# Cops Kill Suicidal Teenager



## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)

*Mom: 9-1-1 call was to help son *
Garden Home - The Glenn family says deputies who shot and killed an 18-year-old also endangered his grandmother 
Monday, September 18, 2006
MAXINE BERNSTEIN

Hope Glenn was frustrated because she, her husband and her son's friends couldn't seem to calm her drunken, agitated 18-year-old son early Saturday. So she called 9-1-1 at 3:05 a.m. for help.

She told a dispatcher her teenage son, Lukus, was suicidal, standing outside their house in the Garden Home area of unincorporated Washington County with a knife to his throat.

"When I called 9-1-1, I called to save my son, to get some professional help," she said in an interview Sunday. "Maybe I'm naive."

Minutes after Washington County sheriff's deputies and a Tigard police officer arrived and Glenn's son, Lukus, refused to drop his knife, officers fired bean-bag rounds at him. When Glenn turned toward the house, two deputies fired several gunshots. Relatives said the teenager collapsed by a doorstep. He died at the scene.

The sheriff's office did not say how many times or where Glenn was shot, but said the deputies fired because they were concerned he might harm family inside.

The teenager's parents and relatives Sunday said in interviews the deputies' gunfire ripped through the house and into the teenager's 72-year-old grandmother's room, barely missing her.

"I could have lost my son and my mom," Hope Glenn said. She pointed out two bullet holes in the front door and two inside the grandmother's room as she numbly recounted Saturday's events.

Lukus Glenn graduated this year from Tigard High School, where he excelled as a kicker on the football team. He had gone to dinner with a girlfriend Friday night and to a Wilson High School football game, his mother said. Later, he went to a party. A friend dropped him off at home about 2 a.m. Saturday because Glenn told his friends he was too drunk to drive.

His parents had been sleeping, but Hope Glenn heard him come in. She went downstairs to check on him and could tell he was drunk. She asked where his car was. He told her he "wasn't that stupid," she recalled.

The teenager had been down on his luck in recent months, disappointed about a long-term romantic relationship that had gone sour and unsure about his future as he saw fellow Tigard graduates heading to college. He had been working half-days at a Oregon Liquor Control Commission warehouse loading pallets but quit, his mother said. He hoped to start at Portland State University in the winter -- a former Tigard High coach led its football team.

Without his car, Lukus Glenn tried to get into a shed to his off-road motorcycle, despite his mom's protestations that he shouldn't be driving any vehicle. She woke her husband, Brad Glenn, and they went outside. She described their son as distraught. His dad told him to go to bed or start walking, Hope Glenn said.

Lukus Glenn walked off for a while but came back, kicking the front door, his family said. His parents opened it and the teenager went inside and grabbed a wood-carving knife, his mother said.

"I told him, 'Luke, stop, calm down.' He said, 'No, I'm leaving.' "

So his mother called her son's friend, Tony Morales. "Luke's on the street with a knife. You need to find him," she told him. "He might kill himself."

Morales, 22, said he found Glenn sitting in the yard next to the Glenn home. Morales stayed with him about 20 minutes.

"He was just sitting there, kind of depressed," Morales said. "I've never seen him like that. It was weird, because earlier in the night he was in a good mood, talking about getting a job with his uncle and getting a house together with us."

At one point, Glenn jumped over his neighbor's fence and ran back into his parents' driveway. "That's when he started yelling he wanted his keys," Morales said. "He yelled, 'Who has my keys?' "

By then, another friend had driven Lukus' car to the Glenns' house. His parents heard windows smashing. Their son punched out a back window of one of their cars, then grabbed a shovel and knocked out a window on another.

Glenn dropped the shovel, Morales said, and pulled out a knife. "Me and his dad tried to jump toward him and stop him," Morales said, but Glenn moved away and threatened to hurt himself.

"He was not trying to hurt us," Morales said. "I told him, 'I'll back away, but please put the knife down.' "

When Hope Glenn saw her son put a knife to his throat and refuse to move it, she called 9-1-1. "I said, 'Don't shoot him, he's suicidal.' "

Morales said he saw three officers run into the front yard, guns drawn. They told Morales to drop to the ground and told Brad Glenn to go inside. Glenn's grandmother was at her door and they screamed at her to get inside, Hope Glenn and Morales said.

Morales said the officers yelled at Lukus Glenn to drop the knife. Glenn had the knife in his right hand and kept telling the officers to "stop screaming, stop yelling," Morales said.

Hope Glenn watched from her windows and said she pleaded on the phone with an emergency dispatcher, "Don't let them shoot him. He's my only son."

Another officer fired several bean-bag rounds, which didn't knock Lukus Glenn down.

"He just kind of looked at them," Morales said.

Glenn grabbed both sides of his baggy pants and turned toward the house, gasping, his mother said.

Then four to five gunshots followed.

"I remember seeing him falling as I was screaming his name," Morales said.

The Glenns watched their son fall on the front step outside his grandmother's room. Hope Glenn was screaming and had to be treated later for chest pains.

The two deputies are on routine leave while the case is investigated. Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Bob Day said all deputies are trained in crisis intervention techniques. After Lukus Glenn refused to drop the knife, the deputies felt they had no choice but to shoot him before he went inside his home, a prepared sheriff's statement said.

The family, still reeling from his death, isn't convinced.

Sunday afternoon, wearing a Tigard football sweatshirt, Hope Glenn said, "I wish I just wouldn't have called."

A friend by her side quickly told her she shouldn't think like that.

"The police just agitated him," Glenn continued.

Now Glenn is in a daze about what she must do next, what preparations she needs to make for a funeral. An autopsy, she said, was to be done Sunday.

"We don't even know how to start," she said


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## Baldy (Jun 21, 2006)

The liberal lawyer will take care of everything. Don't worry.


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## Guest (Sep 21, 2006)

You know....:smt076 what are the F*CKING tazers for??? to save lives? Oh no thats right there to shock people who are disorderly. I did not know you could shoot someone 4 or 5 times for going in there own home. hmmmmm....same old shit...different day. Some advice for people who don't want to die....don't call the police to "HELP" you.


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## Buckeye (Jul 13, 2006)

That is sad...could have been any drunk agitated teenager in the world, I know I've seen a few who turned out to be excellent and responsible adults. Seems like the perfect situation for a tazer.


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## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)

I thought about the same thing - the tazer. But, on cops a few weeks ago - there was a suicidal woman with a knife, and she made a motion at the cop at 1 pt as he was somewhat close to her. He tazed her and she fell on the knife, and it went right into her sterum. 

They left it in her when the ambulance came and brought her straight to the hospital... But, maybe that scenario was why. Or, some depts are not allowed to have tasers anymore with all the dying controversies over the use of it.


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## Thor (May 11, 2006)

It seems kind of sad that the cops had to kill a drunk that didn't appear to be to harmful, except to himserlf. Used to be that many cops knew ways to disarm someone with a knife without getting hurt themselves. Four or five could have easily subdued the lad and taken the knife away, based on the story. NOT letting him return inside the house was probably a safe thing for the cops. It's pretty easy to armchair quarterback a scenario like this, though.


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## Guest (Sep 21, 2006)

hey ship are you sure that you were not watching the cops episode were the cop tackled the lady with the butcher knife and she fell on it? well either way he would have had a better chance of being alive if they had used a tazer not a mutiple 9mm's


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## Mr. P (Sep 16, 2006)

Does anyone know if these Police even had tazers? If so what type? The pistol projectile, or the hand held gotta be right by em type? One would logicaly think that if they had em they'd have used them. Unless they had the in close an personal type.


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## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)

wickedXD said:


> hey ship are you sure that you were not watching the cops episode were the cop tackled the lady with the butcher knife and she fell on it? well either way he would have had a better chance of being alive if they had used a tazer not a mutiple 9mm's


I don't think so, but who knows...


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## A_J (May 22, 2006)

Mr. P said:


> Does anyone know if these Police even had tazers? If so what type? The pistol projectile, or the hand held gotta be right by em type? One would logicaly think that if they had em they'd have used them. Unless they had the in close an personal type.


This is a local story here, and no, apparently that department doesn't issue tazers.


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## Waffen (Feb 8, 2006)

He has a knife, ok bad, there were multiple cops, and they couldn't have tackled the kid. He was drunk so I'm sure he would not have been able to put up to much of a fight. 

I'm not a leo so I have really no idea what's right or wrong nor was I there to really see what was going on. But is seems to be excessive force.

W


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## john doe. (Aug 26, 2006)

I sure wouldn't jump on someone who had a knife. Personally, I may have done the same thing. If I thought the people inside were in danger then I would had to stop him. We don't know if he was making threats et. It's easy to be an armchair general but until we live through something like that it's all guess work.


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## Mr. P (Sep 16, 2006)

tnoisaw said:


> I sure wouldn't jump on someone who had a knife. Personally, I may have done the same thing. If I thought the people inside were in danger then I would had to stop him. We don't know if he was making threats et. It's easy to be an armchair general but until we live through something like that it's all guess work.


Same here. I think they did what they had to do. Imagine the kid running into the house and then&#8230;.a hostage situation. I'm sure a million things were going through the mind of those who pulled the trigger. I'm also sure they didn't do it in a domestic situation without great concern for all concerned, and all rolled up into a few seconds at that.
It is a very unfortunate event, but I can't blame the LEOs a bit.

Edit: Thanks A_J, that's important information.


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## scooter (May 9, 2006)

Mr. P said:


> Same here. I think they did what they had to do. Imagine the kid running into the house and then&#8230;.a hostage situation. I'm sure a million things were going through the mind of those who pulled the trigger. I'm also sure they didn't do it in a domestic situation without great concern for all concerned, and all rolled up into a few seconds at that.
> It is a very unfortunate event, but I can't blame the LEOs a bit.
> 
> Edit: Thanks A_J, that's important information.


There were enough cops there to have disabled him by shooting at his legs.Im sorry but even being a former LEO I think it should now be a murder or Neg. homocide investigation against the participating officers.They went WAAAAAAAAAAY too far.:smt011


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## john doe. (Aug 26, 2006)

scooter said:


> There were enough cops there to have disabled him by shooting at his legs.Im sorry but even being a former LEO I think it should now be a murder or Neg. homocide investigation against the participating officers.They went WAAAAAAAAAAY too far.:smt011


I'm afraid I have to disagree Scooter. I'm also a former LEO and I don't know of many circumstances in which I would try to shoot a smaller target like the limbs. In this situation I probably would have done the same thing. As stated, it could have easily been a hostage situation and then we have the possibility of more people hurt or killed.

You have to remember that this guy was running. Trying to shoot the legs while running would be a risky shot. Center mass is a larger target.


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## scooter (May 9, 2006)

Shipwreck said:


> *Mom: 9-1-1 call was to help son *
> 
> "He was not trying to hurt us," Morales said. "I told him, 'I'll back away, but please put the knife down.' "
> 
> ...


Yeah ,Ill bet he was just running like hell in his baggy ass pants!!!!
I'm sorry but ya'll wont convince me that what happened here was not just ANOTHER case of cops wanting to be able to say they have killed someone "in the line of duty".I still call BS


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## Mr. P (Sep 16, 2006)

scooter said:


> Yeah ,Ill bet he was just running like hell in his baggy ass pants!!!!
> I'm sorry but ya'll wont convince me that what happened here was not just ANOTHER case of cops wanting to be able to say they have killed someone "in the line of duty".I still call BS


It's all moot really, none of us were there. We can speculate forever, toss around what we read in a local media report, and go back an forth to nowhere.

I'll trust the investigation to resolve the legality of this shooting.


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## Thor (May 11, 2006)

I don't know about anybody else, but I've got it in MY mind to "shoot to kill", NOT "shoot to wound". I hope I never have to fire at someone, but if I am forced to, they're going to die.


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## samskara (Jul 19, 2006)

The kid is dead, LEOs were called to save his life and ended up taking it. Thats a failure no matter how you look at it. :smt022


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## Guest (Sep 22, 2006)

I agree...it makes me so freaking mad...cops don't wanna do shit else...but when they get the chance to use deadly force they jump right on it. There is no such thing a "police procedure" watch COPS and tell me thats procedure...maybe .5% of the time. Example: there will be like 3-4 cops already on someones back while they are on the ground...for disorderly conduct like many Mardi Gras episodes..then they another guy will pretty much throw other cops off the pile so he can get a knee in the neck...its like cavemen trying to get a piece of meat. I could go on for hours on this subject but I will leave it to the point I made in my first comment.....IF YOU DON"T WANT TO DIE...DON"T CALL THE COPS FOR HELP!


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## Guest (Sep 22, 2006)

i wanted to add one more thing: Ship you should change it from suicidal kid to drunk kid....lots of drunk people say "I'm gonna kill my self" they hardly ever mean it...I've seen it happen plenty of times...my friend Chad who is hardly suicidal....drank a 5th of Jack Daniels and said I don't wont to live anymore...then took a steak knife and started cutting up his arms...like 20 times...I said "You Pussy cut a little deeper than that if you wanna bleed out!" I was drunk to by the way...but still...he was not really suicidal...I doubt this kid was either. His mom maybe...she called the death squad over.


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## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)

I disagree - U have no idea of knowing os what state he really was in. There are a lot of people who do get suicidal - most that get to that level have severe pysch problems. I have had probationers with psych problems flip out and try to kill others and then themselves.

Sometimes, the public will criticize police action and say "he only had a knife." A knife wound can do more damage than a bullet, depending on where U are cut. U do not want to get into a tussle w/ a guy w/ a kife unless U have no choice and are fighting for your life.


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## Guest (Sep 22, 2006)

thats crap you don't bring a knife to a gun fight...multiple guns in this case...I would take a guy with a knife over a guy with a gun...granted i have been trained how disable a knife wielding madman...cops should be too! its really not that hard. your cant stop a bullet on the other hand. these cops were wrong no matter what...he did not run at them with the knife they had no RIGHT to shoot him. I hope they are all fired and hopefully do prison time. The real victim besides the dead kid are his family. I'm not gonna say anymore on the subject cause it's making me really mad.


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## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)

Go talk to a doctor - a knife would can be a lot more serious than a gunshot wound. The wound size is larger and there is more collateral damage. Too much hollywood movies stuff makes people think otherwise.


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## Thor (May 11, 2006)

In Japan, the rule there is that one cannot harm a drunken person. One may slap them or subdue them, that's about it. At least it was that way some twenty years ago. I doubt much has changed.

Like I said way earlier, it seems to me that 4 or 5 cops could have easily subdued the kid and taken away the knife. I just can't fathom just why they would have felt compelled to use deadly force. When I did the LEO gig, (reserve police), I used my Judo training moreso than my weapon.

I also said that it's easy to armchair quarterback any situation. I have to wonder whether or not the media is reporting the whole story or just one side.


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## Mr. P (Sep 16, 2006)

Thor said:


> In Japan, the rule there is that one cannot harm a drunken person. One may slap them or subdue them, that's about it. At least it was that way some twenty years ago. I doubt much has changed.
> 
> Like I said way earlier, it seems to me that 4 or 5 cops could have easily subdued the kid and taken away the knife. I just can't fathom just why they would have felt compelled to use deadly force. When I did the LEO gig, (reserve police), I used my Judo training moreso than my weapon.
> 
> I also said that it's easy to armchair quarterback any situation. *I have to wonder whether or not the media is reporting the whole story or just one side.*


The media report the WHOLE story?:smt082


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## scooter (May 9, 2006)

They must have changed most of what is taught in the police academies since my time....When I was sworn in it was TOTALLY UNDERSTOOD that the job I was undertaking meant PUTTING MY LIFE ON THE LINE FOR OTHERS,now I didnt run out and try to stop bullets(or knives) with my bare hairless(1/2 cherokee) chest but neither did I just shoot somebody dead just to say I had or to "be the one who gets to go home" that night.I swore to PROTECT AND SERVE, NOT abuse authority and use excessive force in a situation where it was NOT NEEDED.2 or more officers had NO,I MEAN NO reason to kill a kid with a knife ,they could have and should have taken him by other than lethal force.Too much of this crap is excused away to where it is somehow acceptable today and thats just the beginning of the USGP(United States Gestapo police).
I guess its obvious why Im no longer a LEO.I would probably be dead or in prison for what I would like to do to these "brave officers":smt011


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## Guest (Sep 22, 2006)

Shipwreck said:


> Go talk to a doctor - a knife would can be a lot more serious than a gunshot wound. The wound size is larger and there is more collateral damage. Too much hollywood movies stuff makes people think otherwise.


Im not saying a knife cannot do more damage...it can. I'm saying I would rather take on a guy with a knife than a gun. But thats me.


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