A teenager in Brooklyn died in a hail of 20 bullets fired by police officers who thought he was holding a gun, authorities said Tuesday.
A 911 operator heard the teen yelling that he had a gun, police said. "The circumstances of how it occurred at this point is under investigation and you can rest assured that we will take this very seriously," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Officers received the 911 call from the teen's mother around 7 p.m. Monday, police spokesman Paul 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 on grounds of 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. Investigators later discovered the object the teen was holding was a hairbrush.
The moral once again is: Don't say you have a gun and brandish a dark object at armed police-officers. It was a righteous kill. Case closed.
A 911 operator heard the teen yelling that he had a gun, police said. "The circumstances of how it occurred at this point is under investigation and you can rest assured that we will take this very seriously," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Officers received the 911 call from the teen's mother around 7 p.m. Monday, police spokesman Paul 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 on grounds of 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. Investigators later discovered the object the teen was holding was a hairbrush.
The moral once again is: Don't say you have a gun and brandish a dark object at armed police-officers. It was a righteous kill. Case closed.
There is a similar moral in the UK:
ReplyDeleteDon't walk through the tube if you look vaguely foreign, or you'll be pinned down and shot in the head seven time with hollow-tipped bullets
WAR IS PEACE
ReplyDeleteFREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
Ah, good ol' Oceania.
Not a fun life on Airstrip One
ReplyDeleteKEEP CALM AND CARRY ON
ReplyDeleteHair today, gone tomorrow !!!
ReplyDeletelol good one! if they carried tasers in america instead of guns they might not have killed the kid. but we can only assume they did the right thing with the options they had at the time.
ReplyDelete