The Tragic Death of Deborah Danner, Age 66

Here's  a fatal shooting with a twist; no longer is it just young black males who've been stopped for something.
The officer who shot the victim is Sgt. Hugh Barry, an 8 year veteran of the NYPD. The victim is Deborah Danner, a mentally ill woman  that the police were already aware of from having had calls about her before. At the time of this article, the names were not being released, but have been since then.
Why didn't he just use his Taser on her? Initially she had a scissors, which in my mind would be a lot more dangerous than a bat, and he was able to talk her into putting it down. Then she picks up a bat and swings so he shoots her? What imminent danger was he in? Here we have a trained police officer up against a mentally ill but still able to be talked to 66 year old woman;  he couldn't  just grab the bat from her? Oh no, that's right, he had to hold on to his gun with one hand, after all, he was in fear for his life from this woman that he had just talked into putting down the scissors!

Police Cite Self-Defense as Sergeant Fatally Shoots Bronx Woman, 66

Deborah Danner

A police sergeant responding to a call about a 66-year-old woman acting irrationally in a Bronx apartment fatally shot her after she tried to hit him with a baseball bat on Tuesday, the police said.

Officers went to a seventh-floor apartment at 630 Pugsley Avenue in the Castle Hill neighborhood a little after 6 p.m. in response to a neighbor’s complaint, the police said.

About 10 minutes later, the sergeant entered the apartment and found the woman, who was alone, in a bedroom holding a pair of scissors, Assistant Chief Larry W. Nikunen, commanding officer of patrol for the Bronx, said at a news conference.

The sergeant persuaded the woman to drop the scissors, but she then grabbed a baseball bat. As she tried to hit him, the sergeant fired twice and struck her in the torso, Chief Nikunen said. She was pronounced dead at Jacobi Medical Center.

The chief said there had been “several incidents involving this individual with similar types of calls” in the past, but he did not have details of the previous calls.

The names of the sergeant, whom Chief Nikunen said was an eight-year veteran of the New York Police Department, and the woman were not released. The chief said the sergeant had a Taser, which was not used. Why it was not used will be part of an investigation.

In a statement, the Bronx borough president, Ruben Diaz Jr., called the shooting “an outrage,” noting that the police were aware of the woman’s history and that the sergeant had a stun gun. He called on Eric T. Schneiderman, the state attorney general, and Darcel D. Clark, the Bronx district attorney, to investigate.

“While I certainly understand the hard work that our police officers undertake to keep the streets of our city safe every single day, I also know what excessive force looks like,” Mr. Diaz said in the statement.

By CHRISTOPHER MELEOCT. 18, 2016

PUBLISHED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES

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Now, Let's See What Happens to This Parent...

There  have been many cases of parents accidentally leaving a young child  in a hot car for several hours, only to return and find the child either unconscious or already dead.  In each case that I can recall, the parent who had been responsible for leaving the child was always arrested, jailed, and prosecuted. I wonder if it will be the same in this case...

3-Year-Old Daughter of Miss. Police Officer Dies After Being Left in Patrol Car

The Long Beach, Miss., Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to fire Police Officers Cassie Barker and Clark Ladner. Barker's daughter died after being left alone in a patrol car for four hours.

Long Beach, Miss., Police Officer Cassie Barker with her daughter Cheyenn                                                FACEBOOK

The Board of Aldermen of the city of Long Beach, Miss., voted unanimously Tuesday to fire two police officers involved in the hot-car death of the 3-year-old daughter of one of the officers, the Sun Herald reports.

Initially, the officers were placed on paid leave pending the outcome of an investigation into the death of 3-year-old Cheyenn Hyer, daughter of Police Officer Cassie Barker, the Sun Herald reports.

However, the board decided to terminate Barker as well as Police Sgt. Clark Ladner, per the recommendation of Police Chief Wayne McDowell.

Barker’s daughter Cheyenn died Friday after being left alone in a patrol car, according to the report. Hancock County Sheriff Ricky Adam said the patrol car was running with the air conditioner on when investigators got to the scene. Cheyenn (some news organizations are spelling her name as Cheyenne) was left unattended in the car for four hours while Barker “was visiting” Ladner, authorities said. Both officers were off-duty at the time Cheyenn was found.

Temperatures at the time of the incident were in the high 80s to low 90s, with the heat index reaching more than 100 degrees.

Adam said that an arrest could follow once investigators obtain additional information. Investigators are working to determine whether criminal charges will be filed in the case. Chief Deputy Don Bass said Ladner did not know that Cheyenn was in the car while he and Barker were inside.

Barker will have 10 days to file an appeal with the Civil Service Commission regarding her firing, the Sun Herald notes.

On Monday, Chief Investigator Glen Grannan revealed that deputies learned that Barker had also been involved in an unrelated incident that resulted in her having to go through the state Department of Human Services “so she could have her child back,” the Sun Herald reports. That incident also involved Cheyenn.

“I’ve spoken with the male officer involved, but I’ve not spoken with the female officer, not as far as the official internal investigation, because of medical reasons,” Long Beach Police Chief Wayne McDowell said. “The mother is in shock. I will talk to her soon.”

Read more at the Sun Herald. 

And Now The Truth Comes Out!!

New Video Reveals Sacramento, Calif., Police Tried To Run Over Black Man Before Fatally Shooting Him

The disturbing incident—even condemned by one of the officer’s brothers—was apparently even worse than initially thought, as departmental video shows that the officers tried to run Joseph Mann over twice.

According to recently released dash-cam video from a July altercation, two Sacramento, Calif., police officers attempted to run over an African-American homeless man—twice—before they shot and killed him in a hail of bullets.

The Sacremento Bee reports that one of the officers says “f–k this guy” in the final minute before they shot Joseph Mann. Moments later, the driver says, “I’m going to hit him.”

“OK. Go for it. Go for it,” his partner responds.

The Bee reports that Officers Randy Lozoya and John Tennis gunned their vehicle toward Mann during the July 11 incident, backed up, turned and then drove toward him again, based on dashcam video released by police. They stopped the car, ran toward Mann on foot and shot him 14 times. He was obviously running away from them.

After a private citizen gave news outlets video from the incident, police released dashcam video on Sept. 20 and called a news conference that day.

The Sacramento News and Review reports that the videos seem to contradict the department’s initial statement that its officers resorted to lethal force only after de-escalation tactics failed.

Lozoya and Tennis are currently on “modified duty,” according to a police spokesman.

Dispatchers told officers that Mann was seen with a knife and a gun. Police have never reported finding a gun.

In the dashcam video from the car used by Lozoya and Tennis, the officers attempt to hit Mann as he crosses a side street but miss him. The car screeches, reverses and then turns onto a street to continue the pursuit.

In the next audible clip, an officer says, “We’ll get him. We’ll get him.” They stop the car, exit and then chase Mann on foot.
Seconds later, they fired 18 shots at Mann, hitting him with 14. Their gunfire is heard on the dashcam video.

A toxicology report found methamphetamine in Mann’s system.

The Sacramento City Council will propose a use-of-force policy designed to restrict lethal force to be debated on Oct. 13. Other council members are calling for quicker release of video in police shootings, greater powers for a civilian oversight commission and other reforms.

“They are officers that shouldn’t be in uniform,” said Robert Mann, Joseph Mann’s brother, according to the Bee. “If this is their state of mind when they go to work, this doesn’t serve anyone well.”

Both officers are named as defendants in a federal lawsuit filed last month against the city by Mann’s relatives, according to the Sacramento News and Review. The lawsuit  says Mann displayed “overt signs of being in the midst of mental crisis” and officers should not have used lethal force—including a car—against him.

The Bee notes that the incident occurred four days after a sniper shot five police officers during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Dallas.