Man shot and killed caring airsoft rifle

[jnelsoninjax]

Shortly before 8 a.m. on June 28, police in Broomfield, Colorado, shot and killed Kyle Miller after he brandished a gun at them. Miller was mentally ill. The gun was fake. Miller's younger brother told the police dispatcher both of these facts. For some unknown reason, reports the Denver Post, Broomfield police shot Miller anyway:

A 911 call recorded just before Kyle Miller was shot to death by Broomfield police officers last week shows that his family warned dispatchers the 21-year-old was armed with an Airsoft pellet gun -- not a real handgun.

In response, a dispatcher assured the victim's brother, "Officers are trained in this kind of thing. They're not going to go around shooting people."

Broomfield police received a 911 call around 7:20 a.m. June 28 about a "mentally distraught" man in the Aspen Creek subdivision. While officers were en route, they encountered Miller near the intersection of Aspen Street and Durango Avenue. Miller pointed the pellet gun at police and was shot by officers.

The 911 tape shows that Miller's younger brother, Alex Miller, told police about the Airsoft gun in an attempt to avoid a dangerous confrontation.

"My brother is having a breakdown," Alex Miller told the dispatcher, adding that he woke up to his mother's screams because Kyle Miller was trying to cut himself with a pocket knife. Screams can be heard in the background throughout the 911 call.

On the recording, Alex Miller repeatedly said his brother was carrying an Airsoft gun.

"Can you tell them he has a gun in his hands? Is there any way you can let them know he's got the gun in his hands?" Alex Miller said. "It's not real."

"I know," the dispatcher replied. "The officers are trained in this kind of thing. They're not going to go around shooting people."

More

[DocM]

They can't necessarily take the word of some voice on the phone - they may be wrong or trying to mislead authorities. Yes, its happened.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

They can't necessarily take the word of some voice on the phone - they may be wrong or trying to mislead authorities. Yes, its happened.

i don't know, that red tip on the end of an airsoft gun is usually a pretty big give away to me

[Open Minded]

Officer in question:

[spacer]

Such a pointless waste of life. Not only should the officers not have shot the guy since no one was in any real danger, but they have plenty of non-lethal alternatives they could have used too. Instead, he's dead and his family is destroyed. Good job Colorado policy force! (Y)

[DocM]

i don't know, that red tip on the end of an airsoft gun is usually a pretty big give away to me

People often blacken that red tip to make them look real for various reasons, so cops have to assume they are. Not to mention that a lot of Airsoft guns look very real to start with.

Such a pointless waste of life. Not only should the officers not have shot the guy since no one was in any real danger, but they have plenty of non-lethal alternatives they could have used too.....

The non-lethals like Tasers only have a short range, well within that of a firearm (noting the disguise issue above), so their main use is against someone who is not armed or only has a knife, club etc. They are also not reliable - earlier this week we had a post about a guy that had to be zapped 3-4 times and was still combative.

[Guest nicconics]

Quick ban guns.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

People often blacken that red tip to make them look real for various reasons, so cops have to assume they are. Not to mention that a lot of Airsoft guns look very real to start with.

yeah I doubt a person with a mental disorder would care enough to blacken the tip

[Guest nicconics]

Such a pointless waste of life. Not only should the officers not have shot the guy since no one was in any real danger, but they have plenty of non-lethal alternatives they could have used too. Instead, he's dead and his family is destroyed. Good job Colorado policy force! (Y)

Pointless waste of life?

Miller was mentally ill.
"My brother is having a breakdown," Alex Miller told the dispatcher
Kyle Miller was trying to cut himself with a pocket knife.
[/CODE]

The pointless waste of life would have been if this idiot would have caused someone to have a wreck and die. The cops were, for lack of a better term, culling the herd.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

Pointless waste of life?

Miller was mentally ill.
"My brother is having a breakdown," Alex Miller told the dispatcher
Kyle Miller was trying to cut himself with a pocket knife.
[/CODE]

The pointless waste of life would have been if this idiot would have caused someone to have a wreck and die. The cops were, for lack of a better term, culling the herd.

while true in the natural sense, that's not how "society" sees it

[Tuishimi]

yeah I doubt a person with a mental disorder would care enough to blacken the tip

Well, he could have done it before he snapped (mentally ill could be some sort of bipolar disorder where much of the time a person is "normal" but then has lapses)... but either way the article does not say so I guess we won't know.

It is sad.

[Slacker]

The pointless waste of life would have been if this idiot would have caused someone to have a wreck and die. The cops were, for lack of a better term, culling the herd.

People are not animals

[Guest nicconics]

People are not animals

How are we different other than the higher thought process? We all feel a desire to protect ourselves and our families correct?

[DocM]

People are not animals

You read this series of threads regularly and say that with a (presumably) straight face?!? :rofl:

[Guest nicconics]

You read this series of threads regularly and say that with a (presumably) straight face?!? :rofl:

That is exactly what I was alluding to. Thank you Mr. Doc :p

[ANON86364]

yeah I doubt a person with a mental disorder would care enough to blacken the tip

You doubt.

When an officer has doubt they do not assume the lesser. Rightfully so.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

You doubt.

When an officer has doubt they do not assume the lesser. Rightfully so.

well if the tip was indeed red then there would be no doubt

plus as someone else said, there were plenty of non lethal methods that the officer could have used

[Japlabot]

I can understand officers being cautious for their own safety by taking all objects that look similar to a gun seriously, but the question remains whether the pertinent information about it being a fake gun conveyed to the despatcher was relayed to the officers, which could have made the officers more cautious about how they approached the situation.

[ANON86364]

well if the tip was indeed red then there would be no doubt

Is it impossible for someone to paint it? No, it's not. There is still doubt.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

Is it impossible for someone to paint it? No, it's not. There is still doubt.

that's the thing i'm trying to say though, the article doesn't state if it was painted or not

[DocM]

Try this -

Incident 1: this one

Incident 2: a group of nogoodniks (terrorists, revenge minded gangsta's) wants to mount a small-scale terror attack. One makes the call professing a fake gun, and another carries a real weapon with which to spray the group of cops that gathers. A similar deception is used when a small bomb is set off to attract a crowd, then a second larger one is used to take out the responders.

How do the cops tell the difference?

[hagjohn]

well if the tip was indeed red then there would be no doubt

plus as someone else said, there were plenty of non lethal methods that the officer could have used

And if it the phone call was a hoax and it was a real gun, how many people could have been shot? A judgement call was made. I don't know if it was right but I can understand the officer's decision.

[ANON86364]

that's the thing i'm trying to say though, the article doesn't state if it was painted or not

You are right, the article doesn't say. Therefore it's unfair to judge the officers. They have training that we do not and probably knew more about the situation than we do. There is an investigation looking into it, and if it's found that the officers didn't make the right call, they will surely be reprimanded.

[dfuk]

and whats to stop the bad guys painting the end of their real weapon, to disguise the fact.

[DocM]

and whats to stop the bad guys painting the end of their real weapon, to disguise the fact.

Not one damned thing, and it has been done using a short, painted, piece of PVC.