Fatal shooting of Texas teen Jaime Gonzalez Jr. leaves parents questioning police

Saturday, 07 January 2012 12:52

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Parents of the eighth-grade boy shot and killed by Brownsville police want to know why so much force was used on their son.

15-year-old Jaime Gonzalez Jr. was shot and killed Wednesday after he pointed a pellet gun at officers and refused to drop it.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Brownsville Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez said that when Gonzalez pointed his gun at the officers, they were going to shoot back. The boy’s gun was actually a CO2-powered .177-caliber pellet pistol that looked like a Glock semiautomatic, according to police.

Jaime Gonzalez Sr. questioned the need for the police to fire three shots at his son, saying, “Why not one that would bring him down?”

Thomas Aveni, an expert on police use of force, said, “If the officer believes life is in imminent danger, it doesn't matter how old is the person who has the gun,” according to the Chronicle.

According to an Associated Press report on startribune.com, Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez said Gonzalez “had plenty of opportunities to lower the gun and listen to the officers' orders, and he didn't want to."

The 911 call from Cummings Middle School Assistant Principal Elizabeth Brito-Hatcher to a male police dispatcher lasted about six minutes. About 30 officers, investigators and emergency medical service personnel went to the school.

The Brownsville Herald reported that preliminary autopsy showed the cause of death coming from a gunshot wound to the chest, and another in the abdomen.

Gonzalez’s family initially reported that the boy had suffered a gunshot wound to the head, and police scanner communications at the time indicated that police believed that also.

Two dozen of the boy’s friends gathered outside the family's home Wednesday night.

Comments (5)

So Wrong what the cops did!! The cops were trigger happy!! I think as Jaime was about to put the gun down, the coppers may have thought he was pointing it at them when in reality he was getting ready to lower it to the ground. Let's see the security video.

Many people more of the chids family want Justice of the police officers but in reality what is justice. Jamie Gonzalez was told to put down the gun repeated numbers of times and still ended up pointing the gun at a officer. If it was the another way for the family gonzalez.. If there was another Kid with the gun and cops did nothing to fix that problem and the kid shot your son Jamie...you all would be blaming the cops why didnt they take any actions to bring down that person. Mr. Gonzalez RIP knew the consequences to his actions and still kept at them. Cops did everything possable.. It is a sad matter a 15 yr old but in reality the cops were defending them and all the other sudents and workers of the school.......

He had more than enough chace to bring the gun down but he didn't listed
R.I.P Jaime

If you point a gun or a close proximity of a gun at an officer, they're going to think you're trying to harm them. This is a no-brainer. Age means nothing when a gun is being pointed at you. And if you do it? YOU GET WHAT YOU GET AND YOU DON'T GET UPSET. Another thug off the streets.

This shooting is murder by police in the name of self defense. They say he had options but in reality did NOT. Too bad they did not video tape it. Only time and more investigations will tell that I am right. Pity.

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Fatal shooting of Texas teen Jaime Gonzalez Jr. leaves parents questioning police

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