TAKE HIM OUT! 8th grader with pellet gun killed in Texas school shooting. Suicide via cops?

I’ve never been to a funeral for someone who was murdered. The funerals I have been to, it was always surreal seeing a person that was alive, lying dead. Partly because you see this dead person and you remember them when they were living, partly because you realize that one day, that person you stare at will be you. Death is the inescapable rule of life. You’re born, you’re alive, you’re dead. One way or another.

Jaime Gonzalez, is a name you probably aren’t familiar with but a story that you’ve most likely read and commented on. Jaime Gonzalez is a 15 year old who was shot to death in the hallway of a South Texas school after bringing a pellet gun to school that resembled a real gun. To start off, let me just list the facts from the article.

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1.Jaime was 15 and a drum major who danced in his church’s annual religious festival, stayed out of gangs and had two parents who closely watched him.

2.He brought a gun (pellet gun) onto school property while the school was full of students and faculty.

3.When officers got to the school, the boy was waiting for them, Rodriguez (Police Chief) said.

4. Police can be heard yelling: “Put the gun down! Put it on the floor!” In the background, someone else yells, “He’s saying that he is willing to die.”

5.Moments before he was killed, Jaime began to run down a hallway, but again faced officers. Police fired down the hallway — a distance that made a stun gun or other methods impractical, Rodriguez said.

6. He raised the gun at police and refused to drop the weapon.

7. An officer on the radio then said TAKE HIM OUT, TAKE HIM OUT! GUNS SHOT! SUSPECT SHOT! EMS!

8. The reporter says GONZALEZ WAS HIT TWICE IN THE TORSO ACCORDING TO THE AUTOPSY.

9.An FBI SPECIAL AGENT Brad Garrett then is quoted as saying IMMINENT DEATH TO THE OFFICERS ARE OTHERS IS THE THRESHOLD IN WHETHER TO USE DEADLY FORCE.

10. WE COMMEND THE ACTIONS TAKEN BY ALL THOSE INVOLVED, FORTUNATELY, NO ONE ELSE WAS HURT IN THE INCIDENT-Chief Orlando Rodriguez.

11. Father claims THEY OVERREACTED. I MEAN I UNDERSTAND IT DID LOOK LIKE A GUN BUT I MEAN LIKE SHOOTING HIM 3 TIMES IS UNNECESSARY. HE WAS A CHILD, MY CHILD. THAT I DONT HAVE ANYMORE.

12.If the situation had involved hostages or a gunman barricaded in a room, police might have tried negotiations. But instead, Rodriguez stressed, this was an armed student roaming the halls of a school.

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There are two point of views on this story. One is the Chief of Police saying that the officers were justified and the other side is the father claiming they overreacted because murder didn’t have to be the 1st and only option. The facts are that Jaime brought a pellet gun to school, raised it at officers who believed it was a real gun, and they then TOOK HIM OUT. Do these facts make Jaime’s father’s point wrong though?

Were the officers justified in their actions? Legally, I think most people would agree it was definitely justified. Whether it was justified is not the point though. Most people are missing that. The point of the people on the side of the father is, was their another alternative? Are cops like machines and trained attack dogs? I’ve never been a cop, never even shot a gun, and never killed a person. I’m just relating the limitations of machines and trained attack dogs to that of cops. With cops, it’s either not shoot or shoot center mass and shoot to kill. Similar to a light switch, there is only an on or off option. With an attack dog, it only knows to stop or go. And when it goes, it’ll go until your dead or until its told to stop. This is what the issue is. The cops were told to TAKE HIM OUT and that was there cue to go. Makes you wonder why a traffic light has a orange light and not just a green and red light.

They did call for an EMS but what’s the point if you shoot to kill? Maybe the officers have a more detailed story to tell then their Chief of police.

The FBI special agent in the yahoo video used the phrase “DEADLY FORCE” to describe what officers use if there is imminent death to the officers or others. Notice how  age doesn’t factor anywhere into what was just said. Let’s go to the comments so I can further make my point.

CalCrazy says, it sounds like a classic case of someone committing suicide via police; when they WANT the police to kill them…No matter what it’s very sad that a child lost his life, justified or not. 2188 people liked this post. 117 disliked it. The part they disliked was most likely the last line.

Because he was 15, most people commenting are saying he knows right from wrong and he should have done what the officers said. Age doesn’t factor in to these people commenting. It’s just clear cut right vs wrong.

If suicide via police was actually Jaime’s plan, how hard would it be too pull off? If I had 9 lives, I’d test out this scenario. I’d use 8 lives and use 8 different ages to see if  cops always shoot to kill regardless of age. I wouldn’t even use ages between 16 and 50. I’d only use ages below and above that range. I’d buy a believable pellet gun that looks like a real gun, say that I am willing to die each time, and point the gun at the officers. Because I had 8 lives, I’d do each the day right after the other in the same exact district. I wonder how many times “shoot to kill” would be used.

You have to wonder, did he ever fire the pellet gun at all? Did he even have the pellet gun loaded? We know all the reasons why officers had to pull the trigger. They wanted to prevent more deaths, they wanted to live, it was procedure, and they were told to TAKE HIM OUT. They were successful in all those goals. It’s good that others weren’t harmed.  No one wants officers to die or other students to die to save a person breaking the law. Seeing that most the people commenting, including me, were not at the scene, aren’t related to the officers or the victim, and don’t live in this town, it makes you wonder why we are so passionate about this kid and officers we don’t know? What is the point we’re trying to make? Are we trying to be right  and state the obvious or are we  just expressing our opinions because “the future of good and bad are at stake?”

If Jaime was your son, how would you feel? If your kid was trapped in the school, in danger of being harmed by Jaime, how would you feel? If Jaime had actually wanted to die via cops and it was confirmed, how would that change your views on cops predictable but standard procedure for use of deadly force? Think on those questions and realize you can admit something is justified but not necessarily the best thing all the time no matter what. Objectivity is still a cool ass trait to possess. What’s done is done though. I’m no expert and I lack experience in many things so I guess I’m just another opinion in the billions. Don’t mind me.

Jaime’s parents

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