Thursday, January 9, 2014

Unarmed 19-year-old man fatally shot by police

(CBS/AP) AMES, Iowa -  A 19-year-old man was fatally shot by police on the campus of Iowa State University after his father called authorities to report that the teen had stolen his truck, reports CBS affiliate KCCI. Tyler Comstock, 19, of Boone, was shot dead by Officer Adam McPherson, an 8-year-veteran of the department, at the end of an at-times high-speed pursuit through the city's streets that ended on the college campus, reports the station.
The officer who shot the teen in Ames, Iowa Monday was cleared Thursday of wrongdoing, and the investigation was closed, reports the DeMoines Register.
A state's attorney says the police officer who fatally shot the apparently unarmed man "acted reasonably under very difficult circumstances and....use of deadly force was justified,"  reported KCCI.
Tyler Comstock's father, James Comstock, told the Des Moines Register he refused to buy his son a package of cigarettes, which angered him and started the incident. James Comstock had called police to report the stolen vehicle.

Comstock told the newspaper he's outraged police shot his son. Other family members told the newspaper police should have backed off the pursuit because they knew who they were chasing.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tyler-comstock-killing-iowa-police-shoot-unarmed-19-year-old-after-father-calls-authorities-to-report-the-teen-stole-his-truck/

Police shoot unarmed man, 14-week-old puppy, threaten to shoot witness

A report published Dec. 31 by AlterNet says police in Harvey, IL shot an unarmed man in the back of the leg without cause, threatened to "shoot the sh** out of" a witness with a camera, then shot to death a 14-week-old puppy belonging to another witness, according to details outlined in federal lawsuits filed by the wounded man and the owner of the dog that was shot.
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Manning claims he was walking down the street on Dec. 30, 2012, when the officers began following him in a squad car. Manning says one of the officers stopped his squad car and ordered Manning to, "Come here!" Manning says he did not stop because he had done nothing wrong. The complaint then states:
"Mr. Manning had no weapon or other objects in his hands. After a short distance of moving away from the defendant officer, Mr. Manning slipped and fell. As Mr. Manning tried to get up, one of the defendant officers willfully shot Mr. Manning in the back of his leg. Mr. Manning fell again and tried to get up again. Defendant officer then fired more shots at Mr. Manning."
Manning's complaint then says a witness tried to record the scene with his cell phone, but a Harvey officer grabbed the phone and threw it, saying "You touch the phone, I will shoot the s**t out of you."
In the second lawsuit filed by Karniischa Miller, who witnessed the shooting, claims she heard gunshots, "opened the back door and witnessed a young man, Paul Manning, lying on the ground after having been shot. He was screaming and asking for an ambulance."
Miller says the Harvey police officers were surrounding Paul Manning with their guns drawn.
http://www.examiner.com/article/police-shoot-unarmed-man-14-week-old-puppy-threaten-to-shoot-witness