Santa Rosa Police Lt. Lance Badger holds an actual AK-47, right, next to a replica Airsoft carried by Andy Lopez, 13, when he was shot and killed by a Sonoma County Sheriff's deputy on Tuesday. The guns were displayed during a press conference in Santa Rosa on Wednesday, October 23, 2013. (photo by John Burgess/The Press Democrat)

Letter of the Day: Hard to fathom

Hard to fathom

EDITOR: The report of the 13-year-old boy killed by police is fresh, and all the facts are not out. We've seen the replica gun - it looks real - and if one sees a person walking around with that, it should be reported. There should be a police response. The question is, did the boy aim at the deputies? That's the only justification.

The deputies are supposed to be trained to avoid homicide whenever possible. I find it really difficult to believe that a 13-year-old premeditated suicide-by-cop. He was walking to his friend's house to show off how cool he was, misguided though that may be.

I'm skeptical the boy raised the toy gun at the deputies. He was probably terrified to have been surrounded by cops. He ducked or made some other harmless, defensive measure. Maybe subsequent facts will prove me wrong, but I seriously doubt he made an aggressive move toward the cops. Did he think he could kill them all Bonnie-and-Clyde style with his toy gun? Of course not.

The deputies either have very bad judgment or are trigger-happy thugs. Either way, this is wrong.

DIANA NICKOVICH

Santa Rosa

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