7 Times

The officers shot out of racial profiling, no doubt in my mind. I won't lie if I saw someone in a hoodie walking around with what appeared to be a real weapon, I'd be a little on edge. What troubles me is the fact that the officers were so quick to shoot without letting the boy answer. The officer fired because the kid supposedly turned around and pointed the gun at the officer. I don't believe that one second because I'm pretty sure no one is dumb enough to point a gun, fake or real, at an officer. I think the kid was just turning around to see who called him but wasn't given the chance too. If officers have free range like this, are we saying that if a ranger calls out to a hunter and they turn around, they have the right to shoot them. Even on the battlefields in Afghanistan,  There are still rules to engagement. Soldiers are not to shoot unless fired upon. Does this mean that people over there who we're at war with get more protection that the citizens who are supposed to be protected by police? The article says the officer was 30 feet away. Even if there's no orange tip, that's still close enough to determine if its a air rifle. As realistic as it may have looked there are still clear distinguishable differences between the two. If this was really and accident, the officer would have shot only once, because at that point the person would shoot back immediately. Seven times though in 10 seconds though..... that tells you that this officer only wanted to kill.