Link here

This...is really a tragedy. It was even on the german news here. I'm speechless...

I was expecting this to be some stupid act on someone with an obvious toy gun, but that thing looks real. There's no reason to be carrying something like that around in public, especially with as much gun violence as we have.

It is very sad that he had to die for that :/

That sure as hell looks like the real thing, what were his parents thinking letting him walk around with that?! And he had a plastic handgun in his waistband jesus this was just a disaster waiting to happen. With as much gun violence as there is in this country you have to be a fucking idiot to let your child run around with replica's of real weapons. As wrong as the officers were for shooting right after ordering him to drop the gun(if that's in fact what happened and he didn't point it at them or anything), the parents and guardians in this situation need to own up and admit fault.

Yeah because preteens never kill anybody. Oh wait it turns out that totally happens occasionally. Not to mention the trouble young kids get into when gangs get their claws into them.

I feel bad for the kid, I really do. But I have zero sympathy with the idiots who allowed him to walk around like that. You're the adult, you are in charge, allowing a child to walk around with an ultra-realistic replica of an assault weapon is just fucking irresponsible especially in the current environment where spree killings and mass shootings go on all the time making it more and more likely someone is going to mistake that "toy" for a real weapon.

It says in the article it was his friends.

You'd think he would have done what the police said once they had their guns pointed at him, Jesus.

He was thirteen, yes. But I also assume that he wasn't hearing-impaired, right? So why didn't he drop that toy when the police told him to do so?

^ This. Also it's sad that it happened, but you just never know. They have to treat every situation as if it is real.

God that's horrible. Who even makes a toy look like that?? So so many people at fault for this. By 13, unless there is a mental handicap involved, children understand what authority figures are and have a sense of self image. The reactions you're describing are more like a 5 year old's.

I disagree. It's not about knowing what an authority figure is, it's about how you're conditioned, daily, to react to authority. Most kids today aren't conditioned to respond instantly and with mindless obedience to orders, especially in unfamiliar situations. And as for self-image, a 13-year-old has always been looked at and treated like a harmless child. It is a new and strange concept, at that age, to think adults might be looking at you and identifying you as a dangerous man with a weapon. It might not occur to you, especially before it actually happens. And by the time it happens, it's too late to ponder it.

Uh no. Average human being in America is going to know that when surrounded by police pointing guns at you, it's a good idea to do as they say. Our own media drives that point home. 13 is too old to be ignorant of how to world works.

The boy should've dropped the gun. Geez. I would have as quick as possible if cops were threatening me. Don't feel that bad since the kid didn't do as he was told.