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AKRON, Ohio -- A 17-year-old boy's death while he was in Akron police custody has been ruled a suicide, the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office said Monday.
Xavier McMullen died of a gunshot wound to his head Friday while he was detained in a police cruiser. Officers found a .45-caliber gun near him in the back seat, police said.
McMullen's hands were cuffed behind his back when the shooting happened, Akron police Capt. Jesse Leeser said Monday at a press conference.
"The right to keep and bear arms is rooted in both self-defense and insurance against government’s propensity toward tyranny. The right pre-existed the Constitution. Thus, the Second Amendment is not its source. The right to keep and bear arms is natural and inalienable; the Second Amendment protects it, and Congress has no legitimate power to restrict it." - Senator John Cornyn (R., Tex.), as reported in the National Review on July 4, 2016
I am not a lawyer. My answers are based on research, knowledge, and are generally backed up with facts, the Ohio Revised Code, or the United States Code.
The story I read earlier said the officers were searching one of the houses for the reported firearm, after putting him in the cruiser. Someone heard the shot and questioned the officers, who responded it was probably a bottle or something thrown from a passing car. wasn't till some time later they checked on the individual in the cruiser and found it was a gunshot.
"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. . . Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them."
- Thomas Paine
"Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem."
Combine a sloppy pat-down, and a kid not all that skilled in manipulating a pistol with his hands cuffed behind his back, trying frantically to get it out of his belt and stuff it down in the seat before it's found --- I can see this happening very, very easily.
But here's the rub -- who's more responsible for his death -- the cops that should have found it --- or the kid who put it in his belt in the first place ?
docachna wrote:Combine a sloppy pat-down, and a kid not all that skilled in manipulating a pistol with his hands cuffed behind his back, trying frantically to get it out of his belt and stuff it down in the seat before it's found --- I can see this happening very, very easily.
But here's the rub -- who's more responsible for his death -- the cops that should have found it --- or the kid who put it in his belt in the first place ?
How do we know he was trying to ditch the firearm rather than killing the officers, or himself? Hiding the gun or attacking the cops both seem more likely to me than suicide, I must say.
Okay, the cops screwed up. But the kid's death was by his own doing, pure and simple. Of course that won't stop the family from hiring a shyster to help them play the ghetto lottery, as deanimator calls it.
Quit worrying, hide your gun well, shut up, and CARRY that handgun!
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1911 and Browning Hi Power Enthusianado.
If it truly is self-inflicted then family should get nothing. The officers should be reprimanded though for the lousy search.
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docachna wrote:Combine a sloppy pat-down, and a kid not all that skilled in manipulating a pistol with his hands cuffed behind his back, trying frantically to get it out of his belt and stuff it down in the seat before it's found --- I can see this happening very, very easily.
But here's the rub -- who's more responsible for his death -- the cops that should have found it --- or the kid who put it in his belt in the first place ?
How do we know he was trying to ditch the firearm rather than killing the officers, or himself? Hiding the gun or attacking the cops both seem more likely to me than suicide, I must say.
Okay, the cops screwed up. But the kid's death was by his own doing, pure and simple. Of course that won't stop the family from hiring a shyster to help them play the ghetto lottery, as deanimator calls it.
I'm guessing these are the most likely scenarios.
Who's more responsible? He is.
docachna wrote:Combine a sloppy pat-down, and a kid not all that skilled in manipulating a pistol with his hands cuffed behind his back, trying frantically to get it out of his belt and stuff it down in the seat before it's found --- I can see this happening very, very easily.
But here's the rub -- who's more responsible for his death -- the cops that should have found it --- or the kid who put it in his belt in the first place ?
IMO the kid, but then I'm not a litigator, nor will I likely be allowed to be on the jury for a lawsuit, if it occurs.
MyWifeSaidYes wrote:I understand the feeling that this death is of the individual's own doing and is his own fault...but there is a catch...
He was in police custody at the time.
How do you search a detainee before putting them in your cruiser and completely miss a .45 caliber handgun?
Simple. Either you failed to search the detainee or the detainee has an impressive anal cavity.
Figure out which one and we'll know who's at fault.
When I said I believed the kid is more at fault, I'm not saying the officers may not have done anything wrong procedurally. I just don't feel that the officers involved should be held liable for it, whether it was an accident or intentional suicide. (based on the current information given out so far)
It's important to point out that he was detained (not under arrest) at the time he was placed in the cruiser. Policies tend to give more latitude on whether a pat down occurs when somebody is merely detained. Sometimes in the heat of a dynamic multi-person situation people are stuffed into cruisers immediately to get them separated while the situation is being brought under control and arrest determinations are made.
In a world with unlimited time and resources everyone getting put into a cruiser for any period of time would be frisked every time and it would be a 15 minute strip search, including a squat and cough, for their safety of course. But people have rights and time is not unlimited. Every police policy I've ever read recognizes this.
