© FacebookFlorida teen Robert Dentmond
According to police, Robert Dentmond called 911 Sunday evening and told operators he was walking around with an M16 rifle at an apartment complex and that he was going to kill himself before he hung up on the operator.
Officers responding to the scene discovered Dentmond holding what they believed to be a real weapon and began a dialogue with the teen, stating he dropped the toy gun before picking it up and beginning to walk away.
"Deputies gave verbal commands to drop the weapon which he initially did, and as we tried to establish a rapport with the individual, to try to get him to move away from the weapon, he picked it up, rearmed himself, and started walking toward an occupied apartment complex," says Lieutenant Brandon Kutner, spokesperson for the Alachua County Sheriff's Office.
After refusing orders to stop, police opened fire, killing the teen. Dentmond was rushed to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Residents in the complex confirmed they heard Dentmond ordered repeatedly to drop the gun and surrender.
Comment: So the teen didn't even make furtive movements towards the officers, yet they still decided to all open fire and kill him. Another example of police following their typical pattern: shoot first, ask questions later and defend excessive deadly force. It's true the cops were put in a difficult position, as they have to consider innocent people who might be hurt by this man. But for all five to shoot and kill him is overkill. Why not shoot to injure, like aiming at his legs and knees so as to immobilize him?
In a statement to the press, authorities said the gun in question was "a realistic replica of a semi-automatic rifle."
"The Alachua County Sheriff's Office also confirms that five (5) Deputies fired their weapons during the course of this incident," the statement read. "Three (3) of the Deputies on scene are Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) certified, having undergone 40-hours of training in identifying individuals suffering from mental illnesses, individuals in crisis, and de-escalation techniques."
According to the investigators, the officers have been placed on administrative duty while Internal Affairs investigates.
Reader Comments
they're not looking for reasons not to shoot you.
to a person holding a hammer
everything looks like a nail/paid vacation
Yes they needed to protect innocent residents.
To answer the latter part of your comment: with a bullet in the leg, you can still pull a trigger ( or blow yourself up) and kill a few innocent people.
They had a choice and it was the right one. He should have left the "gun" on the ground and we would not be reading about this incident.
As Forrest Gump famously says: "stupid is as stupid does"