  
  I do feel that the cop should have used non lethal force to get the kid to comply as he hadn’t hurt anyone with the knife at that point.
  
  Except that police are trained to prevent people from getting hurt in the first place. If he had allowed the suspect to hurt someone then we’d have a whole other controversy on our hands.
  
  Reply
  1. Doh Rellish
    
    December 14, 2016 at 12:00 am
    
    (noticed you removed my posts showing where you were wrong) Hey other than the 3 cases of cops raping kids which happend yesterday. Here is one that happened today. Still want to say there isn’t an epidemic happening? http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-sarasota-manatee/deputies-two-men-arrested-charged-with-sexually-abusing-special-needs-adults
    
    Reply
    1. Trench Reynolds
      
      December 15, 2016 at 7:33 pm
      
      You got me, it’s all about you Snowflake. Except when it isn’t.
      
      https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Ftrench.reynolds%2Fposts%2F10154401233633978&width=500
      
      Here it is from my Twitter feed too. https://twitter.com/trenchreynolds/status/808582629503049728
      
      As far as me being wrong, that’s your opinion but you’re comparing apples to oranges. We’re talking about what happened at Hug High. Are you trying to tell me the kid pulled a knife on the cop so he wouldn’t molest him?
      
      Reply
Doh Rellish

December 14, 2016 at 12:06 am

I suspect if a cop was beaten as badly as this chlid was and surrounded by gang members who wanted to watch him die and he had a knife he would have behaved exactly as this child. Your argument justifies killing a police officer if they defend themselves from an attack. For that reason I have to find you completely wrong.

Reply
1. Trench Reynolds
  
  December 15, 2016 at 7:37 pm
  
  You can find me whatever you want but your argument is specious since another cop wouldn’t have instructed the cop surrounded by the gang in your argument to drop the knife.
  
  In reality, kid had a knife, kid was told to drop said knife, kid didn’t drop said knife, kid gets shot.
  
  Reply