POLICE in California shot and killed a 13-yr-old boy, Andy Lopez, seven times, just 10 seconds after they instructed him to drop his rifle. Unfortunately, the rifle was just a TOY GUN.
The BOY never had a chance to explain that the GUN was harmless before life was snuffed out of him.
Read more after the cut..............
Mr Lopez was spotted by deputies on Tuesday afternoon in Santa Rosa, California, carrying the toy rifle, which they mistakenly thought was a real assault weapon. The time that elapsed between when officers reported the sighting to dispatch and then reported shots fired was only 10 seconds.
Hundreds of local residents marched on Wednesday night to remember the popular teen and protest at the senseless shooting. They chanted 'We need justice' as they questioned how the deputies could mistake a pellet gun for an assault rifle.
According to a police statement, Lopez was twice instructed to put down his weapon, officers opened fire after he failed to comply - only 10 seconds later. Sixteen seconds later, the cops radioed for medical assistance.
Ethan Oliver, who lives across the street, told KTVU.com that the deputies continued to shoot at the boy, even after he had fallen to the ground.
Oliver said he went outside after hearing two gun shots and by that time Lopez was already on the ground. ‘Then the cops went at it again and unloaded like six to seven shots,’ he said.
When asked if he meant that the deputy shot Lopez while he was on the ground, Oliver said, ‘Yeah. Exactly what I saw.’ Authorities haven't responded to his claims, but it raises the possibility that Lopez was still alive when he hit the ground after the first two shots were fired.
During a news conference on Wednesday authorities displayed a real assault weapon and the pellet gun - which resembled an AK-47 with a black magazine and brown butt - to demonstrate how difficult it is to tell them apart.
The coroner reported seven entry wounds, two of them fatal.
Federal law requires replica guns to have an orange tip, but Lopez's toy rifle didn't have one.
Police also revealed that Lopez had his back to the deputies, so they didn't realize he was so young. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and shorts.
They claim Lopez was about 20 to 30 feet from them when he turned with the barrel of the gun pointing toward them and they opened fire because they feared for their lives.
‘The deputy then fired several rounds from his service weapon at the subject,’ said Santa Rosa Police Lt. Paul Henry, ‘striking him at least one time. The subject immediately fell to the ground.’
'The deputy's mindset was that he was fearful that he was going to be shot.'
Hundreds of people marched through the Santa Rosa neighborhood where Lopez was killed on Wednesday night to protest and demand justice.
'We don't know the reason why they killed him,' Katia Ontiveros, 18, told the Press Democrat of Santa Rosa. She said her brother was Andy's friend. 'They should know if a gun is real.'
The marchers went to the site at the edge of a field where the boy was shot. Community members had left candles, teddy bears and flowers there. Some community members wondered whether the deputies acted appropriately when they decided to fire on such a young person.
‘I'm sure you can tell he's a 13-year-old boy,’ Abrey Martin told KGO-TV. ‘He's not some maniac.’
One marcher told KTVU that the boy wasn't doing anything that a teen in any other part of the county wouldn't be doing.
'If this is like anywhere else in rural Sonoma County and a kid with a pellet gun, they wouldn't have done nothing to him,' said Greg Kestel. 'But this urban area they just blast the kid.'
Andy, an eighth-grade student who played trumpet in his school band, was described as a bright and popular student, liked by many in his community, including Lawrence Cook Middle School assistant principal Linsey Gannon.
‘Andy was a very loved student, a very popular, very handsome young man, very smart and capable,’ Gannon said Wednesday. ‘Our community has been rocked by his loss.’
Even members of law enforcement expressed sympathy.
The Santa Rosa and Petaluma police departments will join with the District Attorney's office in the investigation of the shooting while the two deputies are on administrative leave. In a statement, Sheriff Steve Freitas said the shooting was a ‘tragedy’ and that he would do everything he could to ensure the investigation was thorough and transparent.
'The public expects that the investigation will be thorough and transparent. As sheriff, I will do all in my power to see that expectation is satisfied,' he said. 'My hope is that we can work with the community to help prevent a similar tragedy from happening in the future.'
Some legislators have sought to impose restrictions on replica guns in an effort to make sure police don't mistake them for real ones.
California law requires 'imitation weapons' to look like playthings by being brightly colored or transparent, but a state senator's proposal in 2011 to extend that requirement to air guns failed after manufacturers and retailers opposed it.
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