[Ammi]

..this is so tragic...


A North Carolina state trooper shot dead a deaf and mute man who was apparently trying to communicate using sign language after he was pulled over for a speeding violation.
Daniel Kevin Harris, 29, a father to a four-year-old boy, was killed just feet from his home in Charlotte by trooper Jermaine Saunders on Thursday evening.
Police say Saunders tried to pull Harris over for a speeding violation on Interstate 485 at around 6.15pm, but the driver led authorities on a brief pursuit before stopping.
Officials said that's when the driver got out of his car and an encounter took place between the driver and the trooper, causing a shot to be fired.*Harris died at the scene.


They also say he appeared to be trying to communicate with the trooper using sign language.
However, Saunders has said he shot Harris because he was advancing and not following commands,*WCCB reports.
But Harris' immediate family, who are also hearing impaired, think he was 'just afraid' and not understanding the situation.
Jay Harris, who spoke to the local station through a sign language interpreter, believes his brother was not aware that troopers were trying to pull him over.
'He was unarmed - and he is a deaf individual, and I think that he was just afraid,' he said.*

'He could not hear their warnings. He could not hear their commands to stop or to stay away from them.'
He added that his mother has been in the hospital with a heart issue since the shooting. 'He was shot, and now we’re left with nothing,' Jay said.

Neighbors blasted the decision to ‘shoot first, ask questions’ later.
‘You’re pulling someone over who is deaf, they are handicapped. To me, what happened is totally unacceptable,’ neighbor Mark Barringer told the local station.
‘They should have de-escalated and been trained to realize that this is an entirely different situation.’

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police report identified Harris as hearing and speech impaired, but did not give further details about his impairments.
Saunders was placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure after an officer-involved shooting.
State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Audria Bridges said agents will interview Saunders this week.
However, the SBI report doesn't mention that Harris is impaired.
The police report identifies Harris as white. Bridges said she was uncertain of the trooper's race.
Harris’ family have set up a fundraising page since his death, which has raised almost $5,000 so far, for his memorial and cremation costs.
In a post on the page, they say: ‘He was unarmed when shot and killed by a state trooper.
‘His tragic death could have been prevented. Police brutality ends NOW.’
They also plan to set up a foundation in his name to ‘educate and provide law enforcement [with] proper training on how to confront deaf people.’

The family also hope to change the DMV registration system to require states to set up a ‘DEAF’ alert to appear when a car’s license plate is looked up.
‘With this change, Daniel will be a hero in our deaf community,’ they add.
Activist Shaun King notes that it’s not clear if Harris understood what was happened in the moments before his death ‘since he could not have heard the sirens’ in his*New York Daily News*column.
He adds that while some cases of police shootings pose genuine threats to law enforcement, this case is ‘hard to justify.’
‘Beyond being unarmed, deaf and mute, Daniel Harris appears to have been a rather small, thin man,’ he wrote in his column.


King insists opening fire could not have been the trooper’s only option.
‘What threat did Harris pose? Was a Taser or pepper spray used? Could the officer truly not subdue Harris on his own?
‘If reports from neighbors are accurate, it doesn't appear the officer even tried, but pretty much shot and killed Harris mere seconds after he got out of the car.’
He added: ‘Virtually any other option the officer could've considered was better than what he chose in this case, but here we are with another avoidable casualty of police violence.
‘Daniel Harris should be alive with a speeding ticket, but instead his family is raising funds for his cremation.’*


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz4I8wnIjhE
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[Toy Soldier]

Perched for LT.

[Northern Monkey]

Poor policing but should this bloke really be allowed behind the wheel of a car?He can't hear officers warnings,Did'nt know he was being pulled over,led them on a pursuit and obviously can't hear other hazards around him whilst driving.He was obviously a danger to the public behind the wheel.However he shouldn't have been shot for that.It's not his fault the state lets him drive.

[jennyjuniper]

Even if he hadn't been a deaf/mute man, surely the officer should have shot to wound, if he should have shot at all.?

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Northern Monkey

Poor policing but should this bloke really be allowed behind the wheel of a car?He can't hear officers warnings,Did'nt know he was being pulled over,led them on a pursuit and obviously can't hear other hazards around him whilst driving.He was obviously a danger to the public behind the wheel.However he shouldn't have been shot for that.It's not his fault the state lets him drive.

Yeah I agree with this but at the same time if the state allow him to drive then surely the Police should be aware that it is possible to pull over a deaf/mute as well? Seems again like very poor training

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by jennyjuniper

Even if he hadn't been a deaf/mute man, surely the officer should have shot to wound, if he should have shot at all.?

You would think so especially when the guy wasn't even armed :/

[bitontheslide]

These weapons are designed to ensure that the person shot is not in a position to retaliate no matter where they shoot him. Given that, its actually pretty difficult not to kill someone they shoot. Its not about shoot to disarm, as the guy wasn't armed.

The moment the police officer took the decision to shoot, it was his intent to kill him. Personally, I think its murder and should be treated as such

[Tom4784]

I hope the officer faces the full extent of the law if the story unfolded as written. There was no reason to use lethal force, it's unjustifiable.

[smudgie]

The poor fella
I can not believe people can say he shouldn't be driving because he is deaf.
Deaf doesn't mean he is bloody stupid.
Police normally have flashing lights...now I wonder what they are for?
My husband is deaf and is one of the best drivers I know, God forbid he wasn't allowed to drive and have a normal life. Can't imagine how he would have gone to work all his life..in a normal job, or went shopping or days out in the country.

[arista]

This is so wrong

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by smudgie

The poor fella
I can not believe people can say he shouldn't be driving because he is deaf.
Deaf doesn't mean he is bloody stupid.
Police normally have flashing lights...now I wonder what they are for?
My husband is deaf and is one of the best drivers I know, God forbid he wasn't allowed to drive and have a normal life. Can't imagine how he would have gone to work all his life..in a normal job, or went shopping or days out in the country.

Point taken Smudgie

[reece(:]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

I hope the officer faces the full extent of the law if the story unfolded as written. There was no reason to use lethal force, it's unjustifiable.

Originally Posted by smudgie

The poor fella
I can not believe people can say he shouldn't be driving because he is deaf.
Deaf doesn't mean he is bloody stupid.
Police normally have flashing lights...now I wonder what they are for?
My husband is deaf and is one of the best drivers I know, God forbid he wasn't allowed to drive and have a normal life. Can't imagine how he would have gone to work all his life..in a normal job, or went shopping or days out in the country.

[Mystic Mock]

So it's not only black people that the American Police have it in for now, it's also deaf people too!

Being serious though the Police in America need to be better trained with Guns.

[Samm]

Horrible, guns are the root of all evil

[jaxie]

They are far far too gun happy in the US. But there is little movement for change.

They need to be better trained not to shoot for everything.

[Toy Soldier]

There's no reason at all for him not to be driving. Plenty of cars have engine noise loud enough to drown out outside noise, and factor in that most people have music or the radio on. Plus manufactures aim to soundproof the interiors even MORE for a smoother, quieter ride. It's not really a sense you rely on much at all for driving. You should see an emergency vehicle's lights LONG before you hear the siren, if you don't, then you haven't been properly aware of the road behind.

The question really should be, why wasn't the driver using his mirrors properly? He should have been well aware of a police car with lights flashing...

[billy123]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

The moment the police officer took the decision to shoot, it was his intent to kill him. Personally, I think its murder and should be treated as such

Thats an overly simplistic view that ignores so many factors.
This shouldn't have happened of course and could and should have been avoided. Im not one to defend the police in a lot of these incidents but on the information given this guy was to a certain extent a victim of his country's "freedom" in a country where you can reasonably expect everybody to be carrying a gun what is a cop supposed to do if somebody is ignoring instruction and walking towards him?
Who the **** would want to be a cop in a country where everybody is allowed a gun they dont get paid a fortune and every person they pull up or stop in the street for whatever reason has a good chance of being armed.

You wont hear about the tens of thousands every single day they get it right but on the occasion they get it wrong you want to destroy theirs and their family's lives by having them jailed for murder.

Blame the idiotic gun laws not the cops that have to run the gauntlet of maybe not making it home to their families when they go to work every day.
Sometimes the cops deserve hauling over the coals for their actions but from what i can see this is more a tragedy caused by outdated laws.

[bitontheslide]

Originally Posted by bobnot

Thats an overly simplistic view that ignores so many factors.
This shouldn't have happened of course and could and should have been avoided. Im not one to defend the police in a lot of these incidents but on the information given this guy was to a certain extent a victim of his country's "freedom" in a country where you can reasonably expect everybody to be carrying a gun what is a cop supposed to do if somebody is ignoring instruction and walking towards him?
Who the **** would want to be a cop in a country where everybody is allowed a gun they dont get paid a fortune and every person they pull up or stop in the street for whatever reason has a good chance of being armed.

You wont hear about the tens of thousands every single day they get it right but on the occasion they get it wrong you want to destroy theirs and their family's lives by having them jailed for murder.

Blame the idiotic gun laws not the cops that have to run the gauntlet of maybe not making it home to their families when they go to work every day.
Sometimes the cops deserve hauling over the coals for their actions but from what i can see this is more a tragedy caused by outdated laws.

its not overy simplistic. He chose to use a gun in a situation that could have been dealt with by a taser at worse. They do have access to tasers in the US you know.

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

These weapons are designed to ensure that the person shot is not in a position to retaliate no matter where they shoot him. Given that, its actually pretty difficult not to kill someone they shoot. Its not about shoot to disarm, as the guy wasn't armed.

The moment the police officer took the decision to shoot, it was his intent to kill him. Personally, I think its murder and should be treated as such

On the bare facts - I totally agree with you. There are just TOO many of these incidents now for them to be ignored or denied.

Yes, the circumstances vary, but in EACH case, there is the same underlying tenet; that certain ARMED police are murdering UNARMED citizens.

This is NOT an attack on the vast majority of good, decent policemen and women who serve the community well, but on the sizeable minority who appear to be acting through irrational fear, personal agendas, or extremely poor and inadequate training.

It seems that, both ENTRY levels, and TRAINING, need extensive overhauls if this growing problem is to be halted and reversed.

[Northern Monkey]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

On the bare facts - I totally agree with you. There are just TOO many of these incidents now for them to be ignored or denied.

Yes, the circumstances vary, but in EACH case, there is the same underlying tenet; that certain ARMED police are murdering UNARMED citizens.

This is NOT an attack on the vast majority of good, decent policemen and women who serve the community well, but on the sizeable minority who appear to be acting through irrational fear, personal agendas, or extremely poor and inadequate training.

It seems that, both ENTRY levels, and TRAINING, need extensive overhauls if this growing problem is to be halted and reversed.

I don't think that fear is that irrational in the US.This vid is quite an eye opener as to how extremely difficult those shoot or don't shoot decisions are.I think i saw it on here somewhere....

Youtube video

[MB.]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

On the bare facts - I totally agree with you. There are just TOO many of these incidents now for them to be ignored or denied.

Yes, the circumstances vary, but in EACH case, there is the same underlying tenet; that certain ARMED police are murdering UNARMED citizens.

This is NOT an attack on the vast majority of good, decent policemen and women who serve the community well, but on the sizeable minority who appear to be acting through irrational fear, personal agendas, or extremely poor and inadequate training.

It seems that, both ENTRY levels, and TRAINING, need extensive overhauls if this growing problem is to be halted and reversed.

Yeah, I can't disagree with this

It's a tragic story and one emblematic of a much larger, nationwide issue that really should have been tackled by now, at least within the police force

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by Northern Monkey

I don't think that fear is that irrational in the US.This vid is quite an eye opener as to how extremely difficult those shoot or don't shoot decisions are.I think i saw it on here somewhere....

Youtube video

Is this the shot or don't shoot training vid where the actress was shot during filming?...