Deputy orders unarmed man to ground, then kills him.

[bubbygator]

I don't know....... I've got a stomach-wall hernia that doesn't bother me much. But when I have to lay on my stomach at the doctors office, I have to press in on that area to make sure I'm not going to get a huge cramp. If it had been me, I can envision that I might not have been able to get my hand out in time to avoid being shot dead.

 

[papercut]

I kinda would like to see his car camera footage before I come down on either side here.... I *think* Muscogee county has them, but I'm not completely sure....

If the deputy was ordering hands out for 3 seconds before firing, that's one thing. If it was 30 seconds, that's something else entirely.

 

[Ryder]

True enough.

With other's laid out beside me in the dark it may take a while before I'd figure out just who exactly the officer was yelling. I am kinda slow and careful when doing something different for the first time and feel the need to be absolutley sure of what I am doing. Or the the guy could have been scared stiff, freezing in place is a well known response of prey to avoiding a predator.

 

[rayjay]

If the officer was pulling over a car with 4 people in it that was seen leaving a drug survilance area, WHERE was his back-up? Why did he go-it alone? I used to be a LEO and it sounds to me, from the news release, that the officer did not follow procedure for a felony stop. They found no gun and/or drugs and released the other 3 guys without charges. Incidents like this are very sad and tragic but officers are human and they make mistakes. Without having all the facts we should not condem the officers actions. The USA has lost 135 officers year to date and the list is still growing. I agree that the situation was stressful, being on the side of the road at night "working" 4 suspects out of a car and onto the ground. I will say this though, a vetran officer who is trained for a Special Responce Team should have had enough experience not to accidently shoot someone laying face down on the ground. I wonder what really happen? I wish the officer well and hope the matter will be resolved quickly and fairly.

 

[Billmanweh]

Apparently these is video of the shooting...

WTVM Story

Muscogee County sheriff Ralph Johnson announced late Friday afternoon that he has requested the Georgia Bureau of Investigations to do a separate, independent investigation of the fatal shooting of an unarmed man by a deputy sheriff.

Kenneth Walker, 39, of Columbus, was shot and killed by a sheriff's officer when the SUV in which he was riding was pulled over on Interstate 185 at around 9 p.m. Wednesday night. The incident appears to have resulted from a case of mistaken identity in a drug investigation.

An informant had told them to look for a gray Yukon carrying four armed drug dealers from Miami. That vehicle pulled over on Wednesday night, however, carried four local residents who were not involved in any illegal activity.

Sheriff Johnson told Newsleader 9, he is tired of rumors. He fielded a lot of the unanswered questions.

The sheriff confirmed there is a videotape of the shooting, but we can't see it yet. He also would not release the name of the deputy involved, but announced the sheriff's department's investigation is finished, for now, and is "very good." Now, the GBI will take over.

"I just think it's in the best interest of the public that they have the confidence in knowing that I've investigated it and I want them to feel comfortable with my investigation," Sheriff Johnson said, in his 2nd news conference, in as many days.

"Once we finish out investigation, we will turn it over to the district attorney," GBI special agent in charge J.T. Ricketson, from Greenville, GA, said. He is already in town to start the case.

A friend of the shooting victim responded, from his Pentagon office.

"If we can't get satisfaction from the GBI doing their own investigation and assessment here, then I do think it ought to be elevated," Lt. Col. Rich Matthews said, in his Washington, D.C. office.

He says this is a national problem, with black men afraid of police, and national leaders will watch the investigations very closely. So will the local NAACP. We asked the sheriff about allegations of racism.

"That's ridiculous, in my opinion," Sheriff Johnson said.

But he would not comment on if the deputy was justified in the shooting.

The GBI promises to put 3 - 4 of its best agents on this case.

Meanwhile, Blue Cross Blue Shield in Columbus, where Walker worked, is deciding on if the company will have a memorial for him, or what kind. They have also made counselors available, if needed, for employees and walker's family.

-by Jason Dennis

 

[artherd]

Withought knowing more, nothing much can really be said. I wasn't there. Maybe it was totally justified, maybe the cop is an incompotent moron who killed someone accidentally and is covering it up. Maybe somewhere in between. I don't know, I wasn't there...

I will offer the following thoughts for discussion:

Fthose who belive a cop has to have a gun pointed at him, and read the slide for the caliber to make sure it's not a water pistol, and run to the car and check the SN and see for sure just in case, before shooting...

People CAN, and DO *fire* concealed guns from WITHING their pockets/jackets/etc. Simply not moving your hands out of your pockets IS JUST LIKE pointing a gun at a cop's head.


And to anyone who claims the guy had ANY call for not presenting his hands immediately and calmly, a gun barrel being pointed at your head by a police officer or soldier is the universal language. Everyone speaks it, deaf, dumb, or otherwise. Chose to ignore it at your grivest peril.


Sendec- a good view from 'the other side'. It sounds like you have been there. I do not envy you.

 

[jar]

Once things settle down, I imagine that this will turn out to be a true tragedy all around.

Although I was not on the scene, my best guess is that this was an accidental shooting. Think back to the video (from Nevada IIRC) of the police woman who has a ND while the suspect is on the ground and her partner is actually leaning over the suspect. That shot just missed the suspects head and but for the grace of God, could well have ended up just like this.

It's an unfortunate fact that accidental and negligent discharges have gone up since the transition from the longer, heavier pull of the revolver to the modern semi-automatics. Situations like the one this officer was involved in are very, very stressfull. Your field of vision narrows, your hearing is affected, your time sense changes and you fine motor skills are reduced. All of these factors contribute to tragedies like this.

It is a real tribute to the fine police that are on the force today that events like this are not even more common.

 

[Beren]

Simply another casaulty in the War on Some Drugs. Nothing to see here, move along, drugs are bad, mmkay?

 

[TarpleyG]

I'm with HABU on this one. ND. We all saw it on that video clip from a few years back. Luckily, that officer missed but it could have been the same as this instance.

GT

 

[tailgunner]

I saw nothing in the article stating what the probable cause was for stopping the vehicle in the first place. Was this just a fishing expedition by a SRT cowboy?

 

[goon]

Lots of police officers get killed during routine traffic stops.
Therefore, one would think that an officer would be justified in being a little nervous when he approaches your window to ask for your license.
In spite of this, most officers do not shoot you just because they are scared.

I would say that it was most likely a mistake.
But a man is still dead.
The cop was the cause of that.
He screwed up and he should do time for it.

I know that if I pulled my CCW on someone and accidentally shot them I would be accountable.
Why shoud a LE be any different?

 

[Gmac]

T.B.O., your silence is deafening.

 

[hammer4nc]

A witness account of the shooting: http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp?S=1562302&nav=8fapJe3U

Driver of car says incident was case of "wrong place, wrong time."
BREAKING NEWS: Eyewitness Describes Fatal Shooting of Unarmed Man

An eyewitness to Wednesday night's fatal shooting of an unarmed man by a Muscogee County Sheriff's Deputy says it was a case of being in the "wong place" at the "wrong time."

Warren Beaulah was driving the SUV in which 39-year-old Kenneth Walker was riding on Interstate 185 at around 9 o'clock Wednesday night. According to Beaulah, he and his passengers were doing nothing wrong when he observed blue lights in the rear view mirror.

He pulled over to the side of the road and was in the process of putting the car in park when, he says, a law enforcement officer pulled open his door and dragged him from the vehicle. "I was snatched out of the car with an automatic weapon in my face," he told News Leader 9's Elizabeth White, "(and) drug to the ground."

Five to ten seconds later, Beaulah says he heard a single gunshot. At the time the shot was fired, he says, there was "lots of screaming and yelling."

A short time later, as he was led in handcuffs around the front of the vehicle, Beaulah says he saw his friend, 39-year-old Kenneth Walker, lying on the ground in a partial fetal position and saw a pool of blood.

The Muscogee County Sheriff's Department has confirmed that Walker was unarmed at the time of the incident and blames the fatal incident on faulty information from an informant in a drug case.

News Leader 9 will air parts of our interview with Beaulah tonight at 5, 5:30 and 6 p.m.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, sounds like there was more than one officer on the traffic stop. Also sounds like the scenario offered, namely that officers were standing back, issuing orders, and the suspect was shot for non-compliance, is not quite what went down, according to this witness.

"I was snatched out of the car with an automatic weapon in my face,"

However, this witness is not credible, because he's charged with a crime, and just wanting to save his own skin....oh, wait, he hasn't been charged with any crime, not even assault on the officer/resisting arrest; must be error of omission on the officers part.

The best part is this:

The Muscogee County Sheriff's Department has confirmed that Walker was unarmed at the time of the incident and blames the fatal incident on faulty information from an informant in a drug case.

Maybe the "unnamed informant" will be charged with pulling the trigger? This is a perfect example of the total disconnect from reality, that permeates *some* (not all) law enforcement attitudes today.

 

[redneck2]

For all of you..

who think he over-reacted

please read my new post about "2 Officers Killed Last night" . They tried to give a guy the benefit of the doubt, and died for it.

Seems kinda simple...if a cop tell you to do something while he's got a gun pointed at you, it'd be best to comply.

One of my friends used to say "Life is short, but dead lasts a long time"

 

[Frank5]

I'm guessing this was an accidental shooting. As far as firing a concealed gun from inside clothing...........Yes it coulcd be done.....but seems unlikely if the suspect is face down.

I see a huge lawsuit. Unarmed person shot while face down & no guns or dope found on any of the 4 vehicle occupants. The deceased had a job.?? This looks real bad for the cop. If he had no prior record,it looks even worse.

From what I've read the deceased is (and the 3 others??) black.??? This WILL be made into a racial issue.

Does anyone remember the 4 young black guys that were stopped in NJ by a state trooper a few years ago?? Shots were fired,people were wounded. There were no guns or drugs in the car & no one in the car had any prior record. This sort of thing just looks real bad.

 

[12-34hom]

Sounds like a ND to me also.

This type of incident happened in Iowa City a few years ago.

Call of a burglary in progress, cops get there, guy sitting in an office.

He turns around with a cell phone in his hand, gets mistaken for a gun = gets shot dead.

This incident not only took the life of an innocent man but ruined countless others in its aftermath.

No doubt this incident will also for all those concerned.

Prayers for all those involved.

12-34hom.

 

[Matt G]

Based on quotes I've read here, I'm impressed at how candid the Sheriff was in the initial press conference. My guess is that the deputy will be quietly let go, if the S.O. can substantiate a violation of policy.

That's not easy to do, actually. If the deputy can articulate that there was good P.C. for the stop, and can bring forth his snitch to corroborate that he had reasonable suspicion to believe that these individuals were armed felons, then the felony stop might well have been merited. From there you move to a situation where you've got a single officer with multiple possibly-armed suspects, awaiting backup. It would be completely within procedure to then have one's gun out, and pointed at the highest likelyhood of threat. The suspect who doesn't bring his hand out from under him certainly qualifies, there.

So from there, you have either a N.D. --which rarely results in a firing with an officer in good standing-- or a bad call. How do you decide? Dunno. I guess you look at the officer, and watch the grainy tape 'till your eyes are blurry, and try to figure out what was in his heart.

Charge him? With what? Murder? Good luck on establishing that mental state. Negligent Homicide, perhaps? (Or whatever the lowest equivalent is in GA.) Perhaps, if you can show enough criminal negligence to convince a jury that he needs conviction for his split-second mistake. I kind of doubt it, but then again, I wasn't there, and haven't seen the tape.

Who knows? But the one impression I'm not getting from the two measley articles I've read is that a Cover Up is in progress.

 

[Mad Man]

"Benefit of the Doubt"

For all of you..

who think he over-reacted

please read my new post about "2 Officers Killed Last night" . They tried to give a guy the benefit of the doubt, and died for it.

So what? Two police officers are killed, therefore we shouldn't criticize the killing of an unarmed law abiding citizen in an unrelated incident?

The murder of two police officers by a criminal in Indiana does not in any way justify the shooting of Mr. Walker in Georgia.

Besides, Mr. Walker died at 2:30 am on Thursday, December 11.

Cpl. Thomas Roberts and Patrolman Bryan S. Verkler were killed a day later (or two, it's not exactly clear from the news story if this was Friday a.m. or Saturday a.m).

 

[rdbrowning]

"He might have had a gun"

If I happen to see someone that made a tragic mistake of allowing his legal CCW pistol to slip into view, am I entitled to shoot him in the head because he might be a threat to me? How do you think that would play out in court? Even if this guy had a gun on him is NOT justification for killing him. Only the likes of Ms Brady and Feinstein feel that posession is justifable cause for execution without benifit of due process.

Why is a single officer pulling over a vehichle with "four armed suspects" in it? Maybe the fact that he is an adrenilne junkie from the SRT sheds a little light on that.

Before you ask, NO, I am not a LEO. I don't have what it takes any better than this poor SOB did. I don't have the quick reflexes to be a NASCAR driver or the steady hand to be a brain surgeon either. But I don't try to do those jobs that I am not qualified to do.

Someone called this a Darwinian act and I agree, even though we are referring to the opposite canidates. The man that was murdered didn't do anything wrong to qualify him for the award. The officer that was not capable to handle the situation will hopefully never get the opportunity to hold a badge, much less a gun ever again.

In the end it sounds like this officer was in over his head from before things even got started. Unfortunately he had too much adrenilne/ego or too little smarts to recognize it and try to bring the situation under control (wait for back up, remove, search and restrain one person at a time).

 

[redneck2]

Wasn't the point...

easy to arm-chair quarterback someone while sitting at the computer

how much slack to you give someone???? Guys in Mishawaka tried to give the guy some ground and it cost them their lives.

Guess it's a good thing I'm not a cop. If I were responding to a "shots fired" call (along with hostile action that was involved), I'd be ready to defend myself

Read somewhere (maybe this forum) about a quick draw demonstration. The instructor would let someone hold him at qunpoint. He would talk for a while, then could draw from a concealed holster and shoot before the other guy could get off a shot.

I remember a long, long time ago. Lived in a city environment. There was a drug dealer next door. Look out the front window very late one night. Car sitting pulled onto my lawn, engine running (winter time). I went out to check. Knocked on the driver's window, hands in my pockets. Asked the guy what he was doing. He asked why it was my business. I started to reply "because I've got a loaded .380 pointed at your head", but, wisely said "I live in that house and you're on my property". After showing me his badge, I went in the house.

Never know what you're up against. Assume the worst and hope for the best.

 

[Bill Hook]

Black man = criminal/drug dealer

= jumpy officer = shoot first, ask questions later.

 

[TallPine]

I vote for Negligent Discharge (oh, isn't this a poll ???)

Reason: 1 shot to the head ---> had to be an accident

 

[goon]

Granted, without knowing everything it is true that we had best just watch this for a little while longer.
The thing is that cops know that there is a risk that comes with their job. They have to be able to deal with that risk. Most of us are not out to harm the police and thankfully they know this.
It isn't acceptable for the police to just open fire any time they get nervous.
It doesn't matter how you look at it.
I think it was an accident and I feel for the cop if it was. He will have to live with that for the rest of his life.
But unless there was some malfunction that caused the gun to fire or the suspect did something that caused the gun to fire (other than being there), how can you not say that he is at fault.
If I accidentally shoot you with my SIG, you still just got shot and I still just did it.
Doesn't matter if it was an accident or if I am sorry.
The damage is still done.

 

[hammer4nc]

For those who are thinking negligent discharge, one news story claims the victim was shot twice. "Double tap" ND? Now its getting deeper.

Link:http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/7472073.htm

excerpt:

Somehow while Walker was getting out of the car, he was fatally shot in the forehead and a second shot went through his right sleeve, according to preliminary coroner reports.

Not discounting the possibility of a single bullet theory, however any competent coroner would have mentioned this important detail, one would think.

 

[redneck2]

Now, wait...

original story said he was lying on the ground. Order to pull his hand from a pocket and refused.....

now he was shot while being pulled from the car