Student shot by police officer

Gabbi Hansen, Staff Reporter
February 2, 2012
Filed under News

   In Brownsville, Texas an armed eighth grader was chased down in the hallways of his own school, Cummings Middle School. He allegedly brought a hand pistol to school and someone reported an anonymous tip about the gun. As soon as the tip was released, the whole middle school went into lockdown and was held all day. They weren’t let out until two hours after the police officers shot the boy. All the students had to be bussed down to a local high school and picked up there by family, or friends.

   While the students were still in lockdown at Cummings Middle School, a boy in a nearby classroom said he heard running of many footsteps and the police officers shouting repeatedly, “Put the gun down.  Put it down.” Therefore this boy who brought the pistol to school, Jamie Gonzalez, had many opportunities to put his gun down but refused. He also ran from the police while pointing the gun at them. Two of the police told the boy to put the gun down one more time before both officers shot at the Gonzalez.

   The police officers did not just shoot one bullet, but three bullets each. Jamie had two bullets still inside him when brought in for examination. The shots killed 15 year old Jamie instantly.  Many friends and family members were shocked and upset. They understood policemen were just doing their job, but they showed frustration about having just a child be so brutally shot. An anonymous friend of Jamie’s said, “I couldn’t understand why Jamie would do such a thing. He wasn’t an angel, but he was a genuine good person. A giving person. I am still in shock at what he did. I don’t think I’ll ever understand why he did what he did.”