Date: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 By: Tom Hays, Associated Press
NEW YORK - (AP) An unarmed, mentally ill teenager could be heard cursing and yelling "I've got a gun!" during a frantic 911 call made by his exasperated mother before police arrived and killed him with a 20-bullet barrage, according to a tape of the call released Tuesday.
Police officials said that although the woman had said her son didn't have a gun, Khiel Coppin gave five officers no choice but to open fire after he suddenly charged them outside her home with a black object in his hand. It turned out to be a hairbrush.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the 18-year-old pointed the brush at officers "as if he were aiming a gun," and repeatedly ignored repeated orders to "stop, show his hands and get on the ground."
The district attorney is investigating, but Kelly said officers reasonably believed Coppin was about to use deadly force, and that their response appeared to be within NYPD guidelines.
Kelly also said Coppin had brandished a pair of knives when officers first arrived, at one point taunting police by saying, "Come get me. I have a gun. Let's do this."
Coppin's family denounced the police department for quickly concluding that the officers were justified in their response.
"Nobody but Houdini himself could have decided that in 24 hours," family attorney Paul Wooten said.
I wonder why the Mom called the police if she knew her son didn't have a gun to begin with? We're talking NYPD here. New York's finest. As with most police officers around the country, they have a bad reputation of being 'trigger happy'. Why not call someone at an institution that has a background in dealing with the mentally ill instead?
