15 yo Asperger Teen Shot Dead by Police

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Thank you so much for that explanation. The fact is that there were other options. The police could have even stopped after they shot him in the leg - they didn't have to continue to shoot him in the head. They could have tasered him. They could have worked with him from outside the room or house until he calmed down.

Because of the area this happened in, race is being brought into play. If you know the Chicago land area, you know how bad the profiling and racism is within police departments and segments of the population. I don't like that people are bringing race into this, but the fact is that had this been a white autistic child, you bet it would have gotten nation-wide press coverage. I have no idea of the race of the officers. Whether any aspect of this case is related to race, it doesn't matter to me, I still feel the same way about the story, family and situation. Basically the police in our area do what they like. They are above the law. Look at Scott Peterson. How bout the cop that beat the woman at the bar on video? Or the one that hit someone while driving drunk...the list goes on. The police here are so corrupt.

Once this case is in court, more details could come out showing the police were justified, I don't know. I do think the family should get their day in court.

This isn't very important now but; Why were the police even called? Arn't you only supposed to call the police in an emergency? Not because your kid is being a brat?

bjtao - please do not post the same thing into several forums.

I've copied the replies from identical threads you started in the Parents' Discussion and General Autism Discussion forums and removed those threads, leaving just this one.

Do you ever wonder if maybe the cops seized the opportunity to shoot him because they were busy and frustrated and sick of being the solution to family problems??

Do you ever wonder how much of the nastiness in this world boils down to that? "You are an inconvenience and I'm sick of dealing with you. I'd shoot you if I could, but I can't, so I'm going to treat you like s**t and hope you either shut up, go away, or both."

I think a lot.

It makes me want to quit trying.

The police may have had the mentality of solve this once and for all, with vaguely thinking of bullying him, manhandling him, treating him in disrepectful fashion.

Then he pulls a knife and the police are then "justified" in shooting him.

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Again, just pitiful pre-flop play.

And poker players will immediately know what I mean by this.

I signed it.

All I can think of is a "WTF!? perverted logic" caused this outcome. We can debate the psychology ALL we want but the outcome has already happened and there is no turning back unfortunately.

I know people with AS have troubles with parents (we all do) but I think there may have been a race factor in this as someone who lightly knows Chicago, there is HUGE profiling there that its not even funny (as said by someone earlier). I can compare this to any other big city with an urban core.

Aspies UNITE!

Even though aspies may not have meltdowns very much, we do have them and sadly i do not remember what i did in all of them for time periods and so i do all i can to avoid situations that caused the really bad ones but a haze is a good analogy, or literally seeing red for me. in some ways its just as scary to myself too. I will say its been many years since the ones i went ttally nuts as it were, fortunately was with friends though because did not know what problem with myself was, many did not stay friends long. In the process of dealing with myself i learned how to help others in same situation and what weapon they pick up is irrelavant most really are not dangerous as much as frustrated and the way i would deal with a boy like that is just talk, if he tried to attack i would either avoid or disarm, and more then likely it would not happen at all. i might dash to a bathroom to pee after though.. Bottom line is with aspie or autistic going in armed with taser or gun is wrong and unnecessary period and i think that police department needs re-education and made to see how wrong their actions were. I thik a good lesson for them is how english law enforcement works with no guns because some situations its better to keep the guns away and not a use guns
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After reading the article, the Police had obviously been called before and had obviously used the tazer on him before.
As much as I'd like to make this entirely the fault of the Police, I can't help but see their side, ANYONE comes at you with a knife (Note: Butterknife was not mentioned anywhere in that article) and slashes your arm. Now even an official person is going to default onto the stereotypically normal survival mechanisms, which usually involves bringing whatever force they can to ensure they survive, even if the attacker doesn't.

That said, I have that same feeling I get when the media reports on anything violent, that nobody actually knows what's happened and just tends to slant the facts based on their own stereotypes.

It's so sad how it came down to this. My heart goes out to him and his family <3

It's hilarious how many misconceptions there are here that can be blamed on movies and video games.

First of all, no one who knows what they're doing with a firearm would use leg-shots as a non-lethal tactic. Don't shoot at anything you don't intend to destroy.

And secondly, a person trying to stab you with a knife is dangerous. Very dangerous. Maybe they could have done something different a little earlier, but the kid's fate was sealed after he lunged with the knife.