Dad Calls Cops on Son to Teach Him a Lesson, Cops Shoot Son Dead

[Jazzy]

A father's attempt to teach his son a lesson for taking his truck without permission ended in tragedy Monday after a local police officer shot the teenager dead.

James Comstock told the Des Moines Register he called the police on his son Tyler after the latter took the former's truck in retaliation for refusing to buy him cigarettes.

Ames Police Officer Adam McPherson reportedly spotted the lawn care company vehicle and pursued it onto the Iowa State University campus, where a brief standoff ensued after Tyler allegedly refused orders to turn off the engine.

McPherson eventually fired six shots into the truck, two of which struck Tyler who was later pronounced dead.

The official report claims the action was necessary in order "to stop the ongoing threat to the public and the officers."

Tyler's dad says he was unarmed at the time.

"So he didn't shut the damn truck off, so let's fire six rounds at him?"exclaimed Gary Shepley, Tyler's step-grandfather. "We're confused, and we don't understand."

James said his son had his fair share of minor troubles with the law, and was distraught over a recent breakup with his girlfriend, but was in the process of turning his life around, and was working on obtaining his GED at Des Moines Area Community College.

"He was a smart kid. He made his own computers. He was interested in IT," James told the Register.

The family's demands for answers got even louder following the revelation that a member of the Ames police department suggested twice that officers call off the chase.

"He took off with my truck. I call the police, and they kill him," James said. ""It was over a damn pack of cigarettes."

McPherson is currently on paid leave pending the results of his department's investigation.

Source

Thoughts?

 

[WhoFlungpoo]

Thoughts an example of excessive force. Escalating a situation even more dangerous that results in a pointless death.

Sadly only two people pay for it. The son and the dad who has to live with it everyday of his life.

 

[DirtRider]

Ok let me put my 2c in here

Firstly if you are not involved in any criminal action you should not be shot by the cops. Then of course we also need to look at all the recent media coverage of cops mostly shooting those black folks. So now here we have a white guy been reported for stealing a vehicle, mistake no1. Now the cops pick him up light and siren and he runs, mistake no 2. On the audio we hear he rams the cop vehicle not once but twice, mistake no 3.

So what does the cop see, a criminal that has just stolen a vehicle that is trying to enforce bodily harm on himself, not a good situation at all. Yes the dispatch tell him to call it off but once again the dispatcher is not there to see the possible threat not only to the cop but other innocent people in the area. Will this guy now completely flip out and start randomly running over other people?

So now the cop backs off and this guys does kill a few other people in a fit of rage, so now we have this, how could the cops let him go after he showed aggression towards them in the first place, bad cop not doing his job, charge him.

On the other hand we have this and for some strange reason this guys never got shot and he is black and the cop white.



Conclusion don't do crime and you should be safe from cops shooting you

 

[mrldii]

I'm somewhere in the middle on this one; while the story is written in such a way to *make* the reader react emotionally, this is another picture of the 19-year-old (while still a "teenager", he became an adult a year before this happened) who was in the middle of doing several illegal acts, including using the stolen truck as a weapon against the police:

Had he survived his deliberate encounter with the police, his booking photo probably would have looked more like this one, rather than the choir-boy-tryout photo the newspaper selected.

It's too bad that he lost his life over a "pack of cigarettes" and over stealing his father's truck...but, there was a little more to the story than that.

 

[DirtRider]

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

He rammed a cop car, game over you get shot. Justified!

 

[Sinon]

Cop had some bad aim going on, but otherwise, meh. Guy refused to comply, the truck could easily have been used as a deadly weapon. If the cops didn't have the authority to do stuff like this if you refuse to do as they tell you, they'd be worthless. They did a good job.

Wasted a couple bullets though.