CHICAGO Police in Oklahoma came under intense scrutiny on Thursday for
fatally shooting a deaf man who failed to respond to their commands, even as
neighbours were alerting officers of the man's disability.
Officers went to the Oklahoma City home of Magdiel Sanchez looking for
his father, who was involved in a hit-and-run car accident. They instead killed
the 35-year-old who could neither hear nor speak, according to witnesses.
Neighbours said they were trying to intervene by yelling "he can't
hear you," to prevent the Tuesday night shooting outside Sanchez's home,
but police did not heed their warnings.
"As the police pulled up, we was all... screaming at the cops not
to shoot," neighbour Julio Rayos told reporters.
Oklahoma's deaf community questioned the police use of deadly force,
while the American Civil Liberties Union offered a scathing rebuke on Thursday.
"Magdiel Sanchez was shot at his own home, without having
committed any crime," said the ACLU's Allie Shinn. "Merely failing to
follow commands is an unacceptable defence for the use of lethal force."
During the confrontation, Sanchez was holding in his right hand a 60cm
metal pipe with a leather loop. Police said they believe the object was
designed to be a weapon.
Sanchez did not respond to officers' commands to drop the pipe, and
Lieutenant Matthew Lindsey fired a Taser while Sergeant Christopher Barnes
fired his gun. Sanchez died at the scene.
Police could not say why the officers fired different weapons, but not
all members of the department have access to non-lethal Tasers.
Neither officer was outfitted with a body camera, but police
interviewed multiple witnesses who were cooperating with a criminal investigation.
"It's a crying shame," one witness, who asked not to be
identified, told The Oklahoman newspaper. "I believe they could have
disarmed him without shooting."
Oklahoma City police chief Bill Citty said on Thursday that he would
meet with groups representing the disabled, the newspaper reported.
"We have a responsibility to serve the entire public, regardless
of who they are, what disability they have," the newspaper quoted Citty as
saying.
A leader at the Oklahoma Association of the Deaf told TV station KWTV
that police need more training.
"I don't know why this situation so quickly escalated," JR
Reininger said.
"There were two police officers and one
deaf man with one metal rod." - AFP
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