This story really astounds me. Ever since I first learned of the details, I’ve felt so angry.

I raised a teenage boy starting when he had just barely turned 14. He had multiple mental health diagnoses and could be a serious handful at times. He also had serious trouble regulating his emotions.

Before he came to live with my partner and me, he had some violent outbursts with his parents. In one incident, a knife was even involved.

But we lived in Canada, and things are different there. At least where I lived in Montreal, police are not trained to shoot first and ask questions later. They de-escalate and bring in proper social services.

The night of that knife incident, the boy came to live with us permanently. Eventually, some healing started to happen, and he grow up to be fairly well balanced and happy.

I can only imagine what would have happened to him if he had lived in Chicago or New York City. If the police had been called, would they have shot him to death?

I don’t like to think about it.