Christopher Roupe, 17, was a ROTC student at at Woodland High School in Georgia who dreamed of serving his country in the Marines. That dream came to an end when he answered a knock on the door of his trailer home. He found himself face-to-face with Euharlee police officers who promptly shot him to death. An officer said that she saw a weapon in his hand. It turned out to be a Wii controller.
The police were there to execute a probation violation warrant against his father. In defense of the officers, a probation violation can be one of the more dangerous assignments though it is not clear whether the father was wanted on a violent crime. However, a Wii remote is not only white but rectangular and thin. It is hardly strange that someone will come to the door with a drink or some other object in his or her hand. Moreover, this was a young boy and not the suspect.
The officer was seen afterward crying after she learned that she had shot an unarmed teenager.
The family says that he had asked who was at the door but received no response. They insist that the shot was virtually immediate after he opened the door.
There are many mistaken shootings including some which are terrible tragic but understandable as when officers chase an individual suspected of a violent crime only to have the suspect suddenly turn on them in the dark. However, this was not the suspect and there was clearly a failure to identify either the person or the object before lethal force was used. It reminds me of the recent case of police shooting a man holding a pair of underwear.
This small police department can expect a wrongful death lawsuit, but the question is what actions will be taken against the officer who is now on administrative leave.
Time for criminal liability to attach to this stupid and insane act….
The shooter also pointed the gun at the young sister that was crying telling her to ‘shut up”.
Bruce, are you kidding me? It happened to be a woman, sadly there is no reason to believe that a male officer might have acted differently. We have seen too many stories of male officers shooting people who should not have been shot.
My question is, understanding how dangerous this could be, why don’t they have a stun gun available in cases of perceived danger? It seems too frequently deadly weapons are the first line of defense for police.
Trainees in some departments are taught that they are in a war, and are becoming more militarized:
(Will The Military Become The Police? – 4). It will get much worse, because the official policy is borne of madness.
Police work isn’t a womans job. She used deadly force not as a last resort but out of fear of being shot.
I can tell you what would happen to one of my clients-she would be charged with Murder or Manslaughter! The reason we are hearing of so many of these in recent years is because of social media, like this blog. It has been going on for the 42 years I have been practicing criminal law but usually made only the local news.
“The reason we are hearing of so many of these in recent
years is because of social media, like this blog. It has
been going on for the 42 years I have been practicing
criminal law but usually made only the local news.”
Without social media and short of reading every local newspaper in the country, how have you been able to know this has been going on for 42 years? I have a tendency to agree with you, but simply can’t without some source of statistics or a study.
Darren Smith,
You are correct. We need more info. Noone mentioned the fact that she (the officer) was serving a parole violation (basically the police officers were coming to arrest the father for violating his parole? The article doesn’t mention if the father was home? If he was, the LOSER sent his son to answer, and open the door-basically asking his son to cover or be the lookout for him). This was probably a very tense moment? I used to work in probation and parole dept for the state of missouri, and I have admit this is a very dangerous situation, when an officer is sent out to arrest someone who has violated their probation or parole.
Darren Smith,
I know that it was part of your job, but please, if you could, inform the people how ‘tense’ this situation could be: serving a warrant for a probation or parole violation. Basically, as an officer, you could be placing yourself in harms way…..
The police in America have gone mad and they are shooting and killing innocent American citizens with impunity. When will the courts and the people finally control these power hungry mad dog animals
I’m willing to accept her tears as genuine. She will voluntarily find another line of work, maybe mentoring at-risk kids as atonement.
Being it a trailer and all, the cops didn’t need to go knocking on the door. They could have used the loudspeaker and siren and communicated. Furthermore, people can easily shoot through a g-damn trailer door. I’m far from happy, that is, I’m pretty doggone judging right now.
Only a psychotic disorder can distort one’s reality to the degree that any object in hand is a lethal weapon. This kid would have been shot if he had been holding a half-eaten banana answering the door. Was she crying for herself or for the kid? For herself wouid point to a prescription drug.
We have a Wii controller that looks exactly like the one in the picture but for the fact it is completely black. I suppose it could resemble and automatic pistol in certain circumstances. Sad.
Cop tears make everything better… #NOT. This chump should be publicly executed as an example to all that believe the shield presents them a “get out of jail free” card.
The us/them divide between civilians and cops seems to be growing
Cops seems to be resorting to violence/weapons faster than ever.
There appear to be few negative consequences to the cops. The consequences to the civilians is readily apparent.
I know some are not going to like this but I need more information: that is what will be in the final report before I make an opinion.
There was some talk about a BB gun being used and a Wii controller. There are Wii controllers that resemble, albeit rather at a minimum, firearms. I don’t know if that matters at this stage or what.
It’s not looking very good for the shooting officer I will grant you, and yes it was a child who was shot but I would like a little more certainty before before I make an absolute judgement either way.
I don’t hear anyone screaming, name calling, ect… If ur that damn paranoid, then take the uniform off, this is ridicules. Thanks for posting, peace,
I don’t hear anyone screaming, name calling, ect… If ur that damn paranoid, then take the uniform off, this is ridicules. Thanks for posting, peace,
As I have said over and over. There is no force more dangerous to the average law abiding citizen than the Police Force.
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