Seven Times

In Erica's post seven times she discusses the tragic shooting of a thirteen year old child. This child was shot and killed by a police officer because he was holding a realistic looking toy gun. Erica seems to focus more on the emotional shock of the fact that the child was shot seven times before the police officers ceased firing. This is tragic however she does not mention that the toy gun was pointed in the direction of the police officers after they asked the child to drop the weapon. This gun as shown on this site does not posses an orange tip to indicate that the gun that looked like an AK was in reality a play thing. Through the use of her repetition of  of the phrase "Why seven times?" she indicates that the police officers brutally assaulted the child. The police officers told the child to drop the weapon, instead the child turned to face the officers. Understand, being a police officer is a high stress job in which officers are literally asked to potentially place their lives on the line and this child was holding a toy that looked exactly like a real AK. These officers had also been sent to investigate a suspicious person in the area. This was a tragic misunderstanding at the least and the officers will have to live the rest of their lives knowing they shot and killed this child. If a gun were pointed in your general direction would you have been able to do better knowing full well the damage a real gun could cause, and your obligation is to do what ever is necessary to prevent that damage?