Female Cop Shot And Killed A Teenage Boy After Mistaking His Wii Controller For A Gun
His crime: He did nothing more than answer the door while holding a controller of a Nintendo Wii.
By Sadho Ram — 21 Feb 2014, 02:27 AM — Updated over 10 years ago
This is Christopher Roupe. He was 17 years old and wanted to join the Marines. His friends said he looked after them. Not anymore. He was killed by a cop.
Police say that Christopher was shot and killed because he answered the door pointing a gun. Everyone except the Police say he opened the door holding a Wii Remote.
When Christopher Roupe answered the door last Friday, he probably didn’t think death would be waiting on the other side. But that’s exactly what the 17-year-old ROTC student found after the police officer outside mistook his Wii controller for a gun, a lawyer for his family says.
Roupe was killed Friday night after an officer arrived at his mobile home in Georgia to deliver a probation violation warrant for the teen’s father. As the officer tells it, Roupe was holding a gun when he answered the door. But Cole Law, who is representing Roupe’s family, disagrees.
kotaku.com
The female officer, who shot Christopher, told investigators that he answered the door with what appeared to be a gun pointed at her
“The officer fired one shot, striking Roupe,” Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Sherry Lang told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution told the paper.
The Friday evening bloodshed took place at a set of mobile homes along Euharlee Road.
Image via nydailynews.com“The officer immediately called for medical assistance. Roupe was transported to the hospital in Cartersville where he was pronounced dead.”
reason.com
But Cole Law, an attorney representing the family, says that the story "just doesn't add up”
He says eyewitnesses claim the boy had a Wii controller in his hand and was preparing to watch a movie.
businessinsider.in
Controller for the Nintendo Wii console. Image not related. Image used for illustration purposes only.
Image via nydailynews.com"As the eyewitnesses on the scene clearly state, he had a Wii controller in his hand. He heard a knock at the door. He asked who it was. There was no response, so he opened the door, and immediately upon opening the door, he was shot in the chest," Law told WSB.
nydailynews.comChristopher was a student at Woodland High School and was an active member of the school's ROTC program. Friends say he was a nice young man who always looked out for his friends.
'He was a good kid. He always hung out with me and he took up for me,' friend William Corson told the station.
dailymail.co.ukThe officer who fired the shot has been placed on administrative leave. Neighbors told WSB that they saw her right after shots rang out.
"She came out of this house. She put her head in her hands and she was sobbing," neighbor Ken Yates told the station. “This is tragic."
The GBI said the autopsy is complete, and they will turn over evidence to Cherokee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Rosemary Greene’s office.
The funeral for Christopher is planned for Friday.
wsbtv.com
Tragic: Christopher Roupe, 17, planned to join the Marine Corps. after he finished high school
Image via dailymail.co.ukPolice shootings are commonplace in the United States. Many end in death, thanks in part to a shoot-to-kill policy.
The policy requires officers who choose to fire to do so with lethal intentions, and more largely due to a shifting culture that militarizes officers. But questions remain about whether police should be using less lethal approaches — like firing bean bags and using tear gas — more often.
There is very little data on how officers are trained to use weapons, and when or whether less lethal means are a serious part of the training.