kill them and also shouting for them to kill him and had also been pepper sprayed twice already

Moral outrage ensues

http://www.3news.co.nz/News/InternationalNews/15-year-old-shot-dead-by-police-in-Melbourne/tabid/417/articleID/84085/cat/61/Default.aspx
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24789926-601,00.html

This is an outrage in my opinion police should be banned

Going by the tone of your post

I would not like to meet Ms. Rowena Redundant Bailey.

Good riddance.

Including Internet speech in news articles is one of the worst. things. ever, tho'.

... great job media. Check out the picture they use:

http://player.video.news.com.au/theaustralian/#eFUeCZbi2oHYYDFNuwClFxq7lSZtYZkV

In contrast, a quote from someone I know who lives a couple blocks from where it happened

Skinheads deserve to be shot.

someone waving knives around at cops even after getting the pepper spray doesn't sound too innocent to me

Why is a 'gentle little bloke' and 'innocent child' walking round waving knives, threatening to kill and ignoring the lighter attempts to take him down?
Sure, I can see the argument that the cops went too far, but this whole innocent and gentle crap doesn't fly with me for a second. Neither does the racially tolerant, non-gang skin-head gang line.

Theres more to this story and the only anger I've gotten so far is the medias completely one-sided "let's bullcrap the public so we can sell more papers" angle to this whole thing. And even then I'm not that angry, it's just typical.

Don't point weapons at cops. Duh. People don't give two ****s about murder these days, so if I was a cop i would be extra paranoid too.

Technicially he wasn't innocent seeing as threatening someone (especially an officer) with a deadly weapon can be charged as high as attempted murder if given the right jury and the wrong lawyer.

They are trying to make this kid look like an angel, when us, within just a little time of research, already know the better part of the story.

The fact remains, the kid would have harmed if not killed someone. Perhaps the cops should have shot his leg or something I don't know. I'm amazed the kid was able to keep on going even after being sprayed with pepper spray. Still, he is nothing to admire.

Of course, some misguided teens will make this kid into a prophet or god or whatever.

Personally, what concerns me, is that more killing is most likely to come. The kids who say they want to avenge his death, now that is an issue.

This kid made mistakes in his life, and payed for them. Why couldn't he just be a normal bloke, with a normal life? Is there some genetic thing that makes us go looking for trouble?

Can of worms.

You know what... you're absolutely right.

COPS should keep killing like this. Hopefully, kids will learn some sense and stop acting like bloody fools....

I think the real problems of society, is that some how, the idea that people can do ANYTHING without consequences has become mainstream idealism.

I see it in my friends, which is the main reason I've stopped going out with them.

Each time we went out, they kept pushing the limit, to the point where they were breaking traffic laws here and there, drinking and driving, smoking pot, and all kinds of things, despite me, telling and urging them to calm down.

I never went along with it, and there were many nights where I just decided to walk home, instead of driving in the same car with a bunch of kids who were high, or drunk.

Heaven knows what they're doing now.

So far, they haven't had a car accident, or been to jail. But I have heard that they were once stopped for drunk driving. Of course, the cops here all have a price, for which they'll let you go.

Police are trained to shoot for center mass because it's the biggest target. Furthermore, when in a position where they must use their gun, they are trained to shoot to kill. The whole shoot the person in a leg and wound them argument is garbage.

Good point. I was going to say this, but then again, I've never had to shoot someone, so I wouldn't know.

I don't think the police wanted to kill the kid, they warned him plenty.

Why not use a taser though? Taser vs. knife seems like no contest.

Because to effectively use a taser, you would be with in the lethal range of a person with a knife.

ok, not a taser, whatever the ranged one is.

They are ranged, but you're still putting your self about ten feet from someone to use it.

Wikipedia says they max out at 35 ft, with 15 ft for civilians. I'd image law enforcement uses ones around 20-25.

In the video the cop talked about tasers, that it's something they have and are currently looking into using but are still not certain about the pros/cons of it.

Depends if they use them.

If you go looking for trouble, it will find you...especially if you're wielding knives at those expected to protect the innocent.

Victorian cops don't carry tasers. There's a bit of a stink about it, as pretty much every other police force in the country carries them.

At least Australia isn't going bat-**** insane over it like what's going on in Greece right now.

The amount of anti-tazer propaganda going around is really dumb. I can see imposing stricter guidelines for their use, but they're sure a hell of a lot better then get shot or beat with a club.

Technically, police aren't employed to "protect the innocent".

they should've just rpg'd his ***.

This will work well, they can round up all the other racist **** as they come to mourn...

I was thinking the same thing!

Yes, for that we have Darkwing Duck.

I thought the old saying was "To protect and serve."...

Saying, yes. However, per the Supreme Court, that is not the case.



15ft-ish is the sweet spot- there are two wires/barbs that are discharged- one goes straight and the other goes down at an 8 degree angle (IIRC). At 35 feet (maximum range for the long-range cartridges- most are 21 or 25 feet, I think), you'll end up with a huge spread and be fortunate to make contact with both wires. At 15ft or so, you can get one in the shoulder and one in the lower back- perfect spacing.

I might be a little rusty- current dept doesn't have Tasers.

Wow, talk about excellent firearm control, if this had happened in the U.S., I'm sure there would have been about 30 rounds between the three officers fired in the general area of the kid.

Seriously though, they can use pepper spray not once, but twice, but "Oh noez! Tehy couldn't uze a tazer cuz like, they'd b 2 close!"

They don't have tasers.

I don't care how terrible and uncool the kid was, there's no reason a kid with a couple of knives needs to be shot and killed. I'm almost certain this could've been handled a different way where people don't die.

That said, these articles are impossible to read. Australians have terrible grammar.

Yeah, since you were there and all...

Look... they pepper sprayed him twice... they fired a warning shot, repeatedly told him to stop.... and he didn't.

He was a danger to the public and to the police, there was no other remedy.

what were they supposed to do, they warned the kid, pepper sprayed him twice, and the kid was still advancing on them with TWO knives.

Not to mention that he got the police to come to him by making a false emergency call.

So what praytell could the police have done to stop him after he failed to respond to warnings and being pepper sprayed twice?