A Police Story: WDYT?

[Deleted]

I remember when this story was on the news and everyone was talking about it. A young man died while in police custody. At the time it was being reported that police officers claimed that although they'd already searched the young man and handcuffed him, he managed to produce a gun and shoot himself in the head. Handcuffs still on. The camera(s?) in the police car went on the blink for a short time while this was happening. The young man's death was determined to be a suicide and as far as I know, it's been left at that.

Now the young man's mother has filed a lawsuit against the police and the city. Here's the link I ran across that reminded me of the original story.link

People I know IRL think the police are flat out lying and that they killed the young man but don't really seem surprised that the police so far seem to have "gotten away" with it. What do you all think? Does the police officer's account of what happened seem reasonable at all?

[cronewitch]

No, but I am in Seattle where the police kill citizens without cause.

[Virgil Showlion]

What do you all think?

If the facts the article presents are true, it's fairly obvious the man was murdered.

I wouldn't be surprised if neither officer was charged nor convicted. Police have always been afforded a lesser degree of scrutiny due to the the unique nature of their job. Most of the time it's a good thing. It enables them to function effectively in a dangerous profession with a lot of hazards and judgment calls. In cases like this we see the darker side.

[Deleted]

Really fishy to me.

My parents mechanic got beat down in his own shop by police. He was working late, and someone called the cops, thinking he was a burglar. He was trying to say that it was his place. He's got brain damage from it, but everyone got off scott free. He said that they all just flat out lied on the witness stand.

I think that police provide a valuable service on average, but there is too much internal protection for the really shady shit that is pulled sometimes.

[8 Bit WWBG]

The car camera going out at such a crucial time definitely adds to the "suspicious" factor.  It could be one of those far out coincidences, or it could be blatant murder.

I do agree that the nature of law enforcement involves many complex judgments and procedural challenges.  There are plenty of cases of the bad guy getting away over some silly technicality.  As was said, the flip-side can be true too.

I'm still glad we have 'em, though.

[Virgil Showlion]

The car camera going out at such a crucial time definitely adds to the "suspicious" factor. It could be one of those far out coincidences, or it could be blatant murder.

Prints wiped clean off the gun?

Police car cleaned up?

No tests for gun powder residue?

Handcuffed left-handed man shot point blank in the right temple?

Medical personnel ordered out of the hospital room?

The video recorder "suddenly and mysteriously" cutting out during the shooting isn't the least of what smells about the case.

[8 Bit WWBG]

It could have been sorcery.  Or perhaps something took over the consciousness of the officers and manipulated their bodies.

[Virgil Showlion]

Aug 20, 2013 12:05:49 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

It could have been sorcery.  Or perhaps something took over the consciousness of the officers and manipulated their bodies.

There's always that, isn't there?

[Phoenix84]

It does seem fishy.  How does an arrested person "somehow produce a gun?"  I'm not a cop, but if you're arresting someone, don't you search them? 

I can buy that some people are limber enough to wriggle their hands from behind their back to the front.  So it is possible he could have done that and shot himself, but there are other things fishy about the case.

[Tennesseer]

Jonesboro, Arkansas is somewhat local to where I lives so the incident has been frequently been on our local news.  I have always been suspicious of the events surrounding this guy's death.  The alleged suicide always sounded too convinient.

[Virgil Showlion]

I'm not a cop, but if you're arresting someone, don't you search them?

Maybe they're just really forgetful.

"So Bob, did you remember to check the suspect for weapons?"
"No."

"So Bob, did you remember to charge the battery on the dashcam?"
"No."

"So Bob, did you remember to leave the crime scene untouched for forensics?"
"No."

"So Bob, did you remember to have the suspect's hands tested for GSR?"
"No."

"So Bob, did you remember that we're not supposed to order medical staff out of the room when their patient has a gaping gunshot wound to the head?"
"No."

"So Bob, do you remember your name, Bob?"
"No."

...

[wodehouse]

He must've been a contortionist like Houdini or David Copperfield in order to grasp and aim a gun like that, just right.

[toomuchreality]

"Chavis Carter shot himself with his hands cuffed behind his back."


Really?   Who can do this?  We're not talking about being able to dislocate your shoulders, and get your hands to the front to do it. Even if you were somehow able to manipulate one arm on to position, could you do it, with the other one securely attached to it. Then, if you could, would that hand be blocking the shot? Even if all that is true, he'd have to make a pretty damn good guess on when to shoot, in order for it to hit him in the right place.

Yeah, sure. I think it was suicide.


"The climate is distrust from the community toward the police." 

No. Really? I can't imagine why?!

[happyhoix]

Aug 20, 2013 12:42:12 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

It does seem fishy.  How does an arrested person "somehow produce a gun?"  I'm not a cop, but if you're arresting someone, don't you search them? 

I can buy that some people are limber enough to wriggle their hands from behind their back to the front.  So it is possible he could have done that and shot himself, but there are other things fishy about the case.

I could also possibly buy it if this guy had head injuries and the guy was high on meth - I've seen police videos where people stoned out of their minds on drugs beat their heads against the windows in the backseat of a police car while in a blind rage. 

But 'somehow' finding a gun - and then shooting himself with it while handcuffed? Seems outside the realm of possibility, to me. 

Sounds like the movie "Fruitville Station" - a cop thinks he's pulling out his taser and pulls his gun instead, and shoots a kid. Only in his case, it was in front of a whole pack of witness, several who had phone cameras - kind of hard to deny he did it.  

The cop who did that was fired and served one year of a two year sentence for involuntary manslaughter.