NYC Cops Kill Teen Holding Brush-Not Gun

(AP)  An unarmed, mentally ill teenager could be heard cursing and yelling "I've got a gun!" during a frantic 911 call made by his exasperated mother before police arrived and killed him with a 20-bullet barrage, according to a tape of the call released Tuesday.

Police officials said that although the woman had said her son didn't have a gun, Khiel Coppin gave five officers no choice but to open fire after he suddenly charged them outside her home with a black object in his hand. It turned out to be a hairbrush.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the 18-year-old pointed the brush at officers "as if he were aiming a gun," and repeatedly ignored repeated orders to "stop, show his hands and get on the ground."

The district attorney is investigating, but Kelly said officers reasonably believed Coppin was about to use deadly force, and that their response appeared to be within NYPD guidelines.

Kelly also said Coppin had brandished a pair of knives when officers first arrived, at one point taunting police by saying, "Come get me. I have a gun. Let's do this."

Coppin's family denounced the police department for quickly concluding that the officers were justified in their response.

"Nobody but Houdini himself could have decided that in 24 hours," family attorney Paul Wooten said.

The 17-minute episode began about 7 p.m. Monday when officers arrived at the Brooklyn home in response to a report of a dispute involving a gun. The mother, Denise Owens, had summoned a psychiatric intervention team earlier in the day, claiming her son was suicidal, but he took off before the team arrived, Kelly said.

In the 911 call, while the emergency operator took down the address in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a male voice was overheard in the background, saying, "I got a gun and I'm gonna shoot you," and, "I've got a (expletive) gun!"

When a 911 operator called back about five minutes later to ask Owens for a description of her son and the weapon, she told the operator, "He does not have a firearm," a second transcript shows.

"I'm flipping out," the mother added. "I can't handle this."

When officers arrived at the home, they encountered Coppin inside with the knives. They backed off and ordered his mother and younger sister outside.

The teen began screaming from a first-floor window at his mother and officers before climbing out of the apartment window and crossing a sidewalk toward the officers while holding the hairbrush in his hand, police said.

The officers backed up and ordered him to stop, police said. When the teen refused and kept approaching them, they began shooting from a distance of 5 to 7 feet, police said. Police said eight of the 20 bullets struck Coppin, who was pronounced dead at a hospital.

"This was a terrible tragedy for Khiel's family," Kelly said.

Kelly said Coppin and had been taking antipsychotic medication had been admitted to a hospital for his mental problems.

Investigators also recovered notes they said were written by Coppin with rambling observations about death and disillusionment. One read: "Those closest 2 death iz closer 2 happiness."

The victim's brother complained his background had been distorted by the media.

"He is a human being," said Joel Coppin. "What we want is simply justice. ... We don't want headlines. We want justice for Khiel so every young black man in the city'll never go through this again."

Police said two of the shooters were Hispanic and three white.

A neighbor, Bernice Sanders, said she looked out her window Monday night after hearing the police order someone to "Get down!" She also described seeing officers with their guns drawn, taking cover behind a car.

"The boy did not respond to them," she said. "Next thing gunshots, 'Boom, boom, boom.' The young boy is laying on the ground. They handcuffed him on his back."

Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, came to the officers' defense.

"This is an unfortunate situation where the deceased convinced everyone involved -- from family members to responding officers -- that he was in possession of a gun," Lynch said. "Tragically, he sought and succeeded in forcing a deadly confrontation with police."

Police said Coppin's mother had attempted to have him hospitalized earlier on Monday, and that the teen had a history of mental illness.

The killing of an unarmed man in a hail of police gunfire brought back memories of previous high-profile incidents: the 50-bullet barrage that killed the unarmed Sean Bell on his wedding day in November 2006, and the 1999 killing of unarmed African immigrant Amadou Diallo, who was hit by 19 of the 41 shots fired by police in the Bronx.

[kailumego1]

RACISM REARS ITS UGLY HEAD AGAIN!

Not to long ago there was an article where a cop accused of killing an irrational lunatic was castigated and vehemently demoralized by a majority of posters, so what''s changed?

The article mentioned profiled a white cop accused of killing a high-strung white male menacing and antagonizing the officer...

Posters were outraged and filled with venom as they lashed out at this cop for forging abusive force...

So, what''s different here, cops where white alleged assailant black?

You people are so transparent, this isn%u2019t let%u2019s %u201Cstring up a cop week%u201D, there%u2019s enough creditable evidence to support %u201Cpolice brutality%u201D, because, unfortunately, although many of you still remain in denial, it does exist.

So, I guess, according to your jaded analogy, during the mid-1900 on back, when Southern law enforcement e.g. Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, etc. helped shield fellow Klansmen, and participated in some of the lynching of blacks, this was a figment of someone%u2019s imagination, because it simply didn%u2019t happen.

[kailumego1]

Likewise, I guess, when Northern law enforcement went on %u201Chead-breaking rounds%u201D, randomly snatching blacks out of cars, off the streets, and beating the %u201Cliving daylights%u201D out of them, that too was a figment of someone%u2019s imagination.

If fellow officers take it upon themselves to %u201Chang nooses%u201D in locker rooms where the entire police force can view what makes you think they can perform their duties %u201Cobjectively%u201D.

Certainly there are %u201Cgood%u201D cops, %u201Cthank God%u201D; however, people can%u2019t turn off and on their ideological beliefs, perceptions, or prejudices, simply as a matter of requirement.

They are what they are! And like it or not, blacks are treated differently by law enforcement than whites, and as much as white folks love to point their self-aggrandized finger at others, they are just as disorderly, violent, %u201Cghetto%u201D, and uncivilized as some blacks..

I remember when a time when large metropolitan cities were terrorized daily by the gratuitous violence of white gangs, organized criminals, and street thugs, robbing, killing, maiming, shooting, etc.

So, all the proselytizing, as though you have risen above this type of %u201Cbarbarianism%u201D is a %u201Claugh%u201D, because you%u2019re still terrorizing only this time you have legitimized it, the war in Iraq, gunrunning supplying guns and ammunition to %u201Cguerrilla factions%u201D.

[pugster]

What if this mentally unstable guy used deadly force in front of the officers or his mom? And then those crazy african american protestors will complain that the cops stand there doing nothing about this situation.

[missingamerica]

It is a shame that, especially with that many officers showing up, a couple of them didn''t have shotguns with rubber bullets and the whole group didn''t have a coordinated plan to tag him and take him down.

Failure - really, an utter lack - of on-scene leadership.

[michaelt302]

It always amazes be how consistently "anti-cop" these CBS forums are. Each and every time there''s a story involving the police, the vast majority of the posts blast the cops, as if they were each of you guys'' worst enemies. Have you not ever been helped by a cop? Do you think they are against you? In my experience, the only people who think cops are their adversaries are people who are basically bad. People who are anti-law. People who break the law casually. People who have been involved in crimes. To normal civilized people, cops are not the enemy. Cops in fact can be your saviors. Let''s put an end to these knee-jerk "blame the cop" type responses.

[michaelt302]

Mentally ill kid who was suicidal, and at the same time too chickensh*t to kill himself(like most of us would be, I guess). Cops are 100% not to blame here. Crazy kid is 100% at fault. Put this case to bed. Case closed.

[redfoxw]

This is another example of irresponsible police misusing firearms or tasers. The police dhould have used common sense and their eyes before blasting away
at an unbalanced mental patient.

[lizardbate]

In the miltary pulling guard duty, we were taught to wing a man if possible, not going for the kill. I have some sympathy for the cops situation based on the information they were given prior to arrival on the scene, BUT, BUT, BUT, a 20 round barage at one person and apparently meant to kill, or the cops just were not good marksman and it took that many shots to beleive they could take him down. To me sounds like a bunch of "yo yo''s for cops.

[redfoxw]

This is another example of irresponsible police using
firearms or tasers without using good judgement and their eyesight to survey the situation before acting.

[sgtrds]

SharnCedar

You are just plain wrong this time...........