Clark not handcuffed, had control of officer's gun, union says
MINNEAPOLIS - The head of the Minneapolis Police Union said Thursday that 24-year-old Jamar Clark was not handcuffed when he was shot, but he was armed -- as he had control of an officer's gun.
He said Clark refused to show his hands or comply with police orders when police arrived to the scene of a domestic assault. He said he was involved in another domestic incident on Nov. 15, which sent a victim to the hospital with a broken ankle, among other injuries.
Kroll said he was "intimidating paramedics" that were trying to tend to the victim when police were called.
As officers were trying to detain Clark, he pushed back, according to Kroll.
"He chose to resist, fight officers and to seize control of an officer's firearm," he said. "Mr. Clark was given multiple opportunities to desist, but instead chose to engage officers in a life-or-death struggle for an officer's weapon."
According to the officer's statements about the incident, Clark had physical control of the hand grip of the gun, while it was in the holster.
SUV rams 4th Precinct gate, 2 arrested for Jamar Clark vandalism
Shooting just blocks away
Despite the calls for peace, a 5-year-old boy and 40-year-old man were shot Thursday afternoon in an apartment just a block next to where Jamar Clark died, adding more tension to a community already on edge
The national president of the NAACP will be in Minneapolis on Friday, with a vigil planned for 4 p.m.
EDITOR'S NOTE - A previous version of this story stated that officers fired shots at the vehicle that attempted to ram the 4th Precinct's gate. Minneapolis police insist no shots were fired -- not even marking rounds.
Officers and paramedics were responding to a call of a woman being assaulted. Authorities have said Clark was interfering with the woman's medical care when Ringgenberg and Schwarze tried to arrest him.
Kroll said Clark was trying to pull the woman out of the ambulance.
Please lets understand this. The remark made (with no substantive support) that the police officers should be fired for allowing an un-handcuffed man access to their weapons? Really? As someone who has gained law enforcement training in multiple federal and state venues I can tell you that this as a baseless assertion, and downright dangerous. It is this kind of thought that allows people to somehow justify aggressive and unlawful behavior towards authority. Lets just remember that whether we like it or not makes no difference, somebody must be in charge.
It is true that most suspects willingly comply and do not resist arrest. It is also very true that human behavior is vast. Because of this it is impossible to account for every action by an offender in an instant. Officers are human, lest we forget.
Can someone please explain this errant comment?
There is no substantive support that JC reached for the officers gun - that assertion came 3 days after the fact from a guy that doesn't have very clean hands, nor is that guy in a position to tell the public what happened - so why is he the investigative spokesperson?
Imo Kroll has made the divide on the issue wider - possibly egging on protesters for accurate answers that can be seen and scrutinized by the public and media.
All it takes is for the individual officer to feel or perceive that the suspect is going for his gun based on his training. That is all the support necessary.
As written, that's not quite correct. The officer needs to have a reasonable fear for his/her safety. That's why things like witness statements matter.
Yeah, well in all fairness if someone is going for your gun an officer will have a reasonable level of fear. Is it not widely known that most officers killed by firearms are killed by their own firearms?
Joint statement from Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis and attorney for Officer Dustin Schwarze:
http://www.fox9.com/news/51169866-story
On November 15, 2015, Mr. Clark was involved in another domestic incident, sending the victim to the hospital with a broken ankle, among other injuries. He was intimidating paramedics attending to his victim when police were called.
This does not substantiate the claim of most officers killed by firearms being killed by their own firearm:
https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/u...eloniously-killed/officers-feloniously-killed
"Weapons
Of officers killed in 2011, most (63) were killed with firearms. Of these, 50 were killed with handguns. (A breakdown of the types of weapons used in these slayings is provided in Table 27.)
5 officers had their weapons stolen.
3 officers were killed with their own weapons.
10 officers attempted to use their weapons; 17 officers fired their weapons.
21 officers were slain with firearms when they were 0-5 feet from the offenders."
Yeah, well in all fairness if someone is going for your gun an officer will have a reasonable level of fear. Is it not widely known that most officers killed by firearms are killed by their own firearms?
I might have missed this, but have we heard anything from the paramedics at the scene?