The Denver Post
Cops say shooting of teen was justified
Wednesday, October 27, 2004 -
Denver police officer Randall Krouse squeezed the trigger of his Taser, planning to fire it at the knife-wielding, 15-year-old Paul Childs.
When he heard a pop, Krause first thought that the stun gun had gone off. Instead, it was one of the fatal shots fired by officer James Turney. Krouse, who was just behind Turney at the time of the shooting, said Childs had a blank stare and was "in another world" as he approached the officers with the knife. "Thank God Jim shot him," Krouse said in testimony Tuesday. "I truly feel that if Jim hadn't shot him, myself or Jim would have been stabbed," Krouse added later. Krouse and the two other police officers who witnessed Turney shoot the developmentally disabled teen on July 5, 2003, testified at a civil service hearing on Turney's appeal of a 10-month suspension. Turney, 30, is appealing the suspension handed down for alleged procedural mistakes leading to the shooting and for allegedly making telephone threats against his former mother-in-law. He was not charged criminally in the shooting. Childs' 17-year-old sister, Ashley, also testified Tuesday. She said Paul ran away from home about three times a week and that the family usually called police. Clinging to a tissue, she said she thought police would wrestle Paul to the ground like officers did on television shows. "I was thinking he wanted attention," Ashley Childs said through tears. "Do you call police when your brother wants attention?" asked attorney Doug Jewell, representing Turney. "Yeah," she replied. Her testimony, however, was inconsistent with a tape of the 911 call played during the hearing. On the tape, she tells an operator that her brother was chasing her mother with a knife. The other officers testified that they considered the call to be serious. One, David Naysmith, said he thought using a Taser on Childs might have been an option. But, he said, "I thought he was getting very close to officer Turney, and anything could happen at any time." Naysmith said it was "a very traumatic day for me." Officer Todd Geddes, who was standing next to Turney that day, said he nearly fired a shot himself. "Why didn't you?" Jewell asked. "I didn't have a clean shot," Geddes replied. Staff writer Sean Kelly can be reached at 303-820-1858 or skelly@denverpost.com. |