Texas school 911 call: "Put the gun down!"

This 2011 photo provided by the Gonzalez family shows Jaime Gonzalez. / AP Photo/Courtesy of the Gonzalez Family

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - A 911 recording reveals the tense moments in a Texas middle school when police confronted an eighth-grader who was brandishing a realistic-looking pellet gun.

Officers repeatedly yelled "Put the gun down!" When 15-year-old Jaime Gonzalez refused, they fatally shot the boy Wednesday at Cummings Middle School in Brownsville.

Answers sought over cops' shooting of 8th grader
8th-grader killed by Texas police had pellet gun
Police kill armed 8th-grader in Texas school

A six-minute recording of the 911 call that summoned police was obtained Thursday by the Brownsville Herald.

Listen to the 911 call here:

An assistant principal made the call. As officers arrive, she says Gonzalez is drawing the weapon. A moment later, police yell that Gonzalez is running through the hall.

Someone can be heard yelling that the student says he's willing to die. And an administrator is yelling, "Lock the door."

The weapon turned out to be a pellet gun that closely resembledthe real thing. No one else was injured.

Meanwhile, the Brownsville Police Department said they have received death threats after the shooting.

Interim Brownsville Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez confirmed to The Brownsville Herald that the police department's dispatch center received threatening telephone calls and officers have been advised to remain cautious.

Gonzalez's parents demanded to know why officers took lethal action.

"Why was so much excess force used on a minor?" asked the boy's father, Jaime Gonzalez Sr. "Three shots. Why not one that would bring him down?"

The older Gonzalez said he had no idea where his son got the gun or why he brought it to school, adding: "We wouldn't give him a gift like that."

The boy's mother, Noralva Gonzalez, showed off a photo on her phone of a beaming Jaime in his drum major uniform standing with his band instructors. Then she flipped through three close-up photos she took of bullet wounds in her son's body, including one in the back of his head.

"What happened was an injustice," she said angrily. "I know that my son wasn't perfect, but he was a great kid."

Interim Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez said the teen "had plenty of opportunities to lower the gun and listen to the officers' orders."

The chief said his officers acted to protect themselves and other students, firing three shots. There were few others in the hallway at the time.

Shortly before the confrontation, Jaime had walked into a classroom and punched a boy in the nose for no apparent reason, Rodriguez said.

Police did not know why he pulled out the weapon, but "we think it looks like this was a way to bring attention to himself," the police chief said.

Authorities declined to share what the boy said before he was shot.

The shooting happened during first period at the school in Brownsville, a city at Texas' southern tip just across the Mexican border. Teachers locked classroom doors and turned off lights, and some frightened students dove under their desks. They could hear police charge down the hallway and shout for Gonzalez to drop the weapon, followed by several shots.

David A. Dusenbury, a retired deputy police chief in Long Beach, Calif., who now consults on police tactics, said the officers were probably justified.

If the boy were raising the gun as if to fire at someone, "then it's unfortunate, but the officer certainly would have the right under the law to use deadly force."

The school was closed Thursday, but students were able to attend classes at a new elementary school that isn't being used.

Superintendent Carl Montoya remembered Gonzalez as "a very positive young man."

"He did music. He worked well with everybody. Just something unfortunately happened today that caused his behavior to go the way it went. So I don't know," he said Wednesday.

The boy's father was struggling to reconcile recent events, saying his son seemed to be doing better in school and was always helpful around the neighborhood mowing neighbors' lawns, washing dogs and carrying his toolbox off to fix other kids' bikes.

Two dozen of his son's friends and classmates gathered in the dark street outside the family's home Wednesday night. Jaime's best friend, 16-year-old Star Rodriguez, said her favorite memory was when Jaime came to her party Dec. 29 and they danced and sang together.

"He was like a brother to me," she said.

[julianpenrod]

Another case of the New World Order technique of "arguing by the hypothetical", "justifying an inhumane, anti-Constitutional act by saying, "Well, what if it had been different?" You can "justify" any response to anything by asking, "Well, what if it had been this other way?" If there had been a child endangered by Gonzalez, there would be a legitimate way to act. Surrounded, with no children in the line of fire, the situation was different and any action justifiable by the idea of a child being immediately endangered is not valid here! Unfortunately, many don't seem able to reason this finely, anymore, which is what the New World Order worked toward and intends to utilize to try to enslave humanity.

[memorilayne]

While so many of you, not all, are pointing fingers, bashing the police, Stop & think for a split-second how you would be reacting if it were your child still stuck in the hall...not Gonzales in the hall brandishing an illegal weapon on school premises. I'm sure that if someone elses child or an employee of the school was harmed during this sad event, people would be in an outrage at police for not taking enough action. It's a no-win situation for the responding police. Like school shootings in the past, the facts leading this child to take these measures, typically comes out. Was the child being bullied? Was he having family problems? Possibly suffering deep depression & just had no will to live anymore. So, maybe, just maybe he was suicidal & didn't have it in him to commit suicide, therefore taking on more drastic measures to assure his demise. I feel like he wasn't out to kill others or he would've brandished a gun that would aim to kill. Something provoked him, & yes...very sad outcome. But the police will take more of their time & spend it looking for the reasoning behind this teens actions. When they get a conclusion from evidence found, then by all means...jump to your conclusions. At this point, it's premature to bully & bash based on idiocy of not knowing the complete situation.

[Rokidtoo]

So the kid had a pellet gun, was running from the police, and they shot him in the back of the head. The police were threatened. Doesn't sound like an overreation to me. Poor Hispanic youth? We've forgotten already.

[skullmaker]

@Rokidtoo: WRONG!!! He was shot stwice from the front and the hole in the head is an exit wound. He was in no way shape or form running away. Get your facts straight, moron.

[soma12456]

Why are there father and mother in the family. Why should the life be only from the mother.
Who could answer for that questions. Where could we find the correct answer?
The correct answer is here(ihavealreadycome1)http://youtu.be/SPKZ78cIH8c(ihavealreadycome2)http://youtu.be/zXKV78VERio

[gruven13777]

And by the way...all you other cop-hating morons on here need to try and keep up.

The findings from the autopsy said he died from 2 gunshots wounds, and he was NOT shot in the head like his mother had been claiming.

So you can go ahead and stop trying to get yourselves off with that little lie.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/articles/report-135497-gonzalez-head.html

[gruven13777]

I did read it. You are obviously the one who is in
denial and won't read it.

He died from 2 gunshot wounds.
One to the chest and one to the abdomen.
There was no gunshot to the back of the head.

Nice try.

[gruven13777]

Read the autopsy report Perish.

What are you afraid of?
That you won't be able to bash the cops as hard anymore?
Sorry to be the one take the wind out of your sails.

[gruven13777]

per1sh1 - The cops were talking to him.

They can be heard on the tape screaming at him to drop his weapon...and he refused.

What did you want the cops to say: "Hey buddy, can we get you hamburger or something before you decide to pull that trigger and kill some of us?"

[julianpenrod]

What you hear, if anything, are shouts on a tape the police provide and claim to be "authentic". There is no reason to believe what the police say, to see it as anything other than manufactured to protect them. Prove it is the real tape. It's just like the false call that Sarah MicKinley made to 911, so that the gullible wouldn't suspect she murdered Justin Shane Martin in cold blood, probably over a drug deaql gone bad. On that "
call" you don't hear any sound of anyone trying to get in Ms. McKinley's house. But, with a populace who couldn't see that there was no reflection in the infrastructure of Iraq that it held banned weapons systems, it's not difficult to see how so many can be fooled by anything with the tagline "official" on it.

[julianpenrod]

So many issues answer themselves.
Shills for the New World Order Waffen SS they currently call "police" say they had every right to kill Gonzalez because they had the right to protect themselves and because accurate pinpoint shots are unlikely if not impossible. Indeed, GrovesGal says police "are NOT" sharpshooters. If's it's so difficult to get a good shot even when trained as the police are, how could a kid possibly in an agitated state, be expected to be a threat? Especially with the police taking up defensive positions and even likely provided with body armor? And, for all that precision shots are supposedly so difficult to arrange, such as, say, shooting the gun from Gonzalez' hand or hitting his shoulder, why was an officer able to arrange a neat shot to the back of Gonzalez' head?
And another point needs to be made, and hurriedly.
Putting themselves in danger to protect the public is what police are there for!
Even if it means risking a shot to see if something is a pellet gun or not!
NWO quislings who want to make the "rank and file" slaves under a police state jackboot will say the police have a right not to be endangered, but, in fact, that is what their purpose includes! They aren't wearing badges just to be able to sit back, kill anybody at a whim and tell the "rank and file" what to do! They are there to take risks!
That's how you weed out those who genuinely intend to help society and those who are there just for kicks and the prerogative to end any situation by killing everybody in sight and wait for Internal Affairs to issue an obligatory exculpation!
Just like the military are supposed to fight conventional fights, not long distance murder by Predator drone, satellite guided missiles, robot bomb carriers, dragonfly sized monitoring devices and light bending camouflage! When you make the fight dirty and soldier-to-soldier, you know those who sign up really believe in what they're fighting for, and you know that what they're fighting for has substance enough that some people do believe in it! Right now, it's just drugged up sociopaths who got bored with conventional psychotically bloody video games.
What is next? If a robbery suspect plunges in a river, will police refuse to rescue them because that would put the officers at risk, or if an arsonist gets caught in a building they've set fire to, the police will cold bloodedly stand around while they scream as they're burned alive?

[julianpenrod]

"The law is the law" is what the Nazis said. Just because something is the law doesn't mean it is right or ethical or moral or fair or just. The purpose of the police is to protect the citizenry and, frankly, thnat also includes criminals, keeping in mind that, no matter what an individual even is seen doing, they are not a criminal until found so by proper procedure. That is what the police are supposed to do. They are just cutting corners on their way to establishing a police state. Because, in a police state, there is no obligation of the police to the rights of the citizens, only to keep them in order by whatever draconian method works. When those in power or authority take that extra step, even making it harder for themselves, that shows respect for the people. The rule here is kill whoever is raising a ruckus. This shoot first and ask no questions later attitude, along with hair trigger pepper spray and tasers, is something the New World Order Waffen SS storm troopers calling themselves "police" want the Occupy demonstrators, and anyone else who wants to make an issue of rights in the U.S., to see and bear in mind.

[julianpenrod]

"The law is the law" is what the Nazis said. Just because something is the law doesn't mean it is right or ethical or moral or fair or just. The purpose of the police is to protect the citizenry and, frankly, thnat also includes criminals, keeping in mind that, no matter what an individual even is seen doing, they are not a criminal until found so by proper procedure. That is what the police are supposed to do. They are just cutting corners on their way to establishing a police state. Because, in a police state, there is no obligation of the police to the rights of the citizens, only to keep them in order by whatever draconian method works. When those in power or authority take that extra step, even making it harder for themselves, that shows respect for the people. The rule here is kill whoever is raising a ruckus. This shoot first and ask no questions later attitude, along with hair trigger pepper spray and tasers, is something the New World Order Waffen SS storm troopers calling themselves "police" want the Occupy demonstrators, and anyone else who wants to make an issue of rights in the U.S., to see and bear in mind.

[atomant59]

Monday morning quarterbacking is so precise. It's sad that this kid had to die but he could have simply put the gun down. I don't believe any of these officers is elated about this and if they could change it they most likely would. The grand jury will No-Bill them and rightly so.

[Candide8]

The real tragedy is why this miscreants parents allowed him to go to SCHOOL with a gun.

Why didn't he drop the gun - didn't he have respect for cops?

[GrovesGal]

Why in the world do people think that police are sharpshooters? they are NOT! and ACTUALLY, most of the time they MISS! as far as that POS kid, he had it coming. don't know WHY he asked for it. Maybe his parents should be wondering about THAT instead of the 3 shots. my thoughts "Good Grouping Officers!"

[jimmyzick]

The first week of police school you learn to repeatedly say stop resisting, when another cop is apprehending someone. The second week in police school you learn to repeatedly say put the gun down if that person is holding something, doesn't matter what. Makes all audio recording the proof you will need when things go wrong. It's hard to believe it takes weeks to learn these simple tasks.