15 yo Asperger Teen Shot Dead by Police

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The original post containing the story can be found here: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp4505087.html#4505087
This topic was posted in three different forums and all responses have now been moved to this single thread.

The original post from Kailuamom follows:



Signed - Thanks for posting.

This one is very near and dear to my heart.

For the video:- If thats ok to post? as it says a dif story.

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/me ... s-20120201

WHAT?! It was a butter knife, for the gods' sakes! In what possible world is it okay for that officer to shoot him?

Thanks for posting the video.

I hope people sign the petition. The family needs support. Corruption is commonplace in this region of Illinois and it has to stop. The officers are being protected by their department. I cannot say if the officers did anything wrong or not, but it sure looks like it. The courts should have the opportunity to decide.

Here is a link to the story. There are a few different versions going around:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/0 ... 49695.html

Please read the story:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/0 ... 49695.html

For those that are click-impaired: Stephon Watts was a 15 year old with Aspergers. His family worked closely with the police department, social services, and school to implement his treatment plan. Part of the plan included calling the police when he got out of hand. The police were aware the teen has Aspergers and had been called to the house many times. Stephon refused to go to school one day so his father locked up his computer as punishment. Stephon tried prying the lock with a butter knife. He had gotten out of hand so his father called the police, as he had many times before. Stephon (according to some accounts) attacked an officer with a butter knife, leaving a superficial wound. Both officers on the scene shot Stephon. At least two shots were fired, one in the head leaving Stephon dead.

The Calumet City Police Department (Cook County, IL) refuses to release the names of the officers. The family's lawyer wants the officers indicted. Please sign the petition to show support for the family to get their day in court.

http://www.change.org/petitions/justice ... e-officers

I am so sorry, but a butter knife to the eye is no joke. A butter knife up the nose can kill. I am sorry about the kid, but we should all know that you cannot attack a policeman and expect to live.

No sorry.

He attacked a cop with a knife. He got shot after he slashed a cop's arm.

Had the cops acted before he attacked because he had a knife in his hands then maybe there would be room for debate.

The fact that it was a butter knife doesn't matter. It was A knife. There's no way to know what kind of knife during the attack and it doesn't much matter. A butter knife can kill.

This is a parental failure.

Nope, not going to sign the petition. Being autistic isn't an excuse for using a knife on someone. I wish there was an "anti-signing" for that petition.

The Calumet City PD was the first in IL to receive special training on how to deal with people with Autism. They were specifically taught that even if the person is armed to use non-lethal tactics. Most parents of children and professionals know that when an Autistic person is in a rage you clear the area and isolate the person rather than attempt to subdue them. You get everyone out to keep everyone safe and deal with the situation from the outside. The child had been tasered before and could have been tasered this time.

Okay.

I don't believe who was right and who was wrong is for me to decide. I do believe that the family deserves their day in court and the court should decide if the police acted appropriately or not.

The fact is that any object can be used as a deadly weapon from a pencil to duct tape to a couch.

The Calumet City Police Department is specifically trained in how to use non-lethal tactics in dealing with people with Autism, even if the person has a weapon.

The police had several options available to them and were trained to know how to implement many different options. Several options available were to taser the kid, shoot him in the leg or other extremety only to disable him, or evacuate the area and try to calm him from outside the room. The kid was not professionally trained in the options available to him. They shot him in the leg. The shooting should have stopped at that point, but they continued to shoot him in the head. If the officers and police department feel they did nothing wrong, they should release the officers names and details of the case.

I've signed the petition.

This autistic teenager was having a meltdown, and what the police should know is that during meltdowns, autistic people don't necessarily know what they are physically doing, such as attacking the officer with the knife this time or in the past. Internally, meltdowns often take place in a mental haze, and you can take action with your body parts without yourself consciously deciding to take action, and without yourself knowing what you are doing with your body parts, and with yourself only realizing what has been going on for the past however amount of time after someone has stopped you or the meltdown has passed. This is the essence of a meltdown - a loss of control - and the police should have come up with a solution other than using deadly force against a person who may or may know what he is doing and most likely cannot follow their instructions at that time.

The police went down into a basement where both they and Stephon were cornered. In poker terms, it was terrible pre-flop play.

Even if it's okay for the police officer to use deadly force to defend himself at the very last minute, he should not have let the situation escalate where he was in this situation.

We had a previous lengthy---and I think pretty good---discussion about this, and I think it's fine to discuss this was time to time, in fact, we probably need to.
" 15 year old Aspie boy shot and killed... by cops"
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt188837.html

Thanks. I know some people think because the child had a weapon (butter knife) the police did not over react. Any item can be deadly in the right hands. If the police department does not feel the officers over reacted by shooting the child in the head, they should release the details of the case and the statements from the officers involved. This particular police department has special training in dealing with Autistic people and how to use non-lethal force to subdue an agitated Autistic person, even if they are armed. I don't think a child with a butter knife (or even a butcher knife) is any match for two highly trained officers with guns. There were other options available to the police that would have provided a different outcome. Even if they had stopped with the one shot to the leg, the kid would not have been able to attack them and would still be alive. If the officers are indicted and they go to court, more details may come out that justify the police's use of deadly force, or maybe not. I don't know. I just think the family deserves their day in court.