woman and son
© The Free Thought Project
Calling law enforcement for assistance has been a fatal mistake for thousands of American families — but that painful reality didn't occur to Colorado mother, Tobi Ferguson, until her son joined the astonishingly long list of those killed by police.

Instead of the much-needed assistance Tobi hoped her call to officers would provide for her troubled son, Michael, police showed up and killed him.

Knowing Michael had several outstanding warrants, including a felony, his mother naively felt calling the cops was the right thing to do. But instead of straightening out his issues, Tobi's call to police became cause for planning Michael's funeral.

"My son was in trouble a little bit, I'm not defending my son in any way," she emphasized, according to the Denver Channel. "We were trying to help him and bring him in safely."

Michael took a truck from his mother's workplace — but failed to return the vehicle by the agreed upon 5 p.m.

Knowing Michael would be headed for her best friend's house in the now-stolen truck, Tobi alerted police to his whereabouts — though she informed them of various extenuating circumstances in an attempt to thwart potential misunderstandings at the scene.

"I let them know that he was unarmed, I let them know that he was scared, I let them know that he would try to run," she recalled.

Her caveats, however, weren't heeded by responding officers.

When police arrived at the house, Michael expectedly tried to flee through a back window. Police claim that an altercation took place in the middle of the road and Michael tried to reach for one of the officer's guns in its holster.

As the three officers fought with Michael over the weapon, the Denver Post reported police said, the gun discharged. After that initial shot, Commander Bob Archer of the Denver Police Department's major crimes unit said an 11-year veteran of the forces shot the young man, killing him.

"Our witnesses and evidence suggest that gun was discharged in the struggle," Archer explained vaguely.

Denver Police refused to release the names of officers involved in the incident, how they were injured, and who fired the fatal shot.

Though precisely why Michael had been wanted by police isn't entirely apparent — police refused to elaborate on outstanding charges — the Denver Post reported he had a failure to appear warrant.

Police never claimed Michael had a weapon — only that he attempted to flee from officers, once in the stolen truck and a second time by unsuccessfully commandeering a patrol car. An investigation is now underway.

Two officers received unknown injuries during the fracas and were taken to the hospital, but did not need to be kept overnight. The nature of those injuries was not disclosed.

As would be expected, while police investigate themselves, the unnamed officer responsible for Michael's untimely death has been granted the typical reward for doing so: paid vacation known technically as administrative leave.

It wouldn't be a stretch to predict the Denver Police will find they did nothing wrong in cutting a troubled young man's life short — and that they followed procedure to the letter.