Dad Calls Cops on Son to Teach Him Lesson, Cops Kill Son

[Deleted]

gawker.com/dad-calls-cops-on-son-to-teach-him-a-lesson-cops-shoot-1460159897

A father's attempt to teach his son a lesson for taking his truck without permission ended in tragedy Monday after a local police officer shot the teenager dead.

James Comstock told the Des Moines Register he called the police on his son Tyler after the latter took the former's truck in retaliation for refusing to buy him cigarettes.

Ames Police Officer Adam McPherson reportedly spotted the lawn care company vehicle and pursued it onto the Iowa State University campus, where a brief standoff ensued after Tyler allegedly refused orders to turn off the engine.

McPherson eventually fired six shots into the truck, two of which struck Tyler who was later pronounced dead.

The official report claims the action was necessary in order "to stop the ongoing threat to the public and the officers."

Tyler's dad says he was unarmed at the time.

"So he didn't shut the damn truck off, so let's fire six rounds at him?" exclaimed Gary Shepley, Tyler's step-grandfather. "We're confused, and we don't understand."

James said his son had his fair share of minor troubles with the law, and was distraught over a recent breakup with his girlfriend, but was in the process of turning his life around, and was working on obtaining his GED at Des Moines Area Community College.

"He was a smart kid. He made his own computers. He was interested in IT," James told the Register.

The family's demands for answers got even louder following the revelation that a member of the Ames police department suggested twice that officers call off the chase.

"He took off with my truck. I call the police, and they kill him," James said. ""It was over a damn pack of cigarettes."

McPherson is currently on paid leave pending the results of his department's investigation.

[Dr. T is an alien]

Wait, you're not Ghidorah....

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

Sin......why are you trying to copy Ghidorah?

[Toxik916]

Well I never condone shooting an unarmed person, but this shit doesn't surprise me when you disobey orders from a police officer. Had he complied his ass wouldn't be dead right now.

[Bootista]

If he had obeyed orders he would be alive, I'm sorry for his family's loss but The Officer is not to blame.

[Deleted]

Couldn't they shoot the tires instead?

[DrBackflipsHoffman]

Nov 7, 2013 20:02:37 GMT -5 Bootista said:

If he had obeyed orders he would be alive, I'm sorry for his family's loss but The Officer is not to blame.

an unarmed guy didn't turn an engine off. He stole the car, but I cannot begin to imagine how a sane and rational response to not turning an engine off can be going into f***ing PROTON CANNON mode or how anyone can just brush this off with such a blase "well them's the breaks, listen to the cops OR THEY WILL KILL YOU OVER UNREASONABLE PIDDLING CRAP"

[Yami Daimao]

Nov 7, 2013 20:02:37 GMT -5 Bootista said:

If he had obeyed orders he would be alive, I'm sorry for his family's loss but The Officer is not to blame.

Did you skim over the part where the officer fired six shots at an unarmed teenager for not turning off the engine?

[Toxik916]

Nov 7, 2013 20:16:23 GMT -5 DrBackflipsHoffman said:

Nov 7, 2013 20:02:37 GMT -5 Bootista said:

If he had obeyed orders he would be alive, I'm sorry for his family's loss but The Officer is not to blame.

an unarmed guy didn't turn an engine off. He stole the car, but I cannot begin to imagine how a sane and rational response to not turning an engine off can be going into f***ing PROTON CANNON mode or how anyone can just brush this off with such a blase "well them's the breaks, listen to the cops OR THEY WILL KILL YOU OVER UNREASONABLE PIDDLING CRAP"

Here's the thing. We have no idea what happened, perhaps the officers thought he was about to ram them with the vehicle or maybe there were nearby pedestrians they thought were in danger. Maybe he put his hand down and it looked like he was brandishing a weapon, we don't know what happened. I'm giving ths police the benefit of the doubt in this situation.

I'm thinking this might be a case of a white guy not knowing the severity of following an officer's instructions. Us minorities know not following directions from a cop can and most likely will result in your ass getting filled with lead.

[Deleted]

I can't be the only one that laughed at the thread title can I?

[DrBackflipsHoffman]

Nov 7, 2013 20:21:43 GMT -5 Toxik916 said:

Nov 7, 2013 20:16:23 GMT -5 DrBackflipsHoffman said:

an unarmed guy didn't turn an engine off. He stole the car, but I cannot begin to imagine how a sane and rational response to not turning an engine off can be going into f***ing PROTON CANNON mode or how anyone can just brush this off with such a blase "well them's the breaks, listen to the cops OR THEY WILL KILL YOU OVER UNREASONABLE PIDDLING CRAP"

Here's the thing. We have no idea what happened, perhaps the officers thought he was about to ram them with the vehicle or maybe there were nearby pedestrians they thought were in danger. Maybe he put his hand down and it looked like he was brandishing a weapon, we don't know what happened. I'm giving ths police the benefit of the doubt in this situation.

I'm still not convinced it's worth shooting somebody 6 times on guesswork, especially when it's as easy as asking the guys father if the guy owns guns or took off with a gun.

I'm thinking this might be a case of a white guy not knowing the severity of following an officer's instructions. Us minorities know not following directions from a cop can and most likely will result in your ass getting filled with lead.

Possible, but even then, the problem is with the cop in this massive issue.

[01010010 01101001 01100011]

Nov 7, 2013 20:19:00 GMT -5 Yami Daimao said:

Nov 7, 2013 20:02:37 GMT -5 Bootista said:

If he had obeyed orders he would be alive, I'm sorry for his family's loss but The Officer is not to blame.

Did you skim over the part where the officer fired six shots at an unarmed teenager for not turning off the engine?

How do you know the officer knew that the guy with a criminal past, aiming a stolen vehicle at you and revving the engine was "unarmed" (ignoring the whole aiming a car and revving the engine thing by the way)?

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

I think there has been enough stories of cops overusing deadly force that they no longer deserve the benefit of the doubt.

There have also been enough stories of people being morons and not listening to cops, and the cops justifiably using deadly force, so the kid does not deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Until I learn more, I'm assuming both the cop and the kid were assholes.

[Deleted]

As extreme as the shooting may seem to be, I think some people may be missing the part where it says that the pursuit ended up on the campus of Iowa State University.

........if he had been armed, and the cop had "been careful," this story might not be just some story here on FAN, but one all over the national news.

[Yami Daimao]

Nov 7, 2013 20:26:03 GMT -5 01010010 01101001 01100011 said:

Nov 7, 2013 20:19:00 GMT -5 Yami Daimao said:

Did you skim over the part where the officer fired six shots at an unarmed teenager for not turning off the engine?

How do you know the officer knew that the guy with a criminal past, aiming a stolen vehicle at you and revving the engine was "unarmed" (ignoring the whole aiming a car and revving the engine thing by the way)?

The father states he wasn't armed, and if he was, that would have been the officer's reason for firing the shots. Except it wasn't.

The kid's only real crime was fleeing from the police and ignoring their orders to turn off the engine, and while he was inadvertently putting others in danger with his driving, it does not seem like it was his intent to hurt people with the truck. The kid's a giant dumbass for sure, but that does not justify using deadly force.

I'm actually with SuperSweet on this. Couldn't they have just shot the tires as a last resort? Don't they have a method to handle this kind of situation other than ramming the vehicle, or in this case, firing shots into the truck?

[Evilution E5150]

AMERICA!

[01010010 01101001 01100011]

Nov 7, 2013 20:54:55 GMT -5 Yami Daimao said:

Nov 7, 2013 20:26:03 GMT -5 01010010 01101001 01100011 said:

How do you know the officer knew that the guy with a criminal past, aiming a stolen vehicle at you and revving the engine was "unarmed" (ignoring the whole aiming a car and revving the engine thing by the way)?

The father states he wasn't armed, and if he was, that would have been the officer's reason for firing the shots. Except it wasn't.

The father said it for this article. We do not know that he told anyone that the night this all went down. Even if the father did say tell them that, that night, it brings me to the next point.

The kid's only real crime was fleeing from the police and ignoring their orders to turn off the engine, and while he was inadvertently putting others in danger with his driving, it does not seem like it was his intent to hurt people with the truck. The kid's a giant dumbass for sure, but that does not justify using deadly force.

Once he aimed the truck and started revving the engine he put the officer in danger for his life and for the people in the area and that does justify use of force.

I'm actually with SuperSweet on this. Couldn't they have just shot the tires as a last resort? Don't they have a method to handle this kind of situation other than ramming the vehicle, or in this case, firing shots into the truck?

No, that is all complete myth. You do not use a gun for anything but to kill the person it is aimed at. Anything else and you endanger others. No officer with training and brain in his head would ever use a gun to disable anything, that is why we have clubs, TASERs, pepper spray and various items of that nature. On top of that, shooting tires does nothing. It doesn't disable the vehicle, it actually makes it more dangerous by removing the tires. You don't even ram vehicles except in extremely rare circumstance because of the danger involved.

[Sektor]

What a dumbass. Ignoring orders from police officers and acting like a threat to the general public is a pretty sure-fire way to get yourself hurt, and that's the best case scenario. I feel bad for the family, but even at that age I knew not to screw with police officers like this.

[Sparkybob]

Nov 7, 2013 20:06:07 GMT -5 @supersweetbotch said:

Couldn't they shoot the tires instead?

Cops are instructed to only shoot to kill, plus I think you can imagine how f******* difficult it can be with a truck going at your direction to shoot at these small target.

[Red Impact]

These situations are always easier to judge based on incomplete news reports after the fact then they are based on cops having to make spur of the moment decisions.

The dad may say he was unarmed, but neither he nor the cops are omniscient. The kid could have had one that the dad didn't know about. He was already the kind of person who would steal his dad's truck over a pack of cigarettes, it's not outside the realm of possibility that he would have a gun. It's impossible to truly know until after a situation is over, and at that point, you could have more than the bodies of a cop or a suspect on your hands.

"Shoot the tires" is quickly becoming "shoot the kneecaps" for me. I don't really understand why it's considered a realistic solution, considering it's a more difficult shot that, if you miss, risks causing the guy to drive off recklessly. Even if you hit, you can still drive with a flat tire (in fact, you're even more dangerous with it). And even if you hit it, it could very well just make things more dangerous.

One of the more frequent police injuries appears to be caused when officers attempt to 'shoot out the tires' of suspect vehicles. The automobile and the wheels that it rests upon are largely made of steel. The concrete or asphalt roadway that the vehicle rests upon serve to further compound the situation. When a high speed lead bullet is discharged in the general area of a vehicle, ricochets and metal fragments abound. Unlike the scenes depicted by 'Hollywood', the 'shooting out of a tire' can be a precarious and dangerous event.

I'm with Yak on this one, we don't really have enough information here to say one way or the other.