While Trying to Kill Family’s Dog, LAPD Cop Reportedly Shoots His Partner Instead

According to police, the 33-year-old man was holding a pair of scissors when officers arrived. He was accompanied in the home by his wife, mother-in-law and three small children — and the family’s pet Rottweiler.

Police say that during the response, an officer fired a shot which they suggested was directed at the dog. During the firing, a female officer was struck.

During an encounter, a female officer was struck by gunfire in the wrist, but it is unclear what led to the shooting. At some point, a fire extinguisher was used, apparently to try and control the dog. The officer had residue from the extinguisher on her boots, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said, according to KTLA.

Keep reading

It started as a noise complaint. It ended in another fatal Phoenix police shooting

Ryan Whitaker had heard a stranger knock on his Ahwatukee apartment door in the middle of the night earlier in May. So when he heard a similar knock on a Thursday after 10 p.m. later that same week, he answered the door holding his 9 mm gun.

Holding the gun in his right hand, he was confronted by two Phoenix police officers standing on either side of the door. They appeared surprised by the sight of the firearm, body camera footage shows.

Three seconds after Whitaker opened the door, Phoenix Officer Jeff Cooke shot Whitaker in the back at least two times, killing the 40-year-old man. 

The deadly episode, which happened on May 21, is part of a string of Phoenix police shootings this year that has, yet again, reinvigorated criticism from advocates who say officers are too quick to use deadly force to resolve incidents.

Keep reading

‘I Can’t Breathe’: Cops Taser, Kneel, Stand On Man Until He Dies—Over Opening a Toy in a Store

Lionel Morris, 39, made the poor decision to remove a toy drone from its packaging in a grocery store in an alleged attempt to steal it. These actions most assuredly should have come with some consequences but it should never have been a death sentence. When multiple officers from the Conway Police Department showed up to the call, however, minutes later, Morris’ life would be over.

Body camera and surveillance footage from that fateful day on February 4, 2020 has just been released this week showing this man’s final moments alive. Morris took the last breaths he would ever take with multiple police officer combat boots and a knee on his back.

His last coherent words were “I can’t breathe.”

Keep reading