Family seeks answer in fatal police shooting of Unarmed Black Man in NJ

  Family and friends of a man killed by police are asking for a better explanation of what led to the shooting and are organizing a peaceful march for Wednesday. Curtis Good, 41, died early Friday after being shot by a patrolman responding to a report that a man was "breaking up everything" at the apartment where he lived with his girlfriend, authorities said. The call for aid came at 1:32 a.m. from the woman's teenage son, the Middlesex County prosecutor's office said. Patrolman Carmen Fazzolari arrived two minutes later and went inside. Another officer arrived two minutes later and was speaking to the teen outside when shots were heard. Good was fired upon 8 times by police and hit 6 times. Authorities have said the shooting happened after the officer and Good had an encounter in the bedroom. No one else was in the apartment, the prosecutor's office said. "There are 10 different things that could have been done other than one police officer inside, pulling the trigger," Good's brother, Harry Bradford said. [more ]

New Jersey: Police Fatally Shoot Black Man Six TImes Last Night

• Curtis Good Shot 6 times by Cops

A patrolman responding to a report that a man was "breaking up everything" in an apartment shot and killed the man early Friday, the Middlesex County prosecutor's office said. The shooting happened while the man, Curtis Good, was visiting a girlfriend and her family. The call for aid came at 1:32 a.m. from the woman's 18-year-old son, the prosecutor's office said. Patrolman Carmen Fazzolari arrived two minutes later and entered the apartment. Another officer arrived two minutes later and was speaking to the teenager outside when shots were heard. Patrolman Fazzolari fired eight shots from his .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol, six of which struck Mr. Good in the torso, the authorities said. Mr. Good received first aid at the scene, and was pronounced dead at 2:21 a.m. at Raritan Bay Medical Center.[more ] and [more ]

LAPD turns over investigation on Stanley Miler beating to district attorney

The Police Department on Friday turned over the results of its investigation into the flashlight beating of a car-theft suspect to the district attorney's office, which will determine whether to file criminal charges against any officers involved in the incident. Stanley Miller, who is black, was hit repeatedly with a 2-pound steel flashlight after a half-hour, car and foot chase on June 23 in South Los Angeles. Miller was beaten on the ground as he appeared to surrender. [more ]

Police Officer's lawyers seek gag order in shooting suit

• Cops Shoot Unarmed, Nude Man. Police "thought he had a gun. "

The attorney for an unarmed man shot in a drug raid is trying to force a settlement by hyping the case, they said in a motion. Lawyers for a police officer who shot a naked, unarmed Bucks County man during a drug raid want a judge to impose a gag order in a federal lawsuit over the shooting. The lawyers say the injured man's attorney, Thomas Mellon Jr., has tried to force a settlement by hyping the case in the news media and by threatening to release a doctored videotape of two police officers testifying about the shooting. Mellon's client, 22-year-old James Hoskins, was shot by Middletown Township Police Detective Dale Keddie Jr. during a Feb. 6 drug raid at Hoskins' apartment in Bristol Township. Hoskins was naked, holding a wadded T-shirt to cover his genitals, when Keddie entered the bedroom. Keddie, who later said he thought Hoskins had a gun, fired once, wounding him. Hoskins, who was not a target of the drug investigation, was critically wounded in the abdomen and leg.  The shooting was justified, she said, because Keddie reasonably believed his life was in danger. [more ]

Minneapolis City Council awards $15,000 to Black Man Shot by Police

The Minneapolis City Council agreed Friday to give $15,000 to Andre Madison, who was shot by police in 1996 and filed a federal lawsuit claiming his rights were violated. The council voted 6 to 5 to settle with Madison. Police raided a north Minneapolis duplex owned by Madison in November 1996 to search for drugs with a no-knock search warrant. Shots were fired, and Madison and an officer suffered minor wounds. No drugs were found, but Madison was charged with assault for firing a shotgun at police. At trial, the prosecutor said evidence showed the officer was hit by police fire. Madison was convicted and sentenced to three years. Madison's lawsuit claimed that after he was wounded, unidentified officers kicked him several times and used a racial epithet. [more ]

Fredericksburg Police Fatally Shoot Man after Traffic Stop

Fredericksburg police officers involved in Monday's fatal shooting at a city gas station returned to duty yesterday. The unidentified officers were placed on administrative leave for about 72 hours after the shooting of Robert C. Trouth in the parking lot of Eubank's BP Station on Princess Anne Street. "They are back on the job after evaluations of both their physical and mental health," city police Chief Jim Powers said yesterday. "From what I know at the present time, it appears they used the utmost restraint in such a highly charged situation." Officers ticketed Trouth, 29, of Essex County, for failure to obey a traffic sign and driving without a license, city police spokesman Jim Shelhorse said. [more ]

Dallas Fails to Indict Police Officer who Fatally Shot Unarmed Latino Teenager

• Investigation criticized

A grand jury declined to indict a Dallas police lieutenant Wednesday who fatally shot an unarmed teenage car-burglary suspect in March while working an off-duty security job. Lt. John Dagen, a 28-year department veteran, told investigators that he thought a passenger inside the car driven by Orlando Aranda, 18, was reaching for a gun when he fired his weapon. Steve Sanderfer, an attorney representing Mr. Aranda's family, said the ruling is further proof that police and prosecutors do not vigorously pursue investigations when the suspect is a police officer. "I do not believe the Dallas Police Department ever truly investigated this as they would if it had been someone who was not a Dallas police officer who had killed someone," Mr. Sanderfer said. Aranda died just a few days shy of his19th birthday. The teenager and two others were allegedly breaking into a car when Dagen spotted them. The lieutenant said one of the boys made a threatening gesture, and fearing for his life Dagen opened fire, shooting Aranda in the back of the head from 3 feet away. Aranda's family said it was excessive force. "To take his life for a broken window ... no, it's not justice," said aunt Laura Caudillio. [more ] and [more ]

• The last officer in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to be indicted for a use-of-force-related death was a former Grand Prairie officer who was found not guilty in a trial. Blake Hubbard was acquitted in 1997 of  criminal wrongdoing in the 1996 shooting death of Joe Calloway, a mentally ill man the officer said lunged at a fellow officer with a pocketknife. His indictment was the first in 25 years.  [more ]

Demonstrators Protest Police Shooting of African man in White Oak, MD

Pictured above: George Easspa bows his head in prayer as members of the region's African community protest the Aug. 12 shooting death of his cousin, Peter Ayompeuh Njang, by a county police officer. They protested Monday outside a police substation in Silver Spring. About 65 people marched to a Silver Spring police substation Monday afternoon to protest the fatal police shooting of recently arrived immigrant Peter Ayompeuh Njang, 25, outside his sister's apartment. His friends and pastor described him as a gentle, quiet man who would not attack a police officer. But that is what police said Njang was doing when Officer Candice Marchone, a six-year veteran, shot him once in the chest from an arm's length away. The State's Attorney's Office is investigating the shooting and will present the case to a grand jury for review, a standard procedure for all officer-involved shootings, said State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler (D). [more ]

Handcuffed Black Man Beat Down by Police

• Marshall Galloway Sues Officer After Videotaped Struggle

A Louisville man who claims a Metro police officer used excessive force during his arrest is now suing the officer. Marshall Galloway's lawsuit claims officer Harry Cambron used excessive and deliberate painful force in an altercation last November.. The arrest was captured on videotape. Galloway was pepper-sprayed repeatedly and held in a headlock for several minutes after he was handcuffed. The lawsuit echoes what Commonwealth's Attorney David Stengel said at the time -- that Cambron appeared to be retaliating against Galloway for a previous incident. Galloway spent six months in jail before Stengel saw the tape and dropped the charges last month. Galloway's attorney, David Friedman, said Tuesday that his client has a strong case. "What the lawsuit alleges is that Officer Cambron, regardless of his motivation, choked and pepper-sprayed Mr. Galloway after he was handcuffed." [more ]

• Watch the video [here ] or [here ]
• Metro police to investigate videotaped clash at traffic stop [more ]

Mentally Ill Man Shot by Police Can Bring Lawsuit based on the ADA

• Disability Law Applies. Police Not Properly Trained to Deal with Disable

An Easton man has a right to pursue a lawsuit against the police officers who shot him because the officers allegedly failed to deal properly with his mental health problems, a federal judge has ruled. In one of the first decisions of its kind, U.S. District Judge John Padova of Philadelphia ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to police when they encounter mentally ill suspects. Michael Hogan, who has anxiety and personality disorders, alleges that Easton police discriminated against him by failing to adequately train its officers to handle him -- and his disorders -- during a 90-minute standoff. Officers shot him three times as they tried to arrest him during a February 2002 armed standoff at his home. His civil rights suit alleges that the conduct of police provoked him, instead of calming him down.  The ADA  requires governments to provide ''reasonable accommodations'' to people with disabilities. The law is commonly thought to apply to parks, playgrounds and transportation, but it applies to ''all core functions of government,'' according to Judge Yvette Kane. ''Among the most basic of those functions is the lawful exercise of police powers, including the appropriate use of force by government officials.''  [more ]