Kansas Police Shot Unarmed Suicidal Teen 16 Times As Family Says They Begged Them Not To

[big_dog]

Source: The Raw Story & CBS News

Was on “suicide mission” when he walked to Orscheln Farm and Home, according to his aunt.
Smith recalled that around six officers responded, and two of them had helped save Jennings’ life by taking him to the hospital after his overdose just days before.

“It was like six — six officers, and one cop yelled, ‘Bag him!’ And they bagged him,” she said. “And he kind of puffed up a little bit, and then they bagged him two more times, and then like 16 shots rang out, and they shot him. And he fell to the ground.”
Jennings was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Smith said that she was only feet away from Jennings and did not see a weapon.

“And I told them, if he has a gun, it’s a BB gun,” she insisted. “But we don’t know that… He knew that if he acted like he had a gun that they would shoot him, and I told them that.” “I told them, ‘That’s Joseph Jennings, he’s suicidal, he’s upset, don’t shoot him,’” Smith added. “And that’s what I don’t understand is, why did it take them shooting him 16 times at least for them to bring him down? Why didn’t they bag him, knock him down, and then go and take care of whatever they needed to take care of?”

Smith said that her husband tried to help, but police threatened to shoot him too.
“My husband was going to tackle him. He was within arms reach. They said to get back or they were going to shoot him,” she explained.
Following standard procedures for officer-involved shootings, Ottawa police turned the case over to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI). Officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave.


Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/25/kansas-police-shot-unarmed-suicidal-teen-16-times-as-family-says-they-begged-them-not-to/

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Horrible, horrible, horrible...

[LloydS of New London]

14. Common, common, common...

[Control-Z]

2. WTF?

I have no words.

[BaggersRDumb]

3. As I said before, when a Koch bros relative or a Romney relative is killed

everything will change overnight

until then, this is their job, kill anyone that is remotely dangerous to the one percent

[big_dog]

4. two of the cops had just taken the kid to mental health services a few days before

Last edited Mon Aug 25, 2014, 05:04 PM - Edit history (1)

unreal, is this really America?

[Laffy Kat]

30. You are so right on.

This just sickens me. I have two two teenage boys and identify so strongly with the parents. This is heart-breaking. I'm more than angry; I'm livid.

[valerief]

5. Here's my post about this earlier today. Another sad, unnecessary death.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025440775

[mazzarro]

6. Why are the cops always so eager to shoot first rather than try other means?

It seems like whenever a mention of any type of weapon is involved when the cops are called in, their most handy preparation for the incident is to approach with guns ready to blast. The offer by the parents or relatives to help calm down the situation not withstanding at all.

[big_dog]

7. the St Louis cops defense over the weekend on CNN was

'a knife can be a deadly weapon from 21 feet' dont any of these guys have flak jackets, hemlets and stun guns? (plus personal vid cams to keep them under control)

[Travis_0004]

13. A lot of departments dont carry stun guns

Also bullet proof vest offer very little in knife protection.

They can buy vest rated to stop knives (popular in prisons) but they offer less bullet protection. (Will still stop 9mm). Vests that protect both are heavier and not frequently used.

[Ed Suspicious]

22. Blah blah blah. A live cop is worth more than

anyone else.

[Calista241]

46. There are a zillion places to stab someone not covered by the vest.

A vest is no guarantee in either stabbings or shootings. and a 9mm round fired into any vest, no matter the type, still has a significant chance of killing you.

[ReRe]

11. Because it's the...

... fucking wild wild west all over again. Wonder who called the police? If it was the family (since the police helped them the time before), then they are probably feeling pretty bad right now. I feel so sorry for them. And if he was having seizures, there was something else going on with his health beside depression.

[lancer78]

41. Because they are cowards

scared to take a beating.

[Laughing Mirror]

8. Get back or we'll shoot you too

Let that be a warning Americans. Make no attempt to come to the aid of a person in danger or you'll be in danger too.

[world wide wally]

9. They only use their guns as a first resort

[blkmusclmachine]

10. Cops are wildly out of control.

[PDJane]

12. Shooting the mentally ill is not adequate treatment.

It's time for a different kind of training.

[Dems to Win]

15. DO NOT CALL THE POLICE if you have a family member in a mental health crisis

In my county of 400,000 people, I can tell you the stories of at least half a dozen mentally ill people killed by the police after a family member called for help.

If you have a family member in a mental health crisis, DO NOT CALL THE POLICE.

[catrose]

16. I really want to know who you do call

Can EMTs handle it if you call an ambulance?

[Dems to Win]

17. I don't know that there is anyone official that it would be safe to call

Friends, family, maybe a doctor.

Calling for an ambulance should be a good idea, but I'd worry that the EMTs might call for the police.

Sorry I have no good answer for you.

[Jackpine Radical]

28. Hell yes the EMTs would call for police.

EMTs have no authority to arrest or detain anyone who doesn't want to go along for the ride. Only the police can do that.

I'm just glad I'm not in the mental health hospital racket anymore.

[Laffy Kat]

31. They will wait for the scene to be cleared by the PD.

I am an EMT and they really drilled it into us during training. You don't enter a scene until you know it's safe. Honestly though (and I'm not a practicing EMT right now) given what I know, I would stand in front of the patient to stop a cop's bullet. I'd get fired but it'd be worth it.

[Ed Suspicious]

23. I think it used to be different. One used to be able

to call for help and get it. Well at least in my largely white community.

[Dems to Win]

29. "Mother calls 911 to save suicidal daughter. Cop arrives, shoots daughter dead."

http://www.informationliberation.com/test.php?id=25018

I've seen too many stories like this one, so I've vowed never to call police for help for a mentally ill person.

I don't know if it used to be different. Maybe we just thought it was because we didn't know any better? All I know is, I've seen way too many of these stories in the past 20 years or so.

[Enthusiast]

32. That is one sad state of affairs. Plus one.

[undergroundpanther]

43. my counselor

called the EMTs on me.The EMTs came,but so did cops.The cops were provoking and arrogant.The EMTs said I was not a danger to others or myself..The cops decided to cuff me and take me to the ER I told them I have back injuries they still cuffed me even though it caused me great pain.I sat in the ER for hours cuffed.They didn't care I was in pain.When the cuffs finally came off I screamed as the staff barked at me to change clothes.My arms have carpal tunnel from my shoulders to my hands due to a bone spur in my neck. I fuckin hate cops.I was too depressed to resist,yet they had to cuff me and get sadististic jollies off my pain.
I wonder if I was not so depressed I was compliant by default,would they have shot me? I'm never calling cops for help anymore,the cops are way crazier than I am.They are a danger to everyone now.

[Dems to Win]

44. I'm so sorry to read of your suffering

Hope you're doing better now.

[undergroundpanther]

45. well its

im still depressed,trying like usual to cope. feels like the world is a mess.I don't feel safe in this country.last hopitalization I got raped on the unit at sinai hospital.It is hard enough having depression and PTSD and being transgendered, I cant deal with the cops issues,and where I seek healing being a dangerous place. Luckily my day program now takes effort to make sure I am safer. I lost my trust in the cops and the mental health system and hospitals.And as for this country I am terrified by it,and the future living here as they criminalize poverty,destroy social safety nets,and have cops going berzerk shooting mentally ill people.

[Dems to Win]

48. It's good to hear your day program is taking care of you now.

I'm tempted to suggest that you move to San Francisco, as a safe place for transgenders, but it's so expensive to live there.

I'm so, so sorry to hear you were raped in the hospital. Big hug to you.

You are trying to heal, that takes effort right there. I admire you for continuing to try.

This country scares me, too. I acknowledge we are making some progress on some issues, but the overall trend feels pretty dark. I wonder how long it will rock along until total collapse. I'm not optimistic. Yet still, I want to keep going and keep trying to make my life better and the lives of those around me.

[jwirr]

18. And one more time the police are going to get by with this kind of behavior. This is not acceptable

in America.

[Kelvin Mace]

19. Folks, do NOT call the police any more

They can no longer be trusted.

[tclambert]

20. Who's training these police officers, the NRA?

Here's your self-defense training: 1) Threaten to shoot them. 2) If that's not enough, shoot them.

[Brigid]

21. "Bag him?"

Really? We're talking about a sixteen-year-old kid here, not an elk.

[Ed Suspicious]

24. I think the bean bagged him. The

lethal shots came after that. At least that ' show I read it.

[JJMacNab]

26. Read the story.

He was 18, not 16. They tried to subdue him with beanbag rounds first. Thus "they bagged him."

[JJMacNab]

25. I don't know that "unarmed" belongs in the headline.

The foster aunt says she didn't see a gun, but the people who called 911 say there was a man with a gun making a scene in the parking lot. The KBI hasn't weighed in yet. Until the "unarmed" label is confirmed, it shouldn't be driving the narrative. The auntie may not be a reliable witness. The foster dad was also there and said the kid kept moving toward the cops and was shot in the leg and shoulder. His wounds were treated at the scene and he died later in the hospital.

According to the aunt, they tried to subdue him first with non-lethal rounds first (bean bags.)

There are 17,000 police departments with 900,000 cops in the nation. Officer involved shootings are *extremely* rare. The vast majority of cops never even fire their guns in the line of duty at any time throughout their entire career.

Beware the hype and focus on the real problems.

Cops protect cops, and in some areas racial discrimination is a big problem.

The use of cameras is a good solution. So is passing state laws that require all officer-related shootings to be reviewed by a civilian panel.

Some police departments have been extremely pleased with the use of lapel cameras since the number of lawsuits filed against them has gone way down. No one will ever know the reason but it's probably a combination of officers behaving better on camera and charlatans filing fewer fake lawsuits against cops in hopes of getting a nice settlement in exchange for not going to the press.

[cstanleytech]

33. Plus better training is clearly needed. Maybe even a federal standard type one so that

every police officr has the proper training and we hopefully reduce the number of Barney Fife types in law enforcement.

[JJMacNab]

38. There's a push for suicide-by-cop training going on now.

http://www.psmag.com/navigation/health-and-behavior/how-to-stop-suicide-by-cop-27758/

[LisaL]

34. Our mental health system is obviously in horrible shape.

He tried to commit suicide. Several days later, he is out on the street, obviously still suicidal.
Apparently wants police to kill him.
And they do.
Big surprise there.

[blackspade]

35. Killing people that 'treaten' them seems like a great way for cops to

get a paid vacation without having to dip into their vacation time.

They will walk, despite the witnesses.

[JJMacNab]

37. Do you really believe that cops

enjoy killing a kid going for suicide-by-cop?

[blackspade]

42. I can't address that as my psychic powers are not up to that level.

But the end result of police killings is a vacation, paid.

[JJMacNab]

39. FWIW

Suicide by cop is a relatively new phenomenon. The first documented case was in the early 1980s, and the suicide guy took a bunch of people in a bank hostage and ordered the cops to executive him in a half hour or else he'd start killing. He ended up killing two or three and shooting more than a half dozen others before the cops obliged.

The idea was exceedingly rare until TV and movie writers starting dropping it into their scripts. By 1998, it accounted for 16% of all cop shootings in the country. Eleven years later, it was more than a third of the 700 police involved shootings.

Cops aren't shrinks, and they have to decide whether a person threatening suicide is serious enough to harm others (including the cops) to get his wish.

I researched this stuff for a book I was writing and found that it was such a common stereotype in cop and thriller fiction that I dumped it.

[raven mad]

40. This just brought me to my knees in tears.

WHAT THE FUCK!! Do "average" Americans have to go armed to protect themselves from the so-called "protectors"???????

[Sunlei]

47. 'assisted suicide' is illegal Why didn't they taz him? In these situations USE THE TAZER!

Police need to change!

Change the damn 'domestic military' training, tazer and grab him. or use the pepper spray. The gun should NEVER be a first choice.