Newlywed man shot and killed when police mistake him for burglar

[pcslookout]

Moved to P&N
bsobel

ANANHEIM (California): A newlywed killed by police after he stepped outside his home to confront suspected burglars was shot in a case of
mistaken identity, police said.

Julian Alexander died after being shot twice in the chest by a police officer who was chasing four burglary suspects early Tuesday morning.

Police chief John Welter said the officer ran into Alexander, mistook him for one of the four juvenile suspects and shot him. "The last thing we ever want to do, No. 1, (is) take somebody's life," he said. "And we certainly don't want to take the life of someone who is mistakenly believed to be involved in some criminal activity."

"He was a good kid, trying to protect his house," said Alexander's mother-in-law Michelle Mooney. "And the police, instead of asking questions, they just shot first. Somebody has to be held responsible for this."

Welter would not release the officer's name, but said he was a 10-year veteran of the department. The officer was placed on paid leave pending an investigation.

"It's mistaken identity, but that doesn't bring my son back," said Alexander's father Jerry. He said Alexander got married last weekend and his 19-year-old wife is expecting a baby in December.

Alexander's wife said she heard the gunshots and tried to go into the yard, but the officer told her to stay inside.
From the window they saw Alexander handcuffed and bleeding in the front yard. Paramedics took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Link

Wow that must really suck for that police officer and the family. The guy as well of course.

 

[her209]

Sprinkle some crack on him

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: her209
Sprinkle some crack on him

lol how do you know the guy was black ?

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: pcslookout

Originally posted by: her209
Sprinkle some crack on him

lol how do you know the guy was black ?

lol why did the police think he was a burglar?

 

[dmcowen674]

Alexander's wife said she heard the gunshots and tried to go into the yard, but the officer told her to stay inside.
From the window they saw Alexander handcuffed and bleeding in the front yard.

He was already shot twice in the chest, did they really need to have him handcuffed?

What a way to die.

 

[PrinceofWands]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Alexander's wife said she heard the gunshots and tried to go into the yard, but the officer told her to stay inside.
From the window they saw Alexander handcuffed and bleeding in the front yard.

He was already shot twice in the chest, did they really need to have him handcuffed?

What a way to die.

Not that I'm excusing their actions in this case, but yes. You ALWAYS cuff them. Period. It saves lives.

 

[theflyingpig]

The cop fucked up.

 

[Engineer]

lawsuit written all over this one.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Alexander's wife said she heard the gunshots and tried to go into the yard, but the officer told her to stay inside.
From the window they saw Alexander handcuffed and bleeding in the front yard.

He was already shot twice in the chest, did they really need to have him handcuffed?

What a way to die.

Not that I'm excusing their actions in this case, but yes. You ALWAYS cuff them. Period. It saves lives.

After they knew they fucked up?

Come on

Oh and how was the officers life in danger?

Clearly this guy didn't have a weapon.

This was a case a Taser should've been the highest use of force.

A night stick would've sufficed.

Typical apologists. :roll:

 

[PrinceofWands]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Alexander's wife said she heard the gunshots and tried to go into the yard, but the officer told her to stay inside.
From the window they saw Alexander handcuffed and bleeding in the front yard.

He was already shot twice in the chest, did they really need to have him handcuffed?

What a way to die.

Not that I'm excusing their actions in this case, but yes. You ALWAYS cuff them. Period. It saves lives.

After they knew they fucked up?

Come on

Prove that the situation was fully known at that moment. You can't. They likely cuffed him within seconds of the shooting, because that's what you do. I realize it seems bad in retrospect because it was an innocent man, but you don't always know the full story at the time. Safety rules are in place for a reason, and you follow them or you or someone else dies.

Since you edited, so will I.

First of all, FUCK YOU for calling me an apologist. I didn't apologize for a god damned thing you ignorant worthless piece of fucking shit. I explained WHY the man was handcuffed because I spent a good portion of my life in this environment and I thought maybe you actually wanted to learn something. I forgot that ignorance is so heavily dedicated and content.

Next, yes, the shooting was wrong, and should never have happened.

Next, your life is in danger until they're pronounced dead by a medical professional. You would not believe the number of times that someone an officer thought was down and out got back up and did harm. People who have been shot 20+ times have gone on to kill officers. It happens. That's why they have these rules in place.

Next, no, it wasn't clear that he didn't have a weapon because you NEVER know and you NEVER assume, because if you do you WILL be injured or kill.

So basically you're utterly ignorant, a liar, and a useless fucktard. Go die in a fire.

 

[waggy]

why did they shoot him? did he have a gun?



and yes handcuffing him is correct. shooting him was not.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Alexander's wife said she heard the gunshots and tried to go into the yard, but the officer told her to stay inside.
From the window they saw Alexander handcuffed and bleeding in the front yard.

He was already shot twice in the chest, did they really need to have him handcuffed?

What a way to die.

Not that I'm excusing their actions in this case, but yes. You ALWAYS cuff them. Period. It saves lives.

After they knew they fucked up?

Come on

Prove that the situation was fully known at that moment. You can't. They likely cuffed him within seconds of the shooting, because that's what you do. I realize it seems bad in retrospect because it was an innocent man, but you don't always know the full story at the time. Safety rules are in place for a reason, and you follow them or you or someone else dies.

Since you edited, so will I.

First of all, FUCK YOU for calling me an apologist. I didn't apologize for a god damned thing you ignorant worthless piece of fucking shit. I explained WHY the man was handcuffed because I spent a good portion of my life in this environment and I thought maybe you actually wanted to learn something. I forgot that ignorance is so heavily dedicated and content.

Next, yes, the shooting was wrong, and should never have happened.

Next, your life is in danger until they're pronounced dead by a medical professional. You would not believe the number of times that someone an officer thought was down and out got back up and did harm. People who have been shot 20+ times have gone on to kill officers. It happens. That's why they have these rules in place.

Next, no, it wasn't clear that he didn't have a weapon because you NEVER know and you NEVER assume, because if you do you WILL be injured or kill.

So basically you're utterly ignorant, a liar, and a useless fucktard. Go die in a fire.

Thanks for affirming you are a police state apologist

 

[alchemize]

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Alexander's wife said she heard the gunshots and tried to go into the yard, but the officer told her to stay inside.
From the window they saw Alexander handcuffed and bleeding in the front yard.

He was already shot twice in the chest, did they really need to have him handcuffed?

What a way to die.

Not that I'm excusing their actions in this case, but yes. You ALWAYS cuff them. Period. It saves lives.

After they knew they fucked up?

Come on

So basically you're utterly ignorant, a liar, and a useless fucktard. Go die in a fire.

This is the beauty of the internet. While PoW and I often clash and disagree on most, we can come together harmoniously, to call Dave out for what he is

 

[jimmyj68]

So where is the moderator????? I sincerely hope the "prince" is not a law officer - if so - God help those he comes in contact with.

 

[theflyingpig]

Originally posted by: jimmyj68
So where is the moderator?????

Here, let me flush him out for you. FUCK YOU, YOU GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING PUSSY.




You need to clean up your act here and stop insulting members and moderators at every turn. If not, your stay here will be short.


esquared
Anandtech Senior Moderator

 

[bctbct]

Originally posted by: theflyingpig

Originally posted by: jimmyj68
So where is the moderator?????

Here, let me flush him out for you. FUCK YOU, YOU GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING PUSSY.

FUCK YOU, YOU GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING PUSSY

louder goddammit! :laugh:

 

[ranmaniac]

Originally posted by: theflyingpig

Originally posted by: jimmyj68
So where is the moderator?????

Here, let me flush him out for you. 9-11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB!

This will work much faster.

 

[ModerateRepZero]

the things AT will do for mod attention

/sigh

 

[PrinceofWands]

Originally posted by: alchemize

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Alexander's wife said she heard the gunshots and tried to go into the yard, but the officer told her to stay inside.
From the window they saw Alexander handcuffed and bleeding in the front yard.

He was already shot twice in the chest, did they really need to have him handcuffed?

What a way to die.

Not that I'm excusing their actions in this case, but yes. You ALWAYS cuff them. Period. It saves lives.

After they knew they fucked up?

Come on

So basically you're utterly ignorant, a liar, and a useless fucktard. Go die in a fire.

This is the beauty of the internet. While PoW and I often clash and disagree on most, we can come together harmoniously, to call Dave out for what he is

The sad part is, I have many similar stances to him politically...it's just that personally I think he's an ass...which is ok, because I'm an ass too. I just refuse to lay there and take it however, as it encourages such behavior in the future.

 

[PrinceofWands]

Originally posted by: jimmyj68
So where is the moderator????? I sincerely hope the "prince" is not a law officer - if so - God help those he comes in contact with.

Nope, not a cop, just worked with them a lot over the last 14 years and have a lot of friends who are. I'm really very mellow most of the time...just don't lie to others about me, misrepresent the truth, or call me something I'm not. I will not accept those things. Period.

 

[L00PY]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
He was already shot twice in the chest, did they really need to have him handcuffed?

Unfortunately, yes. Every time police go out on duty, what gets drummed into them is the need to make it off shift alive. This means that after a suspect is shot, even after two in the chest, SOP would likely be to place them in handcuffs. Worst case scenario is the shots missed anything vital, were "through and through"s, and the impact just knocked them to the ground. If not cuffed, the suspect would be able to get up and flee or injure the police or someone else. The catchphrase of "let's be careful out there" helps keep officers alive.

On the flip side, it also helps to foster an "us against them" mentality. This mindset likely leads to many of the instances of police brutality and misconduct out there. The cop definitely screwed up big time.

For the record, the AP reports out there say that, "according to police, Alexander was holding a 'club-style weapon.' Mooney said it was a broomstick. Alexander's wife and mother said they saw him handcuffed and bleeding in the front yard." They also say that the officer didn't call for backup before pursuing the four burglary suspects.

It sounds like the officer the chased after four guys in the dark, at some point he realized it was a really stupid thing to do, adrenaline started pumping and he got his gun out. I wouldn't be surprised if the OC DA's office determined that the officer was criminally culpable.

 

[TallBill]

I hate it when the news adds crap like "newlywed" to the story. How about the fact that it would fucking suck to be shot and killed regardless of your life situation?

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: waggy
why did they shoot him? did he have a gun?



and yes handcuffing him is correct. shooting him was not.

That's what I want to know...I wasn't aware that it was police policy to blow holes in some one that may have stolen a TV. Did he at least have a gun or something? I'm thinking not since the police probably would have mentioned it.

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

Fuck cops.

 

[JSt0rm]

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands
So basically you're utterly ignorant, a liar, and a useless fucktard. Go die in a fire.

While I don't want to get into this thread I feel as though you might actually be a cop and your response here is kind of scary. I think a lot of cops and soldiers really jump down hard on things and thats probably what happened here. You guys should relax.