Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
ROCK HILL, S.C. – A police chief said Friday he thinks officers were justified when they shot a 15-year-old girl suspected of robbing a store at gunpoint, comments that left the teen's relatives expressing outrage as they planned her funeral.
"She ain't nothing but a baby," Tia Williams said about her slain cousin. "She ain't even made it to 18 yet."
Teen robbery suspect killed in SC police shooting - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090605/ap_on_re_us/us_teen_suspect_slain - broken link)
That "baby" who ain't reached 18 yet commited armed robbery.
I'm sure she was just playing and wouldn't have used the gun.
Quote:
At the grocery, an employee who was working at the time of the robbery said the teenager had a handgun tucked in the waistband of her denim shorts. He said he did everything to keep Williams calm.
"Don't pull the trigger," Lorenzo Wells, 28, said he told the teen, adding the suspect pulled out the gun and pointed it at the store manager. "She'll give you everything out of the register."
She didn't use the gun.
She demanded money, thanked the store clerk, and left the store.
The police shot her outside in the parking lot.
--
Quote:
Two officers fired on Williams after she pointed a gun at them and refused to drop it, Rock Hill Police Chief John Gregory said. He said he felt the police response was justified.
I'm going to venture a guess that this child was compelled by desperation.
I think that she was in a situation which threatened her life, health, and/or sanity, and from which she felt there no other means of escape.
This may have been an abusive homelife or an abusive relationship. It may come about that she was pregnant.
She was obviously unaware of any resources to draw on for help.
Drug addiction is a possibility, but a drug addiction that would compel the addict to commit such a crime is rare in a female so young (fifteen), and the fact that she had no prior criminal record and that family and acquaintances categorically deny it suggests to me that addiction wasn't the issue.
I think the girl was dealing with a personal problem, probably alone, and felt the desperate need to escape, and knew of no other way.
In any event, there is nothing to be done about it now, except make assistance and services more available (and more known) to young adolescents who might be dealing with devastating personal problems such as abuse or crisis pregnancy.
I'm going to venture a guess that this child was compelled by desperation.
I think that she was in a situation which threatened her life, health, and/or sanity, and from which she felt there no other means of escape.
This may have been an abusive homelife or an abusive relationship. It may come about that she was pregnant.
She was obviously unaware of any resources to draw on for help.
Drug addiction is a possibility, but a drug addiction that would compel the addict to commit such a crime is rare in a female so young (fifteen), and the fact that she had no prior criminal record and that family and acquaintances categorically deny it suggests to me that addiction wasn't the issue.
I think the girl was dealing with a personal problem, probably alone, and felt the desperate need to escape, and knew of no other way.
In any event, there is nothing to be done about it now, except make assistance and services more available (and more known) to young adolescents who might be dealing with devastating personal problems such as abuse or crisis pregnancy.
Oh, hogwash, and pure speculation on your part.
Oh wait. Criminals are always the actual victims in liberal speak, right?
Oh wait. Criminals are always the actual victims in liberal speak, right?
A fifteen year old girl engaging in a criminal act is a victim, yes.
It remains to be determined exactly what was riding her, but I guaran-damn-tee you something- or someone- was.
Her death is a tragedy, even if it couldn't have been averted.
And I agree that perhaps it couldn't've been, once the final series of events was set in motion.
But it could've been addressed earlier, if anyone had been paying attention.
This child had no criminal record, no record of delinquency.
Something happened to her, or was going to happen to her.
I for one am sorry she's dead. If I could do something to change the fact that she's dead, I would.
There's always hope for a child this young (as long as she's still breathing, that is; obviously, once she's dead, there's no more hope).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.