Suicide by cop? Are you serious? I've heard it all now!

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/246140/NY_teen_with_hairbrush_shot_20_times_by_police">NY teen with hairbrush shot 20 times by police

A teenager was killed by police who thought he was holding a gun. The New York teen was
shot 20 times and it was later found that Khiel Coppin was carrying a hairbrush, not a gun.
Officers received a 911 call from the teen’s mother around 7 p.m. Monday night.
The 911 operator heard the teen yelling in the background, claiming he had a gun.

When the officers arrived at the home, they could see the 18-year-old Khiel Coppin, pacing
inside the first floor apartment. His mother was waiting for the police outside.

The teen began screaming at his mother from the window and at the officers, before he started
climbing out of the window towards them. He had an object with him while he was approaching them.
The officers asked him to stop, but he didn’t listen, so they shot him 20 times thinking he was
carrying a gun and may pose danger to them, according to the police spokesman Paul Browne.

Police said it was not immediately known how many of the 20 bullets struck Coppin, but he was
pronounced dead at the hospital.

The investigators later discovered the object Coppin was holding: it turned out to be a harmless hairbrush.

Coppin’s mother tried to have him hospitalized earlier in the day and it seems he had a history
of mental illness. Whether the mother conveyed this news to the police is not clear.

It is a tragedy, and the police could have used non-lethal force like rubber bullets or taser.
Then again, even the latter causes deaths. Non-violence may have been the best possible option.

They are doing an investigation to find out who is at fault, according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg,
who told the media: The circumstances of how it occurred at this point is under investigation and
you can rest assured that we will take this very seriously,"

New York already has too many incidents like this. In November 2006, Sean Bell was killed in a 50
bullet gun fire on his wedding day and in 1999 African Immigrant Amadou Diallo was hit by 19 of 41
shots fired by police in the Bronx.