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Out-of-town teens with replica guns cause chaos at South Bay Mall

Fake gun

Fake gun in police possession. Photo by Live Boston.

Live Boston reports three teens, from Ashland, Framingham and Brockton, brought police from across the city yesterday after somebody started to tell 911 a teen with a gun was threatening people - and then couldn't finish because the teen had spotted him and began pointing the gun at him.

Police eventually learned a group of at least four teens was in Old Navy with the guns. They managed to subdue two of them, packing what turned out to be realistic looking fake guns, knocking over shelves and merchandise as they roamed the store. A third, a female, was not originally arrested, but began scratching and kicking the arresting officers as she screamed racial epithets at the arresting officers. Police, Live Boston continues, eventually picked her up and carried her over to a prisoner transport wagon.

Two of the arrested teens, including the alleged biting hellion, were 15, one 17. All were charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; she was also charged with assault and battery on a police officer.

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Comments

it must be scary walking into a mall thinking the worst possible things. i wouldn't want that job. one of these idiots raises a gun to a cop and a lot of lives are permanently changed in a split second.

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The police know this is something they will have to deal with. If there's anyone I'm going to get a "must be scary" praise card, it's the people in the stores.... the folks working at Old Navy. Cops got into the game expecting guns and violence. Just like bakers get into baking knowing there will be cakes and reptile wranglers get into it knowing there will be snakes.

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Don't want anyone opening fire in a crowded space.

Gotta wonder what these little alleged shits were thinking, though.

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But we will run their photos in a totally-not-the-cops source of “journalism” like Live Boston!

I don’t expect very much from Live Boston, but Adam should know better than to link to a source that shows these kids’ faces. I don’t care if they broke the story. It is not sufficiently newsworthy to identify the suspects, and it’s really despicable for Live Boston to show their faces without any consideration for the fact that they are children. Especially since Live Boston works directly with the police.

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How is a group of people (of any age) invading a store with fake guns not newsworthy?

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“ It is not sufficiently newsworthy to identify the suspects “.

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the suspects would be named by the media in a heartbeat.

It is time to stop this charade of giving criminal suspects special protection (in this case, withholding their names from the public) because of their age. Pointing guns at people, even if they are only "replicas", is a threat and should be considered as such.

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Give me a sec while I check my sympathy cup for protecting teenagers who actively threaten the public with realistic-looking lethal weapons.. ah, there it is.. and the cup is dry. Oh well.

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Hate to think what could happen if one of them felt ‘threatened’ and drew their firearm in a situation like this.

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Massachusetts doesn't have a stand your ground law. Merely being "threatened" is not sufficient justification to shoot someone. If a person is in immediate danger, then they have a right to self-defense, but they are obligated under the law to retreat if possible.

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