You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Texas cops release harrowing footage of moment they confront armed boy, 16, who threatened to shoot up Mesquite school
2024-02-29
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] 19 rounds fired, minor injuries.
Texas cops have released harrowing bodycam footage of the moment they confronted an armed boy who threatened to shoot up a school in Mesquite, Texas.

The new video showed officers negotiated with the unidentified suspect, 16, after they were dispatched to Pioneer Technology & Arts Academy on February 19.

The assistant principal of the school called 911 at 8.49am and told the dispatcher that the male student came into her office with a gun and refused to put it down.

'I'm the assistant principal and a student just pulled a gun. I need someone here now. I am with him. He's fine. I'm calming him down. I need you to get someone here now,' the administrator said on the newly-released 911 call.

Once police arrived, they approached the office, and told the vice principal to leave as they tried to negotiate with the 16-year-old boy. As they spoke to him, the boy was seen reaching down before cops fired their guns.

A total of three officers fired 19 shots at the student - who did not fire his weapon.

In the 911 call, the assistant principal tells the dispatcher that she is going to put the school on lockdown, as her voice shakes and she tries to remain calm.

'He's just standing, he won't put the gun down,' she told the dispatcher.

The administrator then repeatedly tells the student: 'Uh uh no. No! Put it down! No! Put it down, no! Put it back on the floor!'

Within two minutes, the first officer arrived at the school as the campus was placed on lockdown before two others joined him.

They soon located the administrators office and saw her in the doorway speaking to the young boy.

She quickly briefed the officers on what was happening before they told her to leave the office.

The officer, with his gun drawn, then approached the officer and says to the boy: 'What's going on today buddy?'

'Can you talk to us?'

The boy does not respond as the officer proceeds to say: 'We would like to help you, that's why we're here.'

'Is anything upset you today? Can you listen to me closely? Please do not reach for that gun,' the officer says.

'We don't want anything to happen to you or anyone else. Can you do that for me?'

The student continues to remain quiet as the officer says: 'What has upset you today? Maybe we can talk about it.'

The angel of the bodycam footage then changed as the student is seen sitting in a chair inside the office.

'We just need you to step away from the gun buddy. You're not in trouble, okay?'

'We just need you to step away so we--,' an officer says before the student bends down and attempts to grab something from his bag on the floor.

Officers then fire their guns at the student as the officer door stars to close. When they open it back up, the student is seen standing with a gun in his hand before the cops shoot again.

In a press release, the police said that the student then 'complied with commands and was taking into custody' before he was taken to a local hospital.

The Dallas Morning News reported that the student's legs were wounded in the gunfire and that police are unsure if he was shot or hit by shrapnel.

The student's identity has not been released because he is a juvenile. A Rossi 38 special revolver was recovered by investigators from the boy.

Police said he was taken to a Dallas County juvenile detention facility and charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault against a public servant and exhibition of a firearm.

Witnesses who were interviewed said that the student came to school that day with 'intentions of harming others,' police said, but did not elaborate further.

No other injuries were reported and two of the three officers involved were veterans, while one was an officer-in-training, the press release said.

The school was searched by officers after the incident and the remaining students were taken to a nearby church and released to family members.

'We are grateful that this incident resulted in no injuries to other students, faculty members, or any officers. Mesquite Police would like to commend the actions of administrators during this event and the school’s adherence to the standard response protocol,' the press release said.

'These actions along with the immediate response from the Mesquite Police and Fire Departments ensured this outcome was not the tragedy that it could have been.'
Related:
Mesquite, Texas: 2021-09-27 Utah football player who wore fallen teammate's number fatally shot at party
Mesquite, Texas: 2020-09-18 'Nonbinary queer' activist accused of assaulting cops with laser at Portland Antifa riot
Mesquite, Texas: 2015-05-15 Texas Man Pledged Allegiance to ISIS Leader
Posted by:Skidmark

#3  Noticed that.

Maybe too:
The officer, with his gun drawn, then approached the officer boy and says to the boy

Diversity is are strength.
/sic
Posted by: swksvolFF   2024-02-29 12:51  

#2  The angel of the bodycam footage

Likely "angle"
No divine spirits involved.
Posted by: Skidmark   2024-02-29 10:14  

#1  19 shots and not even one hit?

The way that they were talking to him, the kid didn't think they were serious. The officer speaking had zero command presence and the kid figured nothing would happen if he pulled his gun.

Ala Patton, if you want it to stick you say it loud and dirty.
Posted by: EMS Artifact   2024-02-29 09:43  

00:00