On May 21 of this year, Patrolman Aaron Reese responded to reports of a man pointing a rifle at cars on Superior Avenue near 86th Street, according to a news story published today. When he arrived and apprehended the suspect, he realized he was dealing with a child and that the weapon was just a BB gun.
Fox 8 ran this story today, reminding their audience of an incident that began with a response resembling the Nov. 22 call about 12-year-old Tamir Rice waving a gun around at Cudell Rec Center. The latter ended in tragedy; the former ended differently.
The officer brought the boy home to his parents, who didn’t know he had a gun. The boy was not criminally charged, but officers wanted to make sure the boy understood how dangerous his actions were, so he was ordered to write a letter letting them know what he learned.
“I was stupid to have a BB gun that looks real enough to may have been shot and killed by anyone who saw or carried a real gun,” the letter stated. “I was also stupid to walk down the main street with it. I should have just kept it with my brother’s friend and shouldn’t have touched it at all. Even though I was walking, I was thinking in my head what if I get caught also what if I get killed. I am sincerely sorry for having the gun.”
How about that.
Scene has formally requested the May 21 police report to look into the details of this incident. We’ll update this story as needed.
This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2014.
So, this juvenile’s apology acknowledges that what happened to Tamir could very well have happened to him. Sadly, not every incident has a happy ending.
To clarify my first comment, what happened in the Tamir Rice case shouldn’t have happened. The police made mistakes in their handling of that call that resulted in Tamir’s death. Tamir was doing something he shouldn’t have, but he didn’t need or deserve to die for it. In the real world, mistakes do happen, and unfortunately in this case the result was a tragic, needless loss of life.
What color was this other kid?
@Tony Tony Tony “What color was this other kid?” He’s human. That’s all that should matter.
@Jessica You’re right that his humanity is all that should matter, and that his color should be irrelevant. One question right now across the country is whether police officers follow that standard. The evidence from every kind of interaction between cops and citizens, is that police react more violently to people of color, and that a person’s color matters in how cops respond.
If Tamir were a white kid, would he have been shot within seconds of the cops arriving? Maybe not. If this other kid is black, perhaps that strengthens Chris’s point about tragic chance. If he were white, maybe it suggests that police treat white kids differently. Or maybe that not every cop is evil or a fool.
What color was the other kid is a legitimate question, because people of color have been saying that cops will shoot first and ask question later when it comes to any person of color. And strange enough most all white people regardless of how many guns or people they kill always seem to be arrested and not killed.
im sure the cop wasnt a power hungry kid
His color is very relevant considering far more black kids/ men are dying than white kids/men. You all would like to believe that race plays no part, but after reviewing the video it is clear that the office on the Tamir murder jumped out the patrol car firing.
Color is bullsh*t! Perhaps its people of color who are commiting the most crimes. Check the statistics.
An apology letter from another child saying “I was stupid” for doing something similar to what Tamir Rice was doing when he was gunned down? So I guess the campaign to blame this victim will be indirect and by proxy. The only valuable information here is that the police officer handled it differently…better…properly. Irrelevant information is a dead giveaway that a manipulation is taking place. Don’t believe the hype.
Hey I got an idea. Stop running around dressed like gangsters; stop listening to killkillkillwhitey music; stop listening to killkillkillcops music; stop trying to intimidate good, honest folks with your chicanery. Stop doing these things and whitey will no longer have a justification for his biases. Whadda think? A good idea huh?
Jack the statistics say that whites and people of color commit crimes at the same rate BUT people of colors are more likely to be incarcerated EVEN WHEN A WHITE PERSON WOULD RECEIVE NO JAIL TIME. Miss me with that “those people are more likely to be criminals bullshit. Read the very same statistics you reference.
Hey Patricio I have an idea. Stop using the polticaof respectability to cover state sponsored genocide. What a person wears and listens to is as inconsequential as the color of their underwear. You are instructing me to tell my children that the constitution doesn’t extend to them be dent of their clothing AND skin. No one asks whites to dress a certain way to avoid being shot. Miss me with your racism too.indict the system.
If you guys read right this was a older story…and to the negative comments about color folk committing the most crimes…that’s a lie. Whites actually break the law more than any other race…check your stats
on 86 TH AND SUPERIOR THIS CHILD WAS MOST LIKELY BLACK!!! But the emphasis of the story is placed on the decision that the cops involved with said incident made. They used their brains, not their gun!!!
The news report never shows the boy. So we don’t know if the boy was white or black. Plus the cop didn’t know it was a child until he was putting on the handcuffs! Wow, great discernment hey. And there is no mention of the age of the child.
My 2 cents;
Any black teenager shot by a black cop?
I’d assume there might be some ( and any other races …)
Were rhere demonstrations for orher victims as well ?
Racism is all over and on different races
@Kevin Payton you are right, more black kids/men are dying from murder than whit kids/men, but what you’re not saying and I think is BS is that they are being murdered from black on black crime! When these crimes happen where are your civic leaders then? The reason race is still an issue in 2014 is because people make it an issue! If you want to speak then speak the truth. Oh and by the way. There are more whites being murdered by blacks then the other way around.
When the officer approached the suspect, he fled. The officer ran after the suspect, yelling at him to get down and drop the weapon.
The suspect complied.
The suspect complied. That is the key point here. It is sad whenever anyone loses their life. However when dealing with police officers do not make any movements toward what could be thought of as a weapon. In the heat of the moment police are and should be concerned with protecting themselves and others. Than whatever force is required to stop the threat must be used.
We’re at a point right now where police-community relations are so low you can run a story about cops rescuing an abandoned baby and certain people would automatically assume it was some kind of trick or they had a hidden agenda.