Man Calls 911 To Report Burglary and Police Shoot Him While Criminals Speed Off
May 9, 2015
by Reagan Ali -CounterCurrentNews
A South Carolina man called the police when he was being burglarized, moments later, that man was shot. But it wasn’t the burglary suspect who opened fire on him, it was the cops.
The officer in question is a caucasian South Carolina sheriff. His victim – the man who called 911 for help – was shot and critically wounded when he was doing nothing other than defending his own property.
Now the sheriff says there is an internal investigation to determine what happened. But few members of the community believe there will be any sort of justice for the victim – who was twice victimized: once by the home invaders and another time by the responding officers.
The deputies reported seeing a man standing in the doorway of his own home. They claim he “refused to drop his gun,” but witnesses say there was no time between the yelling of this order and the discharging of police weapons for him to react.
On the way to the hospital, Heyward told police that he was simply trying to protect himself and his home from home invaders and he didn’t know the police were even there until they had shot him in the neck.
One of the two men who is accused of trying to burglarize Heyward’s home is Thomas Zachary Brown, 22, who is currently in custody.
He urged police to “please come.”
He explained that “It’s an emergency and they have guns.”
Then he heard Deputy Tyner shout verbal commands, thereafter he “next heard gunfire as Deputy Tyner fired to suppress the threat.”
This, they explained, made Heyward “look like” he was one of the burglars. But the reality was he was only a home owner defending his home from armed invaders. Had he waited for police he would have been killed, as the home invaders appear to have escalated things upon finding the hidden home owner.
The would-be burglars had just taken off moments before exchanging gun fire. What was Heyward to do? Should he have laid down and died waiting for the police? After exchanging gunfire with the suspects, his ears would have been ringing, making it impossible for him to hear police commands that were apparently issued with no delay.
At no time did he raise his weapon towards the officers. What should he have done differently?
(Article by Reagan Ali)
Police: Dash cams don’t show S.C. police shooting?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC-D5AVBCTI
The disturbing video of a South Carolina police officer gunning down an unarmed black man is what led to the murder charge against him, according to North Charleston’s mayor. The video shows the officer shoot Walter Scott eight times in the back. VPC
The tragic shooting of an unarmed black man by a North Charleston, S.C., police officer was not captured on the dashboard camera of the officer charged with murder in the case, a law enforcement official said Thursday.
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division spokesman Thom Berry told USA TODAY that none of the cameras mounted on any of the police vehicles that responded to the scene captured the dramatic moments recorded by a passerby with his cellphone.
Berry said he did not know how much if any of the confrontation that led to the shooting was recorded. He said his department, SLED, will release the video as soon as prosecutors approve the release.
«I have been told that none of the cameras have the incident itself,» Berry said, adding that he has not seen the video. «Most of it will be driving to the scene, parking the vehicle.»
Berry said that officials are reviewing «potentially hours of video,» because video from all the cars that responded is being reviewed.
The man who recorded the shooting with his cellphone is speaking out, saying he shared the cellphone video with the victim’s family after seeing that a police report did not mesh with what he saw.
Feidin Santana told NBC’s Lester Holt he was walking to work when he saw police officer Michael Slager’s confrontation with Walter Scott, 50. Slager said Scott grabbed his stun gun after a traffic stop, but Santana’s Samsung cell phone video shows Scott running away as Slager shoots him eight times. Scott died at the scene.
Slager, 33, was charged with murder Tuesday. He previously had been allowed to stay on the force despite an earlier complaint he used excessive force against an unarmed man, the Associated Press reported.
Mario Givens told the AP on Wednesday that he was awakened before dawn one morning in 2013 by a loud banging on the front door of his family’s home in North Charleston and Slager was on the porch, responding to a reported burglary in the neighborhood.
Givens, 33, told the news agency that he cracked open the door and Slager pushed in, shooting him in the belly with a stun gun. He said he filed a formal complaint against Slager backed by at least two other witnesses, but police took no action.
Santana said in the television interview that he was walking to work when he noticed a scuffle taking place between the officer and Scott.
«I was on a phone call and I decide to walk over there and see what was going on,» Santana said. «They were down on the floor before I started recording.»
He continued, «I remember police had control of the situation, he (Slager) had control of Scott and Scott was trying to get away from the Taser.»
«I believe he (Scott) was trying to get away from the Taser,» Santana said.
He explained he then saw Scott get shot and go down.
«As you can see in the video, the police officer just shot him in the back and I knew right away I had something in my hands,» Santana said.
The young man initially feared retribution if he shared the video, but he later learned about what the official police report contained and that helped change his mind, a lawyer representing the family told the Los Angeles Times. The report «wasn’t like I saw it,» Santana said. «I got mad.»
Santana then approached the brother of the victim. «If I had a family member, I would want to know the truth,» Santana said.
Neither Santana nor L. Christopher Stewart, an Atlanta-based lawyer for the Scott family, responded to multiple requests for comment Wednesday night.
North Charleston Police Chief Eddie Driggers said during a press conference Wednesday that he watched the video and he was «sickened by what I saw.»
Others in the same situation as Santana, who have captured video of alleged police brutality, claim they suffered retribution afterward.
Ramsey Orta, who shot video last August of Staten Island, N.Y., father Eric Garner going down in what appears to be an illegal police chokehold, was arrested on weapons charges shortly after the fatal incident. Police said Orta had a stolen handgun in his possession, but Orta said the arrest was payback for making the Garner incident public.