Can you explain then why ever so often we hear these stories from the United States? We have BB guns in Europe and officers do carry weapons with them. It just seems like over here they are better trained to exert control from distance and take careful steps in order to pacify the situation when a dispatch call is made. Individual being shot by law enforcement is a rare occurrence in most European countries.
I do feel bad for the rookie and the kid, it just feels like both were put into a direct confrontation needlessly.
Here's something fun from the US which explains why officers in the US treat these situations so seriously:
That's a shotgun which was specifically disguised to look like a damned Super Soaker. God knows I wouldn't take anyone who pointed that at me seriously, even though it could end my life.
This is a very unfortunate situation all around. The kid certainly didn't deserve to die over a few stupid mistakes... However the officer, by the same token, is under no obligation to unnecessarily risk his life against someone reported as having a lethal weapon, who reaches for the weapon rather than putting his hands in the air.
That's the whole problem with armchair quarterbacking a situation like this. In the comfort of our own homes, we can dissect the facts the officer couldn't have known to paint as negative or as positive a light on the situation as possible.
All the officer knew going in was that there were reports of a youth with what appeared to be a firearm out in public, which he'd been pointing at others. The doubts that it was a real gun were not conveyed to the responding officers, so for all they knew it was real... And the 911 dispatch was right not to trust the word of a random caller on the supposed status of the weapon. If the caller was so certain that the gun was fake, wouldn't they have confronted the kid themselves, especially if the kid was pointing it at people?
When they arrived on scene, the kid put the weapon in his waistband and reached for it when ordered to put his hands in the air. Nobody wants to die on the job. At the time, all the officer knew was that the suspect was reaching for a weapon he'd seen the suspect conceal, despite orders to put his hands up.
The officer didn't make a bad call in this situation. If he'd hesitated even a moment or two and the gun were real, it could have been him dead instead of the kid, and he had no way of knowing whether or not the gun was real.
The failure here is mainly on the parents or guardians for letting the kid have the replica in the first place and a failure to teach the kid the right place and time for using the airsoft gun, of which "in public, with the safety colors scratched off, and pointing at people who don't know it's a replica" certainly is not the right time and place.
