Joey Weber was described by his friends as warm, sensitive and funny. While born with mental disabilities, he never let that hold down his love of life & community.
www.hdnews.net/...
“Joe was a very kind, quiet, considerate young man,” said a relative, who wished to remain anonymous as the family deals with the events surrounding the death. “He would not hurt anyone. We can’t fathom how this tragic act of violence could happen.
“Joe did have limitations but had a wonderful outlook on life. He seemed to truly enjoy being involved with New Age and the activities such as bowling and softball. We will always have fond memories of our family Christmas as Joe acted as Santa. He enjoyed buying popcorn, candy and sparkling grape juice to share with us. He will be truly missed.”
Weber had spent most of his time at New Age Services, a home provide for those with mental disabilities in the community. On Thursday, he was stopped in his vehicle in front of the home. What we do know is that Weber apparently panicked, and after a 1.1 Mile short chase, Weber lost his life at the hand of a Hays police officer.
It would be easy to turn this story into one which blames a police officer, which turns into an attack on a “bad cop”. And at a later point, we may debate that openly. This shooting, however, isn’t the first in the state that has occurred to a special needs resident.
Police officers in Kansas remains a job that doesn't pay particularly well; where they are required to put their life on the line at times, and where training often isn’t adequate to the task they face. As a result, we end up with officers unprepared to handle a person with mental disabilities and situations like what occur in Hays occur.
No matter what the results of the investigation, one result will remain the same: someone lost a family member, and an officer will live the rest of their life with the knowledge they were the reason why someone is no longer with us.
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