A Death That Shouldn't Have Happened: Andy Lopez

Andy Lopez was was a thirteen year old boy from Santa Rosa who -according to his mom- had gained a sudden interest in guns. He borrowed a replica AK-47 from a friend but this replica gun did not have the orange plastic on the tip that distinguished it from a real gun. Andy was walking down his neighborhood during one afternoon with the replica gun. He was stopped and shot by deputies on October 22, 2013.

Source: SFGate.com 
Replica gun that Andy had (left) 
compared to a real AK47 (right 

Deputy Erick Gelhaus, the officer who killed Andy said that he felt threatened by the teenager because he demanded Andy to put the gun down and he did not listen. I looked at a picture of a real AK-47 next to the replica that Andy had and I rapidly noticed which one was which and I know nothing about weapons. Deputy Gelhaus as an experienced officer should of also noticed this. 

He also said that he did not stop shooting until Andy fell to the ground. Clearly, this is exaggeration. Lets say that he really feared for his life and that he really did not know it was a replica gun then why would he shoot at him seven times and still missed one shot which went to a home endangering the people that live there. Shooting someone seven times is not a sign of self defense but a sign of anger. Andy Lopez was five feet and two inches and he did not need to be shot at so many times, he was just a little boy!

There could of been various reasons why Andy Lopez did not drop the replica gun when the deputy supposedly told him to. According to reports, Andy had a blue hoodie and shorts. We don't know if he had the hoodie on, or if he was listening to high volumes of music that maybe stopped him from hearing. The officer said that Andy Lopez did not drop the weapon but instead started to walk towards them.  

Furthermore, the teenager could have been scared, surprised, and/or nervous when he saw the officers pointing guns at him and wanted to be helped or even just an explanation. This was not an enough reason for this extreme death. Andy could of been had a disability or special needs. This tragedy happened on October 22, nine days before Halloween. We don't know if Andy Lopez was trying to dress up and had the replica weapon as an accessory. There were so many reasonable options that these officers had so that nobody ended up hurt.

The deputy that shot fire was out of duty during the investigation of the case, however, he was put back on patrol because he was innocent and he was acting in self-defense. This is completely unfair and things like these should not happen; he shouldn't be free. He killed an innocent boy and now he's free. What else can we expect from law enforcement authorities?

Source: NBC Bay Area

"We are all Andy Lopez, the whole damn system is guilty, Andy did not have to die" read the signs that protesters had during Andy's funeral. Most of the protesters were angry and terribly sad for the lost of an innocent boy. Police officers asked the public to not take replica guns to the funeral services because it was seen as a threat. If there were people with replica guns just like Andy, would they have shot them too? 

Andy is not the first innocent person whose death was not made into justice; Trayvon Martin and Oscar Grant were also killed and nothing was done about it. Authorities are supposed to protect us and make us feel safe; however, they commit things that say the opposite. 

Source: Al Jazeera America News

Andy Lopez was just 13 years old, I was in the eight grade during that age. Andy had probably just started his last year in middle school and was excited about high school and maybe even college. He had a family that loved him and that cried for him. He did not deserve this cruel ending.