Charlotte NC, Police shoot and kill man seeking help after wreck

[XD40scinNC]

Man apparently seeking help killed by Charlotte police - CNN.com

Police in North Carolina shot and killed a man running toward them Saturday morning -- but he may have just been looking for help after a car wreck.

Police have charged Officer Randall Kerrick with voluntary manslaughter -- a felony. He turned himself in Saturday afternoon and was being held early Sunday on a $50,000 bond.


Police used "charged" and "ran" and "advanced" in their description of what Ferrell did.
There were three officers at the scene, but Kerrick was the only one to use a gun.

 

[Peggy Reist]

Are there more police shooting innocent citizens or are they just making the news more often? I don't remember there being so many of them a couple years ago.

 

[Mobuck]

How much longer is it going to take for people to understand that COPS ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS and are about as likely to harm you as help you?

 

[3gunshooter]

How much longer is it going to take for people to understand that COPS ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS and are about as likely to harm you as help you?

I don't think they are all bad. It does seem like we hear of something like this happening on a weekly basis.

 

[MadMAF]

We all need to remember, Police officers are human. They get scared and make mistakes, just like everyone else. The level of crime and lack of respect for life and property in today's society also shares a lot of the blame. It used to be that in such a circumstance you could go to the nearest home for help. Now, with the frequency of daylight home invasions, anyone frantically knocking on your doors is more apt to be wishing you harm than seeking help. We can speculate that had the lady been armed she could have asked the guy what he wanted/was doing on her porch, confident that she had a measure of security, but to do so begs too many questions and solves nothing. It's a sad world we live in now. Good luck to all of us should we ever find ourselves in a similar situation.

 

[Deanimator]

We all need to remember, Police officers are human. They get scared and make mistakes, just like everyone else.

The difference is that unlike mere mortals, as often as not they get away with those "mistakes", even when they end up costing an innocent person his freedom or life.

Google the "Alvin Weems + Chicago Police Department" and tell me if you think that a citizen would have gotten away with what Weems did.

 

[JimTh]

I don't think they are all bad. It does seem like we hear of something like this happening on a weekly basis.

Please ask the "good cops" to wear a smiley face on their foreheads so we will know the difference. Thanks!

 

[rev. dave]

Another 'loose cannon' cop gets a paid vacation while his department and the prosecutor 'polish the turd' to say it was justified - in some way.

 

[rev. dave]

" Police officers are human. They get scared and make mistakes, just like everyone else." I

n that case, MadMAF, shouldn't they also be held to the same legal standards and accountability / punishment as everyone else? But they aren't. All too often they get a paid vacation ('administrative leave' or 'desk assignment') while the murder they commited cools off and the city / county / state try to find some way to justifiy it. Then, once it's whitewashed, even the victim's family has no recourse. Wear a uniform and badge, and it's 'murder with impunity'.

But YOU make that mistake (shoot some guy on the street who's looking for help and runs toward you) and you're gonna either be in prison, or bankrupted by the cost of defense - and YOU won't be getting any paid vacation, and may even lose your job.

 

[bowserb]

It sounds like he's getting less than a paid vacation. Arrested with $50,000 bond (although probably covered by the police union). Even while he is at home, he is wondering about what will happen. Not exactly a vacation. We don't know the whole story, and what we got in the video was from CNN--a less than 100% credible source. The guy didn't have a cell phone to call for help? Everyone with a job has a cell phone and those without a job have a free cell phone. A big black man banged on the door of a home. The woman who foolishly opened the door was frightened, slammed the door and reported to 911 (I imagine), "A big black man just tried to break into my house!" Why else would there be three policemen sent?

Then the police handled it poorly too. Tragedy all around.

 

[wolf_fire]

Another 'loose cannon' cop gets a paid vacation while his department and the prosecutor 'polish the turd' to say it was justified - in some way.

Did you read the article? He was put on $50,000 bond and is charged with voluntary manslaughter.... no paid leave, no justification. The department even was quoted as saying he was not justified to discharge his weapon.

 

[wolf_fire]

It sounds like he's getting less than a paid vacation. Arrested with $50,000 bond (although probably covered by the police union). We don't know the whole story, and what we got in the video was from CNN. He didn't have a cell phone to call for help? Everyone with a job has a cell phone and those without a job have a free cell phone. A big blank man banged on the door of a home. The woman who foolishly opened the door was frightened, slammed the door and reported to 911 (I imagine), "A big black man just tried to break into my house!" Why else would there be three policemen sent?

Then the police handled it poorly too. Tragedy all around.

A crash so bad he had to crawl out of the back window... even if he had a cell phone, he probably had no clue where it was in the wreckage at that time.

 

[GuamGuy]

The account I read was that police were responding to a home invasion call and found a messed up looking college football player sized guy. After being told to stop he charged the police, got tasered, shook off the taser barbs then continued to charge and got shot. I hope I'm never in that situation because I might do the same thing. Depends on where my two backups were and how scared I got.

 

[kelcarry]

Now let me understand this. This poor guy "charged", "ran" and "advanced" on the officer. Where the hell is the imminent danger? No firearm, no knife, no hand in pocket with a shiny mobile phone--just him "charging" and "running" and "advancing". Got to remember this if I ever get to Charlotte and their "well trained officers". I will "slither" and "crawl" with my hands in the air. Hey, I do not know nor do any of us what the totality of facts are relevant in this case--this will be decided, in all likelihood, in a criminal court or at least a civil court, especially since our favorite organization--the Trayvon Martin coalition-consisting of the NAACP, and our "acted stupidly" king will be/are involved. My bet is that he is toast--just a question of what he is convicted of and how much time he serves. Gotta remember though I say all this and am not privy to all facts nor is anyone on this forum.

 

[XD40scinNC]

10 rounds to the chest, 12 shots fired. Sounds like a mag dump.

NC police: Unarmed man shot 10 times in weekend encounter with Charlotte officer | Fox News

 

[Deanimator]

Now let me understand this. This poor guy "charged", "ran" and "advanced" on the officer. Where the hell is the imminent danger?

• Maybe there are a lot of suicide bomb vest attacks in Charlotte and they mistook "I just crashed my car!" for "Allahu akhbar, I'm about to commit 'workplace violence'!"
• Maybe they thought he was a zombie.

 

[rev. dave]

Decixed in court? Not likely. Most of these 'killer cop' cases are whitewashed by the prosecutor's office before going to court. And even there the offender usually skates.

 

[AndeyHall]

We picked this story apart in my Law Enforcement class 2 days ago. I honestly can find more fault with the "victim" than I can the officer. Here's the questions I'd like to see answered before I jump on the bandwagon to hang this cop:
1) What was he doing out at 2:30 in the morning?
2) What caused the wreck?
3) What's the toxicology report?
4) Why did the 911 caller say he was trying to kick the door in if he was just trying to get help?
5) If he wasn't under the influence of any substances, why was he running at the officers? I'm sure they were yelling demands at him. Anyone knows not to charge an officer.

Other things to realize: these officers were responding to a home invasion in progress at 2:30 in the morning, and when they get there this very large guy is charging them. It's very dark, so no he wasn't armed, but could they see that at the time. If I'm being charged, I'm not going to wait until the person is on top of me to determine if he is a legitimate threat. By then it's probably too late. This officer was also fresh out of the academy, so his training was still fresh in his brain. His fellow officer just tried to tase him and it didn't work, and now he's being charged. His brain jumps into training/survival mode. His training taught him to draw his weapon and neutralize the threat. They are not trained to take one shot and see what happens. They are trained to fire until the threat is gone. If that takes 12 rounds then so be it. If 10 rounds hit him in the chest, that means he was still coming at him by those last rounds. He did exactly what he was trained to do. Another thing to realize is that we and the prosecution have months to pick apart a decision this officer had to make in less than a second. All the facts that have been presented so far tell me the officer didn't do anything wrong.

Don't fall for these stupid media gimmicks where they said he was running to police like a child runs to his mother. That's just stupid.

 

[mappow]

We picked this story apart in my Law Enforcement class 2 days ago. I honestly can find more fault with the "victim" than I can the officer. Here's the questions I'd like to see answered before I jump on the bandwagon to hang this cop:
1) What was he doing out at 2:30 in the morning?
2) What caused the wreck?
3) What's the toxicology report?
4) Why did the 911 caller say he was trying to kick the door in if he was just trying to get help?
5) If he wasn't under the influence of any substances, why was he running at the officers? I'm sure they were yelling demands at him. Anyone knows not to charge an officer.

Other things to realize: these officers were responding to a home invasion in progress at 2:30 in the morning, and when they get there this very large guy is charging them. It's very dark, so no he wasn't armed, but could they see that at the time. If I'm being charged, I'm not going to wait until the person is on top of me to determine if he is a legitimate threat. By then it's probably too late. This officer was also fresh out of the academy, so his training was still fresh in his brain. His fellow officer just tried to tase him and it didn't work, and now he's being charged. His brain jumps into training/survival mode. His training taught him to draw his weapon and neutralize the threat. They are not trained to take one shot and see what happens. They are trained to fire until the threat is gone. If that takes 12 rounds then so be it. If 10 rounds hit him in the chest, that means he was still coming at him by those last rounds. He did exactly what he was trained to do. Another thing to realize is that we and the prosecution have months to pick apart a decision this officer had to make in less than a second. All the facts that have been presented so far tell me the officer didn't do anything wrong.

Don't fall for these stupid media gimmicks where they said he was running to police like a child runs to his mother. That's just stupid.

I preface this post as always PRO LEO and those that give above the call of duty.
I do not believe any of your 5 points pertain to the incident as it was what made the officer escalate it to a shoot.

1) What was he doing out at 2:30 in the morning? NOT relevant, none of anyone's business
2) What caused the wreck? Possible after further investigation, but again at the time of approach, not relevant
3) What's the toxicology report?.........Really???, this is a post interview/report question-no value added until presentation to the D.A..
4) Why did the 911 caller say he was trying to kick the door in if he was just trying to get help? Help extricate trapped passengers?

5) If he wasn't under the influence of any substances, why was he running at the officers? Any and all perps always RUN AWAY from LEO's not toward.
Not sure where you teach or what your credentials are but not real impressed with your response here Andy.

 

[AndeyHall]

I preface this post as always PRO LEO and those that give above the call of duty.
I do not believe any of your 5 points pertain to the incident as it was what made the officer escalate it to a shoot.

1) What was he doing out at 2:30 in the morning? NOT relevant, none of anyone's business
2) What caused the wreck? Possible after further investigation, but again at the time of approach, not relevant
3) What's the toxicology report?.........Really???, this is a post interview/report question-no value added until presentation to the D.A..
4) Why did the 911 caller say he was trying to kick the door in if he was just trying to get help? Help extricate trapped passengers?

5) If he wasn't under the influence of any substances, why was he running at the officers? Any and all perps always RUN AWAY from LEO's not toward.
Not sure where you teach or what your credentials are but not real impressed with your response here Andy.

I don't teach, I study. My credentials are that I know how not to jump to unfounded conclusions. When an officer winds up using deadly force, EVERYTHING is relevant. What he was doing that late at night could help determine his intentions in "trying to kick in the door" or at running at the police. What caused the wreck could factor in to drug or alcohol usage. Drug or alcohol usage could factor in to why he was running at the police and trying to kick a door. I don't buy in to your "extricate trapped passengers" response because someone who is able bodied enough to kick in a door should be able to extricate a trapped passenger just fine (which there turned out to be none anyways). And finally, there are PLENTY of people out there who do not run away from the police. In fact, from the cases I've studied there are probably as many people who engage an officer in violent manner as there are those that run. Cops get in fights with criminals on a daily basis. That's not unheard of at all, and the fact that you think it is shows me you watch a little too much tv and don't know much about what actually goes on vs what does on in Hollywood law enforcement. Yes, we know now that he wasn't armed. I know that pisses people off but at 2:30 in the morning, do you really think they could tell? To use deadly force, the officer only has to show 3 things: ABILITY, OPPORTUNITY, AND A REASONABLE PERCEPTION THAT THEY ARE AN IMMEDIATE AND IMMINENT THREAT OF DEATH OR CRIPPLING INJURY. If they can prove that it was too dark to determine if he had a weapon or not, ability may be thrown out. Opportunity will be determined by the distance the officer was from the individual. I haven't read in any reports how close they were, but the fact that he managed to hit 10 out of 12 under stress tells me they were pretty close. Officers rarely ever shoot that accurately in those cases. And the fact that he was running towards him would satisfy the reasonable perception argument. So honestly I could care less how impressed or not impressed with me you are, I've done my research and I know what I'm talking about.