‘I could’ve killed you’: Ohio police officer lectures boys with BB gun
TheGrio has launched a special series called #BlackonBlue to examine the relationship between law enforcement and African-Americans. Our reporters and videographers will investigate police brutality and corruption while also exploring local and national efforts to improve policing in our communities. Join the conversation, or share your own story, using the hashtag #BlackonBlue.
In a tense exchange that was captured on body cam, an Ohio police officer lectures two young boys about the dangers they face by carrying around realistic BB-guns.
Saturday evening, the officer received a call about “two young male blacks” who had flashed a gun. Monday, the Columbus Police Department released the footage of that encounter, which included the sobering lecture Officer Peter Casuccio gave the boys.
“You can’t do that dude, in today’s world,” Casuccio says. “Listen, that thing looks real.”
The children are visibly shaken up and apologized after Officer Casuccio explained to them that he could have killed them. When he asks their age. One boys says he is 11 and the other 13.
“I didn’t know it was a BB gun till it hit the sidewalk,” the officer said.
“Do you think I want to shoot an 11-year-old? Do you think I want to shoot a 13-year-old?” he asks them. They reply, “No, sir.”
“Do I honestly look like the type of dude that wants to shoot anybody?” he asks. Again, the boys reply, “No, sir.”
“But do I look like the type of dude that would shoot somebody?” he asks.
“Yes, sir,” they answer.
The officer tells them he had served in the military and prides himself on being a “pretty bad hombre. Because I got to be.” Then he warns: “Don’t make me.”
Officer: "I could have killed you." Columbus Division of Police just released this video of an Ohio officer explaining to two boys the dangers of carrying realistic-looking BB guns. LISTEN to the full lecture Officer Peter Casuccio gave the boys. pic.twitter.com/UF4Yg8qttv
— WJZ | CBS Baltimore (@wjz) October 17, 2018
The footage also includes an exchange later between the officer and the mother of one of the boys.
Casuccio tells her that when he pulled up and saw one of them with the gun, “I’m not going to lie to you, doing cop stuff, I drew up on them.”
“He could’ve shot you for that, you know that?” the distraught mother is heard telling her son. Casuccio tells her that it wasn’t till the gun fell, that he realized for the first time that it was just a toy.
“Regardless of what people say about the dudes wearing this uniform, we care, we legitimately care,” he tells the boys.
“The last thing I ever want to do is shoot an 11-year-old, man. Because your life hasn’t even gotten started yet. And it could’ve ended. Because I wouldn’t have missed.”
“I could’ve killed you. I want you to think about that tonight when you go to bed. You could be gone. Everything you want to do in this life could’ve been over,” he finishes.
The young man in the video, accompanied by is mother, later told CBS News that he regrets carrying the gun.
“I didn’t think about it before I did it.”
