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OPINION

Editorial:Teen's shooting deserves full scrutiny

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Comments (9)

Friday, February 5, 2010

(Updated 3:00 am)

As painful as it may be, tough questions need to be asked in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of a knife-wielding 17-year-old Tuesday by a Guilford County sheriff’s deputy.

Following standard procedure, State Bureau of Investigation agents will conduct the probe and forward their findings to the district attorney.

Any time a life is taken by a law officer, such inquiries are necessary. The victim’s age in this instance only heightens the public’s interest in what happened and why.

While it may seem unfair to second-guess an officer faced with making split-second, life-and-death decisions, it’s the only way to determine legally if he or she made the correct call.

The Sheriff’s Office’s initial investigation indicates Deputy Barry Glossan responded to a domestic call at a Moutline Drive home, where he was confronted by Christian Rook, who advanced toward him with a 12-inch butcher knife.

The deputy then reportedly shot the teenager once in the chest. Rook later was pronounced dead at Moses Cone Hospital.

In a recording of emergency radio traffic, Glossan tells dispatchers, “He won’t drop the knife,” followed by “shots fired,” and “send EMS.”

And on two 911 calls from the home, the caller said Rook was threatening people there and to “fight police if they come out.” According to court records, Rook previously had been arrested on an assault charge and spent 12 days in the Guilford County jail.

Nonetheless, the fact-gathering has only begun.

Family and neighbors must be interviewed. More must be learned about Rook’s mental state and if he was taking medication. Court records show his mother earlier had told a judge her son suffered from a bipolar disorder.

Even though law enforcement officers are trained to use deadly force to protect themselves and the public in such situations, it’s worth knowing if there were nonlethal options. For example, could a Taser gun or pepper spray have been used effectively?

Had the scenario involving an armed young person played out on a school campus rather than at a private residence, would there have been a similar response? Local law enforcement officials have argued that, on campuses, Tasers can be a safer, viable option to firing a weapon.

Also, given Rook’s behavior, questions arise as to whether first-responders are adequately trained to deal with aggressive people showing signs of mental instability.

Finally, officers caught up in such tragedies themselves are victims and often need counseling. No one could ever be fully prepared for what happened here this week.

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Interested

February 5, 2010 - 7:05 am EST

The "tasers in school" issue is a thought that came to my mind when first reading this story. This boy, at 17, should still be a student somewhere in the GCS system. That he was armed and looking for a fight, and that he was shot and killed in response, should give pause to the anti-tasers-in-school faction.

Another question that arose in my mind was how the state mental health provider issues of the past few years may have affected this situation. Was this boy receiving treatment or did the turmoil of late impact his family's ability to access care?

In any event, a tragedy for all involved.

Panacea

February 5, 2010 - 7:07 am EST

I think Deputy Glossan is going to carry the weight of this for a long time.

I don't know all the facts of this case, but I doubt a Taser was an option. This kid had a weapon, and the officer was alone. Taser's don't always work, especially on big, beefy people like Rock. When someone comes at you with a knife this big, protecting your life, and the lives of innocent bystanders, is the only consideration.

Voice of Reason

February 5, 2010 - 9:32 am EST

This incident will be investigated, and Deputy Glosson will be found to have acted appropriately. This editorial still reeks of second guessing. Had there been two officers onscene, use of a Taser MAY have been an option. But in this case it was one deputy against one assailant. The deputy acted appropriately- when faced by a threat from a deadly weapon, deadly force is authorized and appropriate. The police wouldn't expect an average citizen to try to use martial arts, mace, or a baton to disarm someone coming at then with a knife, and the public shouldn't expect a law enforcement officer to risk his life unnecessarily either. Law enforcement personnel know mace and TASERs are imperfect instruments- most have stories where mace only angered the assailant more or where only one TASER probe made contact, and there is no time for a do over. Law enforcement is shown videos during training that show how fast a person with a knife can cross from a safe distance to killing range, and its terribly fast- 21 feet in about a second, nearly twice the distance at which Deputy Glosson fired upon Christian Rook. The public's perception of law enforcement is skewed by movies and TV, and officers today are expected to be able to disarm with minimal injury, something that almost never is possible in reality. Officers are trained to shoot in the chest until the threat is stopped, and most times a single bullet is not felt by the attacker until after the third or fourth hits, and it still might not stop him. If you are looking for someone to blame, blame the mental health system in North Carolina that released a dangerous, troubled young man back not just into society, but into the school system, when he was clearly still a danger to himself and others. The failure was theirs, and I expect the SBI's findings will conclude this as well.

snapandwhistle

February 5, 2010 - 10:26 am EST

VoR, the sad fact is that the mental health programs that would have helped keep this kid off the street two years ago have been eliminated due to State funding cuts. That means that instead of being in a group home or receiving intensive psychological help, these people are out in the public with no help. Every chief and sheriff I know has seen an increase in the number of mental health emergencies their officers deal with on a daily basis.

Voice of Reason

February 5, 2010 - 11:37 am EST

Oh, I'm quite aware of this, believe me. But even they should have seen this boy was still a danger.

Doug

February 5, 2010 - 3:23 pm EST

I wonder if it "reeks of second-guessing" to have the SBI investigate. Why not just accept as fact that there was no possible better outcome of this situation, nothing at all to learn from it?

Or, would it be a good idea to conduct an independent examination of this incident, study what happened and maybe devise some different training strategies that might allow a better chance of a nonlethal response?

That is not an attack on the deputy but a recognition that there might be ways to improve.

Voice of Reason

February 5, 2010 - 4:09 pm EST

Just look at the article's title, "Teen's shooting deserves full scrutiny." Every shooting is investigated to the fullest extent- to begin an editorial saying that they expect anything less implies it will be covered up or shoved under the rug. I merely presented the truths that exist within this case, and outlined the ways law enforcement properly conducts business. Unfortunately, far too many people ignorant of proper law enforcement training, procedures, and techniques have commented on this sad story and insinuated that Deputy Glosson did something wrong, that police in this area are trigger happy, that excessive force was used. I even saw someone comment that Deputy Glosson was a "junior officer." As a 10-year veteran, Deputy Glosson has more experience than probably 40% of the officers in Greensboro's police department.

By all means, investigate. But try to understand that where law enforcement is concerned, this case is clear cut. Deputy Glosson acted appropriately.

EGParent

February 5, 2010 - 11:12 am EST

I feel for the family for their loss of a son and Deputy Glosson .

This situation is one that we will see more and more often due to the changes in the mental health programs as pointed out in the Parent forum at Eastern. We have more and more students with mental health issues in our schools with IEP's that protect them from any disciplinary action over 10 days. We need to address this at the state level and we need to identify the problem at the local level and do what we can legally do...
Recent examples...former EGHS student which assaulted the teacher a couple of years ago and a student from Southeast which assaulted a teacher. These students had mental health issues. We need to do a better job in our community and school.
dealing with mental health issues.

fishgutz

February 7, 2010 - 11:35 am EST

Of course the SBI should do there job and verify the circumstances in this shooting. But no honest investigation tries to find facts, if they had been provided to the officer, and then base the reasonableness of his actions on what he could have known instead of what was actually known.
It make no difference, in this case, whether the young man was off his meds. It only matters that this young man had a knife, refused to drop the knife and moved toward the officer with intent to harm.
The larger issue of mental health services has no bearing on whether the officer was justified.
As for mental health issues, it is clear that inclusion needs to end in public schools. Regular class rooms are not the place for students with mental problems that make them unable to control violent behavior. Nor should students that are violent by choice be allowed.
Also, families need to start taking more responsibility for the care of their children. The alternative is not pleasant. Do we return to the days when mentally disturbed children are locked away in asylums where they do the Thorazine shuffle all day? I think most would agree that would not be a humane course of action. And so we as a society must accept that from time to time, people will refuse to take their meds and lose control putting themselves and other people in danger. And in worst cases like this one, someone dies.