The Denver Post
Cop recounts slaying of teen
Friday, October 22, 2004 -
Denver police officer James Turney recognized 15-year-old Paul Childs seconds before he shot him four times, the officer said Thursday - the first time he has spoken publicly about the 2003 shooting.
Turney recognized the developmentally disabled teenager when he emerged from behind a door holding a large knife, but Turney could not remember where he had seen the boy. He would later realize that he had taken the teen home a month and a half earlier after the boy had tried to steal a bicycle, Turney said. "I did not want to have to shoot him," Turney said at a civil service hearing to appeal his suspension. He said he was "hoping" and "expected" the teen would drop the knife. "He had gotten to the point where I felt he could have reached out and stabbed me," the officer said. "At that point, I discharged my weapon four times at center mass." Turney is appealing a 10-month suspension handed down for alleged procedural mistakes leading to the July 5, 2003, shooting and for allegedly making telephone threats against his former mother- in-law. In sworn testimony, Turney, 30, has denied making violent threats against his former mother-in-law and said he acted on his training leading up to the shooting of Childs. Turney answered questions politely, carefully and deliberately, showing little emotion. He said the shooting played out so quickly there was little time to form a plan or put distance between himself and the knife-wielding teen. He also said he was never told Childs was developmentally disabled, only that he had "mental problems." According to police dispatch tapes, about 32 seconds elapsed between the time Turney ran to the front door and told everyone to leave the home at 5550 E. Thrill Place and the time he radioed that a suspect was down and an ambulance was needed. A number of things happened in that short time. Childs' mother, Helen, unlocked the security door. She left the home along with Paul's teenage sister, an adult friend and three children. Another officer, Todd Geddes, told Turney the suspect - Paul Childs - remained behind the front door with a knife. Turney was holding the security door open and ordered Childs to come out with his hands in the air. The teenager came around the door in a "wide arc," Turney said. Turney looked at his face for a moment, then focused on the knife. Childs shuffled forward toward Turney until he was "3 to 4 feet ... maybe 4 1/2 feet" from the officer, holding the knife about shoulder-high. The officers yelled at him three or four times to drop the knife. "I felt that I waited until the last possible moment. I felt that I maybe let him get closer than I should've," Turney said. The teen didn't drop the knife. Turney fired four times. "I believe he staggered back and then fell down," Turney recalled. "He landed on his back." In perhaps the most dramatic moment of the day Thursday, Turney re-enacted Childs' movements that fateful day. Holding his left hand up at his chest to mimic holding a knife, Turney took several short, choppy steps forward to show how the teenager came at him. Assistant City Attorney Karla Pierce grilled Turney on his police training. Echoing Manager of Safety Al LaCabe's words when he announced the suspension in April, Pierce asked Turney why he didn't simply close the security door or retreat. Turney said he took a step backward but did not retreat or close the door because he had not been trained to do so, and another officer was right behind him with a weapon. Instead, he said, his sole focus was on arresting the suspect and stopping the threat. "I feel like I did everything appropriately and the way I was supposed to do in the way that I was trained," Turney said. Childs' uncle, Michael Thompson, attended the hearing, the first time he had ever seen the officer in person. Thompson said he was surprised at his demeanor. "I think there should have been some sorrow, some remorse, some sadness," Thompson said. Thompson said he would ask Turney one question if given the chance. "Why?" Thompson asked. "Why did you have to go that far?" Staff writer Sean Kelly can be reached at 303-820-1858 or skelly@denverpost.com .
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