Shoot Out

The Michigan suburb of Warren had a shootout yesterday.

Warren police are investigating whether their officers acted properly when they shot and killed a teenager inside his Warren home Sunday morning.

Police say the teen shot at officers before they opened fire on him at his house in the 13000 block of Martin Road. The officers are on routine paid administrative leave while the incident is investigated.

Family members identified the teen as (name withheld), 18, whose family moved to Michigan about 15 years ago from Laos in southeast Asia.

Police declined to divulge details, including the identities and number of officers who shot the teen.

Police said they arrived at the house at 9:45 a.m. to arrest the teen after getting a call from family members who said he shot a gun into the ceiling of their home the previous evening and stole his father's truck. Family members said (name withheld) was angry his father refused to let him borrow the truck.

The next morning he returned and police were called. Police whisked family members from the house before approaching the teen in the basement.

"There were shots, maybe eight or 12," (a neighbor) recalled.

Of course, there is the typical big stink that the officers' acted with malous, that the kid was shot indiscriminantly, etc.

(the victim's) cousin (name withheld) painted a different picture, saying (victim's) rage caught everyone by surprise. He was a typical teen who enjoyed hunting and fishing, Vang said...

Neighbor (name withheld), a retired fifth-grade teacher, said she delighted in listening to the teen's younger sisters laugh and play while she sat on the porch across the street.

Yet, both sides can't be right. There is a different picture painted by other neighbors.

Neighbors weren't shocked to see police at the house. They said the teen often fought with family members and once smashed his own windshield with a hammer.

"Police were there at least six times this year... I'd see him smashing and breaking things. One day I saw him come out with a rifle. I knew it was only a matter of time before something bad happened."

Any police shooting is a terrible thing - but it is wrong to automatically assume the police did something wrong. If some guy is coming at them with a rifle, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out they will draw and shoot. Who can blame them? Obviously the family felt threatened and frightened.

No one wins in a police shootout. The police aren't happy... they may have done the right thing, they may not have had any other option without losing officers, but they aren't happy about it.

A medical examiner is to conduct an autopsy today to determine the cause of death.

I am not a doctor, but I'd bet the cause of death is probably the "eight or twelve" shots fired by police. Which, looking at the reporting in this case, makes it look like the police just opened fire on this kid. Perhaps they should have withheld any details until the investigation was finished.