Calif. Deputies Kill Boy, 13, Carrying Toy Gun

<img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/travel.aol.co.uk/media/2012/09/toyrexfeatures1293... align="right" width="200"><p>Sheriff's deputies Tuesday <a title="Sheriff's Deputies Shoot, Kill Teen Boy With Replica Rifle In Santa Rosa" href="http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/10/23/sheriffs-deputies-shoot-kill... target="_blank">shot and killed a California teenager</a> who was reportedly carrying a "replica" toy rifle. Was the shooting justified?</p>
<p>Andy Lopez, 13, was killed by Sonoma County sheriff's deputies during an "encounter" just outside Santa Rosa, California, about 3 p.m., San Francisco's KPIX-TV reports. The deputies ordered Lopez to drop his weapon and then opened fire.</p>
<p>Police are only authorized to use deadly force in certain instances. Was this one of those cases?</p>
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<p><strong>Boy Killed Carrying Fake Rifle</strong></p>
<p>Lopez was found carrying a toy gun which investigators described as <a title="Boy with toy gun fatally shot by police in Santa Rosa" href="http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/north_bay&amp;id=929... target="_blank">resembling an assault rifle</a>, similar to an AK-47. According to San Francisco's KGO-TV, Lopez was also found with a plastic toy handgun in his waistband.</p>
<p>This is certainly not the first time that law enforcement <a title="San Jose to pay nearly $5 million for shooting man with toy gun" href="http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_24072624/san-jose-pay-... target="_blank">has fired on someone for carrying a fake gun</a>. Just at last month, the city of San Jose paid out close to $5 million after police shot and injured a man for carrying a fake "gold-colored revolver tucked in his waistband," the <em>San Jose Mercury News</em> reports.</p>
<p>Lopez, however, was not so fortunate. <em>The Press Democrat</em> reports that his father <a title="Deputies shoot, kill 13-year-old boy in Santa Rosa" href="http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20131022/articles/131029886?title=D... target="_blank">identified Lopez's body Tuesday night</a>; at this point, it is unclear whether Lopez's relatives will pursue a <a title="Wrongful Death Overview" href="http://injury.findlaw.com/torts-and-personal-injuries/wrongful-death-ove... target="_blank">wrongful death suit</a> against the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department.</p>

read more at http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2013/10/calif-deputies-kill-boy-13-carr...