Charlotte police kill unarmed man who may have needed help

[tomtexan]

A very unfortunate ordeal.

According to the police, the man may have been seeking their help.

Charlotte police kill unarmed man who may have been running to them for help

[philip964]

Survives a bad car accident, climbs through rear window to escape car. Goes to neighbors house but only scares neighbor who calls police. Never mentions needing help or car accident. Police arrive. Runs towards police in apparently menacing manner. Police taser man. Man never mentions needing help or car accident. Continues running towards police after being tased and is shot and killed.

Man's actions make no sense, unless high as a kite.

[tomtexan]

Survives a bad car accident, climbs through rear window to escape car. Goes to neighbors house but only scares neighbor who calls police. Never mentions needing help or car accident. Police arrive. Runs towards police in apparently menacing manner. Police taser man. Man never mentions needing help or car accident. Continues running towards police after being tased and is shot and killed.

Man's actions make no sense, unless high as a kite.

Yep, it was an odd incident all the way around.

[C-dub]

Survives a bad car accident, climbs through rear window to escape car. Goes to neighbors house but only scares neighbor who calls police. Never mentions needing help or car accident. Police arrive. Runs towards police in apparently menacing manner. Police taser man. Man never mentions needing help or car accident. Continues running towards police after being tased and is shot and killed.

Man's actions make no sense, unless high as a kite.

Unless he was confused or in shock still. I also think it is difficult to respond or tell someone anything when you're being tased.

[jmra]

Survives a bad car accident, climbs through rear window to escape car. Goes to neighbors house but only scares neighbor who calls police. Never mentions needing help or car accident. Police arrive. Runs towards police in apparently menacing manner. Police taser man. Man never mentions needing help or car accident. Continues running towards police after being tased and is shot and killed.

Man's actions make no sense, unless high as a kite.

Or perhaps has a head injury that prevented him from being able to communicate those things. Might want to reserve judgement until you have more facts.

[jmra]

The testimony of the other officers had to come into play with the charges being filed so quickly. Officer is going down - career done for sure.

[Cedar Park Dad]

Survives a bad car accident, climbs through rear window to escape car. Goes to neighbors house but only scares neighbor who calls police. Never mentions needing help or car accident. Police arrive. Runs towards police in apparently menacing manner. Police taser man. Man never mentions needing help or car accident. Continues running towards police after being tased and is shot and killed.

Man's actions make no sense, unless high as a kite.

Or in shock, or the police officer involved is lying. As one has been charged, others may not be believing his story either.

[mamabearCali]

In shock is possible. Head injury is possible. Very sad situation.

[srothstein]

I have been trying to read up on this and not finding enough to make my decision. I was shocked when the police charged the officer this quickly, and that indicated to me that something in the news reports is not right or complete.

Consider a slightly different point of view since the police knew nothing about an accident or injuries:

Police get call for burglary in progress from panicked female resident. Arrive on the scene and find a male suspect banging on the door. He charges at them and one uses a Taser to try to stop him. Taser does not work and he is still charging at an officer who pulls a gun and shoots him.

Now, from the accident victim's point of view:

He loses control of the car and hits a tree. Hurting, he crawls out of the car to try to get help. He goes to the nearest help and bangs on the door but gets no response. The police pull up and he thinks they are there to help him so he starts to run to them. One of them pulls a taser and tries to shoot him with it but misses. He is trying to yell for help but is not making much sense. He keeps heading towards the cops and one pulls his gun and shoots him. Chief decides to charge the officer for manslaughter.

Yep, we definitely do not have enough information on this one to make any kind of rational decision.

[G26ster]

I have been trying to read up on this and not finding enough to make my decision. I was shocked when the police charged the officer this quickly, and that indicated to me that something in the news reports is not right or complete.

Consider a slightly different point of view since the police knew nothing about an accident or injuries:

Police get call for burglary in progress from panicked female resident. Arrive on the scene and find a male suspect banging on the door. He charges at them and one uses a Taser to try to stop him. Taser does not work and he is still charging at an officer who pulls a gun and shoots him.

Now, from the accident victim's point of view:

He loses control of the car and hits a tree. Hurting, he crawls out of the car to try to get help. He goes to the nearest help and bangs on the door but gets no response. The police pull up and he thinks they are there to help him so he starts to run to them. One of them pulls a taser and tries to shoot him with it but misses. He is trying to yell for help but is not making much sense. He keeps heading towards the cops and one pulls his gun and shoots him. Chief decides to charge the officer for manslaughter.

Yep, we definitely do not have enough information on this one to make any kind of rational decision.

The AP reported today:

"An unarmed man seeking help after a car crash over the weekend was shot 10 times by the Charlotte police officer who's now charged in his death, investigators said Monday." Perhaps the 10 times has something to do with it.

[philip964]

This story is building rapidly.

It was on Fox News tonight.

It has all the makings of a Trayvon Martin/ George Zimmerman case. In this analogy George Zimmerman instead of being a neighborhood Watch Captain is a Police Officer responding with his partner to a 911 call from a woman who says someone is trying to break into her house.

In the Fox story all the familiar cast of characters were there saying all the familiar things.

Big difference here the Police Officer was arrested in less than 24 hours after the incident occurred. His attorney who was interviewed said this was very unusual.

So the big question I have is: in the Trayvon case his blood test for drugs, if I remember correctly was suppressed, since it would, well I don't know why it was suppressed since, to me it spoke to Trayvon's condition. Here will the "victim" be afforded the same privilege, of hiding any drug use. To me being high is the only explanation for his actions.

On the bad side for the police officer, the dash cam video appears to show him shooting 7 shots pausing and then shooting three more.

Like Trayvon the "victim" was unarmed. The Police Officer was licensed to carry a hand gun like George Zimmerman. Unlike George Zimmerman the Police Officer was unhurt.

This is very near Washington DC so the press can get to this location very quickly.

[texanjoker]

I noted they hooked up that leo rather fast. I have not taken a view on this but do have questions. The autopsy isn't back, we don't know his drug results, alcohol level, ect. I'd like to see the video for myself. They responded to a burglary in progress type call, this guy was huge and a very bad incident happened. Was it a bad shoot or are they caving to racial tension or both? We also don't know the leo's background and maybe there were concerns about his past behavior that warranted a quicker intervention. They are just to quick IMO to charge for an on duty shooting w/o time to investigate. Has anybody seen a link to the video?

[philip964]

More similarities North Carolina State Attorney's office will prosecute the case

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/da-a ... e-20307589" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The victim was a former college football player. 12 shots were fired by the officer 2 missed. The victim made physical contact with the officer as apparently repeated calls were made for him to stop.

From the Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns- ... 0734.story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[C-dub]

The officer wouldn't have known about any possible intoxication or drug levels at the time. I can see the officer being acquitted if it even makes it to trial. In a crazy scenario like that he may have had legitimate fear for his life and only 1-2 seconds to make up his mind. I can't really fault the officer for that, but 10/12 shots hit is either crazy accuracy or crazy luck from anyone during a situation like that.

I am also scratching my head at why they charged him so quickly. It could have been because there is something else known that has not been released yet or they did it preemptively to avoid riots.

[Javier730]

He fired 12 times and hit him 10 times. Thats probably why hes in trouble. No need to shoot someone 10 times.