Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Don't Knock on Doors in North Carolina

"Officer shot unarmed man 10 times" Associated Press, September 17, 2013

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An unarmed man shot by a police officer as he sought help after a car crash was hit 10 times by the officer, who is now charged in the death, authorities said Monday.

Family members said at a news conference that Jonathan A. Ferrell, 24, had lived in the Charlotte area for less than a year and was probably unfamiliar with the area when he crashed early Saturday. He moved to the state to be with his fiancee and was working two jobs.

Police were called after the former Florida A&M University football player knocked on the door of a home near the crash. He was hit with a Taser as he approached officers and then shot, resulting in a voluntary manslaughter charge against one of the officers. The officer is scheduled to make a first court appearance Tuesday.

Ferrell’s mother said she was praying for the officer, Randall Kerrick. ‘‘I truly forgive him. I pray for him. And I pray that he gets off the police force,’’ Georgia Ferrell said. ‘‘You took a piece of my heart that I can never get back.

Police determined the shooting was excessive and charged Kerrick on Saturday. A police statement Saturday said the investigation showed ‘‘Kerrick did not have a lawful right to discharge his weapon during this encounter.’’

The deadly encounter unfolded after police said the car Ferrell was driving crashed into trees.

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For some reason this did not make the web version of the Boston Globe:

"Frantic 911 call preceded police shooting; Woman thought victim was trying to break in home" by Mitch Weiss |  Associated Press,  September 18, 2013

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A sobbing woman pleaded for police to “please hurry” because a man was breaking through her front door during a 911 call recorded moments before a responding officer shot and killed the unarmed man outside.

The unidentified woman kept repeating “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” throughout the call, which was released Tuesday. She also told the 911 operator that she had a baby in a crib and did not know what to do. Later, she said the man knocked on her door and “he’s in my front yard yelling.”

Authorities said Jonathan A. Ferrell was shot 10 times by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg officer after being involved in a single-car wreck. Police have said Ferrell might have been seeking help and made no verbal threats to the woman.

Well, the paranoia and fear that the propaganda pre$$ has now cost someone his life.

Officer Randall Kerrick is charged with voluntary manslaughter. His lawyers were in court Tuesday for a first appearance on the charge. Kerrick, 27, did not attend.

The judge scheduled an Oct. 7 probable cause hearing for Kerrick.

After the hearing, defense lawyer Michael Greene declined to take questions but said of Kerrick: “His actions were justified on the night in question.”

I'll bet he is cleared, too. Cops always are in AmeriKa.

Ferrell family lawyer Chris Chestnut disagreed, saying he watched a video of the shooting recorded by a dash cam on one of the patrol cars. Chestnut said the recording shows that Kerrick fired four shots, then paused. Moments later, the officer fired six more rounds and paused again before firing the last two shots.

Looks like MURDER to me!

“This is clearly a criminal shooting,” he said.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police refused the AP’s request to release the recording, saying it was part of an ongoing criminal investigation. 

It's called a cover-up because they don't have a problem releasing them against suspects.

Kerrick joined the police force in April 2011 after working as an animal control officer. He grew up nearby in Cabarrus County.

Kerrick and two other officers responding to the breaking and entering call found Ferrell on a road that only leads to the neighborhood’s pool. Ferrell ran toward the officers, who tried to stop him with a Taser. Police said he continued to run toward them and Kerrick fired 12 shots, hitting Ferrell with all but two. Ferrell died at the scene.

Chestnut and representatives of the NAACP have questioned whether race played a role in the shooting. Ferrell is black, while Kerrick is white. Though there was praise for police for quickly filing charges, some said the shooting did not surprise them, considering portrayals of black men in popular culture and previous instances of racially inflected violence.

Others have pointed out such things, but black on white killings don't get nearly the coverage in my jewspaper.

On the 911 tape released by the city, the woman told a dispatcher that she thought her husband had returned home around 2:30 a.m. But when she opened the door, a man tried to get in.

Sobbing and trying to catch her breath, the woman asked the dispatcher: “Where are the cops?”

The dispatcher tried to calm her down, repeating that they were on the way.

She didn't have a gun in the house?

He also asked her to describe the man. She told him he was black, about 210 pounds, and wearing a green shirt.

At one point, the woman told the dispatcher about her baby. “He’s in his bed. I don’t know what to do. I can’t believe I opened the door... Please don’t let him get my baby,” she cried.

When police arrived at the scene, she peeked out her window. And when the officers began looking for a man, the dispatcher assured the woman they were not leaving.

So the guy was no longer at the house? What is she screaming about then?

On Monday, Ferrell’s family said in their first public remarks in the case that the former Florida A&M University football player moved to Charlotte about a year ago to be with his fiancee and was working two jobs. He wanted to go back to school and become an automotive engineer, they said. He had no criminal record.

The encounter was set in motion around 2:30 a.m. Saturday when Ferrell’s car ran off the entrance road to a suburban neighborhood 15 miles from downtown Charlotte.

After crashing his car into trees, Ferrell kicked out the back window and headed up a hill to the first set of closely-clustered houses he could see. He then started “banging on the door viciously” of a home to attract attention, police Chief Rodney Monroe said.

Well, yeah, you are going to knock load and long because you would assume people are in there sleeping. But don't let that spoil the propaganda pre$$ spin.

Listening to the recording, Chestnut said he does not blame the caller, but police missed critical opportunities to de-escalate the situation.

Because they no longer look to deescalate. I'm surprised they didn't have a SWAT team along. Seems to be standard response for calls in AmeriKa now.

“If someone is going to rob your house, they’re not going to knock on your door at 2 in the morning. They’re not going to ask you to turn down the alarm. I don’t expect the caller to deploy that analysis but I would expect the trained 911 dispatcher to at least make the nexus and articulate it for the officer,” Chestnut said.

RelatedGirl, 14, abducted during home invasion, Georgia police say

And when police arrived at the scene, Ferrell was not in the “immediate vicinity of the home.”

“When law enforcement pulls up, he doesn’t turn away from you, he runs to you for help. That’s not consistent with a robber, either. This was a helpless, unarmed, frightened young man,” he said.

Who was blown away by those charged to serve and protect.

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Other North Carolina doors the Globe knocked on:

"A man charged in the deaths of two South Carolina women and wanted for questioning in the disappearance of a third has been caught in Florida, authorities said Sunday."

"Gunman wounds four in N.C." Associated Press, June 22, 2013

GREENVILLE, N.C. — A man armed with a shotgun shot one person outside a North Carolina law firm Friday, darted across a busy street and wounded three others outside a Walmart before officers subdued him, police said.

Officers confronted the man outside the store and caught up with him behind a nearby Toys ‘‘R’’ Us. He fired at them and they shot multiple rounds back, hitting the gunman, said Greenville Police Chief Hassan Aden. The suspect was expected to survive along with the four he’s accused of shooting, Aden said....

A rarity.

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RelatedN.C. police ID suspect in 4 shootings

"Marines demoted after fatal accident" Associated Press, May 10, 2013

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Three Marine Corps officers at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune have been relieved of their command nearly two months after a training accident that killed seven Marines in Nevada.

See: Marines Mowed Down in Virginia

A battalion commander, a company commander, and an infantry weapons officer have been relieved after a mortar tube exploded during an exercise March 18 at Hawthorne Army Depot, the Marines said Wednesday....

No one has been charged with any sort of crime because of the training accident, and no charges are expected, Lieutenant Peter Koerner, a spokesman for the Second Marine Division, said Thursday....

The accident prompted the Pentagon to suspend use of 60mm mortars — like those being used during the training exercise — until the investigation was done. Troops in Afghanistan were exempted from the suspension.

Why is all our overpriced military equipment pieces of shit? 

War-profiteering pigs at the tax trough?

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"Heavy rains that caused power outages and flash floods in western North Carolina were blamed for the deaths of a 10-year-old girl and 48-year-old man who were swept away while swimming in a creek. The victims were from two Charlotte-area families who were swimming in a usually calm pool section of Wilson Creek. The girl’s body was recovered Saturday evening after being spotted by kayakers."

RelatedKayaker finds body; may be missing girl

Also seeMonday Mudslide

Related:

"Colorado efforts turn to recovery; Rescues dwindle as cleanup begins" by P. Solomon Banda and Ben Neary |  Associated Press, September 18, 2013

LYONS, Colo. — The emergency airlifts of flood victims waned Tuesday, leaving rescue crews to systematically search the nooks and crannies of the northern Colorado foothills and transportation officials to gauge what it will take to rebuild the wasted landscape....

The state’s latest count has dropped to about 580 people missing, and the number continues to decrease as the stranded get in touch with families....

State officials reported eight flood-related deaths, and the number was expected to increase.

It could take weeks or even months to search through flooded areas for people who died.

With the airlifts tapering, officials are tallying the washed-out roads, collapsed bridges, and twisted railroad lines. The rebuilding effort will cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take months, if not years.

They haven't even rebuilt New Orleans or New Jersey yet. 

Related: 

Judge vacates verdicts in post-Katrina killings

N.J. boardwalk fire linked to Sandy-damaged wiring

If it's not one thing....

Initial assessments have begun trickling in, but many areas remain inaccessible and the continuing emergency prevents a thorough understanding of the devastation’s scope....

I love the wordplay!

Northern Colorado’s broad agricultural expanses are especially affected, with more than 400 lane-miles of state highway and more than 30 bridges destroyed or impassable....

Meaning the rising price of food will be blamed on this, not the Federal Reserve printing press.

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UPDATE: Colorado floods spur fracking concerns

RelatedSunday Globe Specials: Washington's Water Supply