Well you tell me what the most politically correct way is to say that 12 years is old enough to recognize that a gun being pointed at you means your life is in danger, and to understand that police are authority figures and ignoring their commands has much more severe consequences than goofing off in class. If he didn't understand how to act around the police, there's obviously a problem with his parents or his community, or both.

You called him stupid, how is that better?

The videos are there but without sound we can't exactly hear the important part, the officers telling him to put his hands up. Hell, maybe he just plain couldn't hear them for some reason.

Finally someone else who actually watched the video. It looked more like a driveby shooting than any reasonable attempt to difuse the situation.
The police has plenty non lethal ways to stop a 12 year old. By parking right on top of him, the driver didn't give his partner any other choice than to react immediately. He put his partner directly in harms way forcing him to act on impluse instead of logical thinking. Bad training.

No, because the probability of a fake item is much higher. Police would be try to get the hands on the weapon and most likely will not shoot without more apparent danger.

They should have just shot him with a rubber bullet.  Still would be a chance that he could die but way less of a chance than getting shot with a real bullet.  I'm sure he would of dropped the "gun" after being hit with rubber pellets.

There's definitely something wrong here with the attitude towards law enforcement. Police are seen as the enemy or some kind of faceless threat that is out to get innocent people for no apparent reason. I'm willing to bet that parents are at fault here to some degree. They pass on this attitude to their kids, either on purpose or unintentionally as the kids watch how their parents deal with the world. In a gun-ridden country like the US, police have to take every threat seriously, it's the only way to do their jobs and stay safe. I also have to wonder what goes through the minds of these suspects who decide to neglect any orders from the police and fight back instead. What in the hell do they think is going to happen? The cops will just give up and leave? They seem to have no clue as to the likely outcomes of these situations, are they high or just plain stupid?

Who thinks that?

What people should expect from the police is proper training and constraint when licensed to carry and use a deadly weapon. The primary purpose of police is to protect and serve, not to stay safe.

These suspects? A 12 year old? Kids do stupid things, doesn't mean you should respond in equally stupid ways.

Maybe it is indeed problem of gun culture. I don't know how many times the police get shot at daily in the US that they feel forced to rush in and shoot first. Perhaps they're really understaffed, feel the need to resolve things quickly and have no money for tasers or other non lethal methods. If the only way to subdue a 12 year old with a gun is to drive in and shoot him then society has failed.

Anyway I grew up in a country where the police are indeed trained to keep their distance or even leave and resolve the problem in a less risky way. Where police chases are illegal, considered too dangerous. Where a whole squad comes out when a gun might be involved. And kids are taught the police is your friend. Don't they have the police visit schools in the US to explain their procedures and what they do for the community?

Wtf is wrong with people today

So sad, RIP little buddy.

Better training is needed for police, there has to be a better way to do this.

Maybe it's not only the bad attitude, but it's also that many people doesn't trust the police. The other day, I was waiting on a store for the rain to stop, and a cop was doing the same. Honestly, I didn't feel safe or secure with him nearby. It might sound stupid, but I felt slightly concerned with him nearby. And I think that no amount of image cleansing will make the people trust them more, not even the newer generation.

I agree.

on topic, it's tragic that a young person lost their life, but I question what kind of life he would have led as he got older had this not happened.  Anyone brandishing a "firearm" real or toy in such a manner and thinking it's ok doesn't bode well for the future choices.