Deputy kills 13-year-old carrying fake rifle

Link to article: CNN

In northern California, a Santa Rosa County Sheriff mistakingly thought he saw a teen with an assault rifle, presumably told the boy to drop the weapon, in which the boy turned around, and fearing his safety and the safety of others the sheriff shot the boy 3 times killing the boy. The sheriff and his deputy  were given a release from duty for a couple weeks. The thirteen year old kid was carrying a plastic replica of a AK-47 that shoots plastic pellets, not an actual assault rifle.

The police have a legitimate ability to use force on an armed person when they make a potentially threatening move, and when their life and the life of others is a legitimate concern. However under the circumstances, where the sheriff yelled a warning to the kid and the kid could have wondered who was calling his name and turned around to see who it was, the sheriff should be obligated to exercise more judgement. Every circumstance isn't the same. Like with the young teenage boy walking in the streets with an alleged assault rifle. Though I was not a witness of the accident, I am confident that the sheriff could have approached this young teen successfully in several different ways than the way he did. The sheriff also fatally shot the boy three times as he turned around. Did the sheriff have to shoot three fatally wounding bullets into the kid or could he have fired minor injurious shots at the boy? The kid, as witnesses stated, looked hardly like a man, with a face that exhibited no malicious intent. The kid was walking in an active neighborhood with people out with a fake plastic assault rifle. If the sheriff observed his surroundings, thought of his approach better, this innocent kid could still be alive. Residents around the area feel concerned and unsafe around their policemen that are supposed to protect them.

This issue seems like an infringement on our right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"... specifically the life part. Air pellet guns even BB guns are still a growing popularity among youth. I have seen several young kids playing with them in my neighborhood. The likeliness of these children from being perceptive enough not to turn in the direction of police officers when being shouted at is unlikely. It is a natural reaction to do so. Hopefully every policeman's reaction isn't to put three bullets into these kids. The policeman who shot the boy in Santa Rosa however acted in the way he was trained to act. Hopefully, there can be different ways of approaching situations like this one, taught to police officers so that innocent lives aren't lost.