Miami Police Shooting Of Mentally Ill Latino Man Raises Questions
Sunday, March 20, 2005 at 09:50AM
TheSpook
The family of a man killed by a police
officer says that the mentally ill 31-year-old was off medication and
was having a manic episode. Caeser Rada's family says the actor was
mentally ill, but was unarmed when he was shot and killed Officer
Jeffrey Price, 24, shot and killed Cesar Rada, a psychology student and
aspiring actor on Sunday night at his home on Southwest 59th Terrace
near 89th Avenue. Cesar's family said he was bipolar. His father,
Augusto Rada, said he has had to call police in the past for trouble
with his mentally ill son. Augusto Rada said Caeser Rada was agitated
but unarmed when the officer arrived at the home on Southwest 59th
Terrace near 89th Avenue. Police had been called after a family
argument had become violent, according to witnesses. A witness said
that Caeser Rada said, "Shoot me. Shoot me," as he walked toward Price,
who had pulled his service revolver. The witness said Rada kept walking
toward the officer until Price's gun was against his chest. Price then
shot Rada three times. Rada's father and other witnesses said he was
not armed. Rada's father said his son put his hands up and
continued walking toward the officer shouting, "What? You going to
shoot me? Go ahead, shoot me!" Augusto Rada said he heard gunshots when
his son was about three feet away from the officer. The elder Rada said
he tried to jump in between the two men to protect his son. "I
fell and thought I got shot too," he recalled. "I jumped on top of my
son and I looked down. I knew they killed him right there." Rada
was shot in the chest and neck area, his father said. [more] and [more]
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