I'm not sure what world you live in, but normal 8 year old boys don't try to kill people with a piece of wood. In addition to that, the article clearly stated that the boy suffers from behavioral issues to the extent that he attends special programs at school, clearly indicating mental health issues.
As I already stated, I take no issue with macing him. He posed a threat to their safety and to the safety of others. What I do take issue with, is statements such as "should have tazed the little s***."
To even make derogatory references to an ill child is immature at best, for starters. And given the community that we are, one that is frequently the target of police and overt force, I have a hard time understanding why we would advocate the police using unnecessary force against ANYONE for ANY reason.
Everything these days that kids do wrong, make people think they are "mentally ill". If a child behaves badly, the parents flip out and put them on meds. When I was a kid, behaving badly, was common. They didn't drug you up, say you were mentally ill, or send you to other schools to handle it.
Hes just a kid who CLEARLY wasn't raised right, and thinks it's fine to do these kinds of things, because I guarantee his mother went home, told him it was fine, and said the police shouldn't have touched him.
I stand by the fact he should have been tazed, he was an out of control individual who posed a threat to himself, the other children, and the police, by clearly stating he was going to try and cause bodily harm, and death to the police officers.
Just because he's an idiot, doesn't make him mentally ill. He was raised wrong, and made a bad choice. That's it.