There are really two major issues at play. For the younger crowd from an urban background, who are encountering police, it is almost always reflective of a break down in that person's community and home life. For older individuals from any background, there is often undiagnosed mental illness (or they were diagnosed but turned out because the US pretty much nearly completely ended state mental hospitals).
Focusing on the teenager in question:
Why is a 13-year old boy roaming the streets at 0430 with a handgun? Why is this person's street name "L'il Homicide?" Why does a 13-year old *have* a street name? Why does a 13-year old *have* a handgun without adult supervision. That police officer had 838 milliseconds between the time he saw the gun in the teen's hand and firing upon him. One can argue will day long about that, but it doesn't change the fact that a 13-yr old gangbanger was up to no good at 0430 while carrying a firearm that he obtained illegally.
Stepping back a few days, why is Daunte Wright not complying with law enforcement? Perhaps for the same reason he refused to comply with court orders and fled prior arrests for violent criminal behavior.
The same reason that George Floyd purposely passed counterfeit money while high as a kite while out of jail between stretches of criminal activity.
What was the percentage of minority youth in single parent homes up until the Great Society as compared to now? For several decades there has been a perverse incentive for people living in poverty to have many children while remaining unwed that has been bearing fruit poisonous to society as a result.
As tho the mentally ill, we've done away with state mental hospitals due to claims of abuse, but have nothing to replace them with. This, coupled with a stigma attached to admitting you are crazy but stable on medication or other treatment and a decidedly different coverage approach by most health insurers, results in a revolving door of people in need of mental health care ending up not receiving it. The best description of this problem can be seen in the comedian Doug Stanhope's standup routine comparing the mentally ill person who shot Gabby Giffords and other mentally ill (like his girlfriend Bingo) and people who are mentally handicapped.
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