Showing posts with label police shooting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label police shooting. Show all posts

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Texas police officer shoots and kills African American woman in her home

[UPDATE: Who was Atatiana Jefferson]

A Texas police officer early Saturday morning shot and killed an African-American woman standing inside her own home, the Fort Worth Police Department said.

The department said in a statement that officers responded to a welfare call in the Hillside Morningside neighborhood around 2 a.m. and initially searched the surroundings of the woman's home. A neighbor had called dispatchers to report that the front door to her home was open.

After seeing a woman standing inside near a window, an officer fired his weapon and fatally struck her, police said.

CNN, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner, identified the victim as Atatiana Koquice Jefferson. Police said that Jefferson, 28, was pronounced dead on the scene.

The officer, who has been identified as a white male who's been with the Fort Worth Police since 2018, has been placed on administrative leave. He has not been named.

Following the shooting, police released edited body camera footage from the officer who the department said fatally shot Jefferson. The footage shows officers walking around the perimeter of the house with flashlights. At one point, one man can be heard yelling, "Put your hands up! Show me your hands!"

"The Fort Worth Police Department is releasing available body camera footage to provide transparent and relevant information to the public as we are allowed within the confines of the Public Information Act and forthcoming investigation," the department said in its statement, adding that it "shares the deep concerns of the public and is committed to completing an extremely through investigation of this critical police incident to its resolution."

[UPDATE: Who was Atatiana Jefferson]

[SOURCE: THE HILL]

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Officer charged with manslaughter in Philando Castile killing

The Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop in July was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter and two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said.

St. Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez will make his first court appearance Friday, Choi said.

"Based upon our thorough and exhaustive review of the facts of the case it is my conclusion that the use of deadly force ... was not justified," Choi said in announcing the charges.

[SOURCE]

Wednesday, June 01, 2016

Feds say no civil rights prosecution in Jamar Clark's death

U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger announced that no federal criminal civil rights charges will be filed against the Minneapolis Police in the shooting of Jamar Clark last fall.

Federal authorities announced Wednesday that Jamar Clark’s civil rights were not violated when two white Minneapolis police officers fatally shot the 24-year-old black man during a confrontation last fall outside a North Side apartment building.

U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger, leaning heavily on whether Clark was handcuffed by police before being shot and other factors, said there was “insufficient evidence” to bring a federal case. He said Clark’s family has been informed of the ruling, which was harshly criticized by the Minneapolis leader of the NAACP and firmly supported by the city’s police chief.

“I want you to understand that this is one of the highest legal standards under criminal law,” Luger told reporters at FBI offices in Brooklyn Center. “It is not enough to show the officers made a mistake, that they acted negligently, by accident or even that they exercised bad judgment to prove a crime. We would have had to show that they specifically intended to commit a crime.”

Read more: Feds say no civil rights prosecution in Jamar Clark's death

Sunday, October 25, 2015

FBI to help Florida sheriff probe police shooting of black musician

The Florida sheriff investigating a plainclothes police officer's fatal shooting of a black musician asked for federal assistance on Friday to "ensure the highest level of scrutiny and impartiality."

The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office, facing public criticism for its handling of prior officer-involved shootings, said in a statement that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had accepted the request in the case of Corey Jones, a 31-year-old drummer who was shot early Sunday.

It said the decision was made "to provide the family of Corey Jones and the community with a thorough and accurate investigation."

Local politicians and activists say the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office has lost the public's trust and that the FBI was already looking into one 2013 incident.

Read more: FBI to help Florida sheriff probe police shooting of black musician

Friday, September 11, 2015

Report: Dubose shooting entirely preventable, never should have occurred

An internal investigation into a traffic stop shooting that left a motorist dead and a University of Cincinnati police officer charged with murder found that the shooting didn't have to happen.

"The fatal shooting of Samuel Dubose during an off-campus traffic stop on July 19 never should have occurred. This incident, which resulted in a tragic loss of life, was entirely preventable," the report states.

"In evaluating Officer’s Tensing’s use of deadly force on July 19, 2015, we must consider, based on all the evidence, a number of factors, including Tensing’s explanation for why he believed deadly force was required, the immediate threat confronting the officer based on the seriousness of the offense and Dubose’s actions, and whether Tensing created the deadly threat by his own bad tactical decisions. We conclude that, based on all the evidence, Officer Tensing was not justified in using deadly force on Samuel Dubose and that by doing so he violated the UCPD Deadly Force and Less Lethal Force policies," the report states.

Download and read the Tensing report here: Tensing report

Friday, July 31, 2015

Samuel DuBose shooting: Other cops don't corroborate shooters dragging story

One of the two other University of Cincinnati officers that responded to the Sam DuBose shooting is clearly heard on a body cam video saying that he saw shooter Ray Tensing being dragged. While he said that at the scene, it's not the story he or the other cop told in their official statements or during interviews with the Cincinnati Police Department.

[SOURCE] County Prosecutor Joe Deters says Kidd and Lindenschmidt arrived as Tensing reached into DuBose's car. Their official statements about what happened matched what was shown on Tensing's body camera, and neither officer said in official interviews that he saw Tensing being dragged, according to Deters.

Both officers made comments at the scene but later were interviewed in depth by Cincinnati police about what they had witnessed, according to Deters.

"These officers have been truthful and honest about what happened and no charges are warranted," Deters said.

DuBose's family had asked prosecutors to investigate the other officers. The family's attorney, Mark O'Mara, said in email Friday that they are "still concerned with the initial rendition of facts given by the officers," but he said the family respects the grand jury's decision.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Reserve Deputy Charged With Manslaughter In Eric Harris Death

[SOURCE] Tulsa County reserve deputy Bob Bates has been charged with manslaughter in the death of Eric Harris. Bates, 73, shot and killed Harris during an undercover gun deal April 2, 2015.

“Mr. Bates is charged with Second-Degree Manslaughter involving culpable negligence," said District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler.

"Oklahoma law defines culpable negligence as ‘the omission to do something which a reasonably careful person would do, or the lack of the usual ordinary care and caution in the performance of an act usually and ordinarily exercised by a person under similar circumstances and conditions,'” Kunzweiler said.

“The defendant is presumed to be innocent under the law but we will be prepared to present evidence at future court hearings," he said.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Civilian & police accounts of Michael Brown's shooting conflict

A friend and witnesses say Missouri teen Michael Brown was unarmed and had his hands in the air when a Ferguson police officer shot and killed him, but of course police dispute that account.