'We called for help, and they killed my son,' North Carolina man says

[FreakinDJ]

Source: CNN

Seventy seconds: That's how long a North Carolina family says it took for things to go horribly wrong as they sought police help dealing with their mentally ill son.

Keith Vidal, 18, died Sunday. According to CNN affiliate WECT, he was just shot 1 minute and 10 seconds after a third law enforcement officer showed up at his Brunswick County home.

The three officers all were from different jurisdictions, and family members say that the third officer -- who came from a nearby city -- turned what had been an improving situation into an unnecessarily aggressive encounter that ended in their son's death.

"There was no reason to shoot this kid," the teen's stepfather, Mark Wilsey, told WECT on Monday. "They killed my son in cold blood. We called for help, and they killed my son."


Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/07/justice/north-carolina-teen-killed/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[AAO]

1. Terrible way to learn a hard lesson

Don't call the police unless you are in real-time actual fear of your life. Do you know that if you call 911 for a health problem, the police will get there first, sniffing around, and asking all kinds of insinuating questions?

[DeadLetterOffice]

3. That depends on where you live.

Out here in the boonies, neither the sheriff nor the state police dispatch for strictly medical 911 calls.

I have also made "please send us a cop NOW" 911 calls and have been very grateful to the officers who have shown up and diffused a violent or potentially violent situation. It's absolutely horrible that officer #3 in this instance seems to have done exactly the opposite, and that officer should be dealt with to ensure that he never gets the chance to do it again. However -- I think painting all police officers with a broad "cops are terrible" brush is a gross over-statement and does a serious disservice to the majority of officers.

[AAO]

5. Yeah, things are different here I guess

The coppers will always show up first - not a bad idea, particularly. Often there is foul play involved.

[dotymed]

25. That is true.

I have had to use an ambulance from home.
Make sure that anything that may give the cops a reason to search your home (any vague reason, your prescriptions..) are out of sight.
I was amazed that the police were there, looking around and questioning me during a heart-attack.
I am an older single father with no record...

[Vattel]

2. I don't know the details yet, but my guess is that we have another case of cop cowardice.

My buddies who were cops were actually courageous enough to take personal risks for the sake of protecting and serving. They are attorneys now; so I guess the moral of the story is that these days even lawyers are tougher than cops.

[christx30]

4. There's no reason at all

to trust the police. I honestly don't mind people taking the law into their own hands. The cops screw everything up. They can legally kill you and hardly ever face consequences for their actions.

[DeadLetterOffice]

7. Do you really?

I honestly don't mind people taking the law into their own hands.

What about people who are rabid racists and think all persons of color and Jews and gay people should be shot on sight? Are you ok with them taking the law into their own hands? What about when your neighbor decides he's sick of listening to your music and comes in and busts your stereo? Or your head? You ok with him taking the law into his hands?

What I think you really mean is that you are ok with people who think like you taking the law into their own hands, because they would do the same things that you would do, and that's all copacetic from your point of view.

But that's not how it works. The world is not full of people who think like you and would make the same decisions that you would make in any given situation. There is a reason we are (at least in name) a country ruled by law.

[christx30]

14. I'll bet these parents

regret turning to the law and the police for help.

[Ino]

19. Well geez, you give examples of things that are against the law

and call that "taking the law into their own hands."

[Bodhi BloodWave]

21. but would it have been illegal

if there was no police(since none can supposedly be trusted why have em) and people took the 'law' into their own hands?

[jsr]

6. Lazy, murderous assholes

Police officer shot Keith Vidal after saying, "We don't have time for this"

[lonestarnot]

18. No, what he was told to have said by the Dad was, "I don't have time for this," not we.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

8. "We don't have time for this."

Late for a donut?

[Milwaukee Prog]

9. Conflicting accounts

I'll hold back judgement before getting all sides.

[frylock]

11. Conflicting accounts?

got links?

[Milwaukee Prog]

23. You mean you didn't click the link to the op and read it?

You got WWAY version and then WECT version, later the police will give their side. The jury is still out.

[frylock]

32. i clicked the link. i see no conflicting stories.

[uppityperson]

38. You mean these "versions"? When "we don't have time for this" was said?

"Everything was going good," Mark Wilsey said, according to WWAY. "Then this fat cop from Southport walks in the room, walks around the corner, says, 'We don't have time for this. Tase that kid now. Let's get him out of here.' "

The stepfather said Vidal tried to run but was struck with two Taser charges and fell backward. He said the first two officers to respond got on top of Vidal.

WECT attributed a slightly different accounting of events to Mark Wilsey. In that retelling, the stepfather said officers had pinned Vidal to the ground after he had been tased and one of the officers said, "We don't have time for this" and shot his stepson.

[Comrade Grumpy]

12. The only conflict I see is exactly when the killer cop said "We don't have time for this."

All the accounts seem to be they tased him, two cops restrained him, and the fat cop from Southport shot him.

That cop needs to be indicted.

[heaven05]

10. Nothing smells good with this one, either

This type of situation is happening way too much these days. Shooting/killing unarmed 'troubled' people who need help, not lead poisoning.

[olddad56]

13. the local cops have evolved into the Municipal Armed Forces.

They treat too many situations as if they were in the military and you are the enemy.

[SoapBox]

16. Agreed.

...seems to be an increase in the "trigger happy" ones too.

Not long ago I was shocked to see a pic of some cops, dressed in their finest goon squad/storm trooper garb...and noted that the "billy clubs" have grown to the size of a baseball bat or golf club...they looked lethal.

[Stainless]

15. Cops should be required to wear a body camera

They will not likely be so quick to resort to deadly force when their actions are recorded. This killing was likely murder, but bad cops generally get away with it.

[freebrew]

29. Cameras don't matter either...

case in point: Springfield , MO. cops shoot a man to death after it was made clear the man was unarmed.
The sheriff decided there was no evidence of wrong-doing. The video was on the news, clearly the cop shot
the poor guy for no reason.

Cops are bought and paid-for thugs. Not unlike Pinkertons.

[DallasNE]

17. This Reminds Me Of The Case In Ames, Iowa

Where a father had a fight with his son over a pack of cigarettes and the kid took off in the family pickup pulling a flatbed trailer. The cops easily found the kid and when he did not stop the still angry kid didn't pull over when the cops turned on their sirens and instead unwisely took off. At one point he stopped and backed the trailer into a cruiser then took off again. When the pickup was disabled in a field the kid locked the doors and wouldn't come out. Police said they were afraid the kid would take off again so they opened fired and shot him dead -- all over a pack of cigarettes. Calling the cops on your own kid carries potentially fatal consequences all too often and that sucks.

[mzmolly]

20. Horrible.

Everyone with a family member suffering from severe mental illness, likely fears such an outcome when reaching out for help.

[anasv]

22. never call the police for help with a mentally ill person

That's my conclusion, after the local police here shot a mentally ill man about twenty times, and after having heard other stories about such situations.

[jsr]

24. The police in this country has instituted a death penalty for mental illness

Send them to a mentally ill person, and that person will be dead.

[leftyladyfrommo]

26. I remember hearing some police officers talking about a somewhat similar case

while they were eating at the Pancake House. A mentally ill person was locked in a bedroom armed with a knife.

So I'm thinking that it probably would make sense to just wait for a while and call in someone who has experience in dealing with situations like this.

But, no. I think the woman ended up dead. She was armed with a deadly weapon.

One officer's comment was that he didn't become a police officer to get killed by a mentally ill person.

I think KC has a new program for dealing with these situations. They have a team that is specifically trained that is on call 24/7. Maybe because we had something very similar happen not all that long ago. A family called for help for a mentally ill son who was out of control. And the police shot him. I don't think he was even armed.

[Ino]

31. I'm waiting for the day a fireman says...

"I didn't become a fireman to get killed rescuing people from a fire; I'm only going to stand out here and hold a hose on it."

[HoosierCowboy]

27. The Medical, law enforcement and military establishments

can usually escape the legal consequences of causing unnecessary death. Doctors are actually much more dangerous to ones survival than all the PTSD affected cops put together.

Doctors and medical "misjudgements" are much easier to hide than police engagements with the general public.

[giftedgirl77]

28. This was an EXECUTION:

2 cops had the 90lb kid restrained when the other cop stated "we don't have time for this" then shot him. (see 5th paragraph).

Right now the cop is under investigation, not indictment which is complete bullshit considering the fact that he killed this kid in cold blood.

Mind you the kid did still had a screwdriver in his hand at the time but you can't tell me that after being taxed, and being currently restrained by two cops it was necessary for the third cop to murder him.

These murders are becoming common place here & are out of control, something has gotta give.


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/07/impatient-nc-cops-allegedly-shoot-mentally-ill-teen-we-dont-have-time-for-this/

[Comrade Grumpy]

30. We need a national commission on law enforcement standards and practices.

[Go Vols]

33. +1

[Egalitarian Thug]

34. How many of these stories must we read before we can accept the reality before us? n/t

[Comrade Grumpy]

36. We need a national commission on law enforcement standards and practices.

I don't want to accept this reality; I want to change it.

[Egalitarian Thug]

37. Yes, thanks for the correction.

[Beaverhausen]

35. Stepfather told 911 the kid had a screwdriver and was threatening his mother with it

They played the tapes on Laurence's show last night. This article doesn't mention that he said that.

I have to agree with the poster above that calling 911 for a mentally ill person then telling them that person is armed isn't smart.

That said- no reason at all to shoot this child and that officer should be charged with murder.

I just wanted to make sure all the facts we know of are out there.