Pellet gun in the actor's studio

I suppose there will be an outcry about the shooting of a 15 year old Florida boy because he was armed with an all but innocuous pellet gun. However, he had painted the only thing on the gun that distinguished it from a 9mm handgun. The small, red, plastic tip had been painted solid black. The pellet gun looked like the weapon that it was intended to mimic.

This was not a murder by a swat team as so many headlines have cried. This was, simply put: suicide by police officer. It is becoming a widely know phenomenon. S.E. Hinton used suicide by police officer to kill off one of the characters in her highly acclaimed novel: The Outsiders. At the end of the novel, Dallas pretended to turn a gun on a police officer and he was shot to death.

It has been widely reported that Christopher Penley, wanted to die, according to statements that he allegedly made before he was shot. Although he was only 15, he turned a gun on a deputy and that left one option for the member of the SWAT team that pulled the trigger. A sharp shooter is employed to "take out" threats. Sadly Christopher Penley was a threat to himself, his hostage and later to the deputies.

I am wondering how long it will take before a lawsuit is filed. The family has already employed an attorney. I am hopeful that they hired an attorney in case their son survived the shooting and not to file a lawsuit. My heart goes out to his family-do not misunderstand me. I cannot imagine losing a child much less losing a child in this way, but lawsuits are won in cases like these because the so-called defense team is a better set of actors. Isn't it strange that our legal system is not based on fact, but on Oscar caliber performances in court rooms across this nation.

As long as you, "do not recall" something or you have a ringer-like a murder victim's father on a police force, as in the case of Brandon Hein-serving a life sentence for a murder that he did not commit, you will prevail. Learn about Brandon Hein's case. Last night Brandon Hein's case was the subject on Dateline. A travesty occurred here.

Christopher Penley was brain dead tonight. His family has donated their son's organs, which is an honorable way to celebrate their son's life. It is a heartwarming twist to this very sad tale.

Last night, Anderson Cooper was ready to hang the SWAT team member-until he saw a real 9mm and the boy's pellet gun side by side. Indeed they looked exactly alike. After which, Cooper's tone changed and he stated that it was amazing how similar the weapons looked.

Further sensationalism in the press occurred last night when the hope that the #2 terrorist in the desert had been assassinated in a remote area of Pakistan. Sadly, the "mark" wasn't present, which seems to be a common theme when we hear that some agency has gone "gunning" for a person at the top of the deck of terrorism.

Sadly, the press didn't learn a lesson after the Sago mine disaster. They have continued with their breaking news and heaped piles of sarcasm and sensationalism atop headlines meant to incite riots. Breaking news by its very nature is misinformation, which by definition is not news. However, if you label something, "Breaking News," you can apparently get away with calling anything murder.