Police officer who shot black man in Walmart lied, victim's mother says

[Dekster]

If they cannot ruin your life in other ways, they will take your life. That is a messed up thing that happened to the guy.

To be frank dear I don't think any White person could care less about bothering to "ruin" any negroes life. The negroes are doing a fine job of that everyday all by themselves.
The idiot refused to "drop the weapon". He was told to repeatedly by the cops.
Good old Social Darwinism' bite the simian in the ass. once and for all.
Tough titty.
I liked the part in the interview when the mother stated that the idiot son "wandered the aisles" holding what to other customers looked like a real rifle.
"Excuse me sir. I notice you have been wandering the store aisles while pointing what looks like a real rifle at the customers. Would you mind telling us whether or not it's real? That way when you point it at us we'll know whether to shoot your stupid fucking lights out or not"?

To be frank, dear, you are completely clueless.

 

[dannyboys]

Carelessness on all parties there. Why would you pick up something that clearly looks like a weapon and wave it around at all. Why did the caller say he was pointing it at people?
Why did the cops shoot him if he threw his gun down already?

Stupidity all around.

I certainly seen the gun IN his hands when the cop shot him.He hadn't thrown it down.

The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Wise up fuck-witt. The Right for people to bear arms is NOT the right to wander around pointing them at people.
Are you posting from a mental institute?

 

[Marianne]

The mother of a young black man killed by police while holding an unloaded BB rifle in an Ohio Walmart has accused the officer who shot her son of giving a dishonest account of what caused him to open fire.

Tressa Sherrod said store surveillance footage did not support the explanation given by officer Sean Williams for fatally shooting John Crawford III while responding to a 911 call from another shopper in a suburb of Dayton last month.

Giving her first full interview since the death of her 22-year-old son, Sherrod accused Williams and the Beavercreek police department of “trying to cover their butts” after discovering that Crawford was holding an air gun from a store shelf while he spoke on his cell phone.

“But it’s not working, because we’ve seen the video, we’ve read the report – it doesn’t match,” Sherrod, 45, told the Guardian during a wide-ranging conversation on Monday.

Williams said in his account of the August 5 shooting that as he approached Crawford, who had been repeatedly accused by the 911 caller of pointing the rifle at people, he feared for his life and the lives of his colleague, Sergeant David Darkow, and customers in the store.

“Sergeant Darkow repeatedly yelled ‘drop the weapon’,” said Williams, in a narrative released by Beavercreek police late last Friday. “After repeated commands to drop the weapon the male turned to us in an aggressive manner with the rifle in hand. At that time the black male was in a position where he could shoot me or sergeant Darkow.”

Walmart surveillance footage released last week, after a grand jury declined to indict Williams on criminal charges, showed that Crawford – who was still on his phone – was shot from the side while apparently moving to run away from the advancing armed officers.

Footage synced by the FBI with a recording of the 911 call indicated that Williams shot Crawford about one second after he and Darkow rounded a corner into the pet products aisle, where Crawford had been standing for five minutes, occasionally swinging the BB rifle at his side and holding it towards a shelf. The word “down” could be heard being shouted in the background of the call moments before Williams fired his two shots.

Crawford’s mother said the discrepancy between the police report and recordings was clear. “Him reaching for the gun? I didn’t see that,” she said on Monday. “He turned towards them in an aggressive way? I didn’t see that. But that’s what they said in their report.”

A police spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on Sherrod’s remarks.

Sherrod said she was left furious by the decision of the grand jury in Greene County not to indict Williams. “I was very angry,” she said. “If they watched the video that everyone else had seen, I just couldn’t understand why [the special prosecutors] didn’t get an indictment.”

She also expressed dismay over the actions of Ronald Ritchie, the customer whose 911 call and repeated claims that Crawford was pointing the BB rifle at shoppers led police to rush to the store. The synced footage showed Crawford holding the rifle at his side and pointing it to the floor at the time when Ritchie alleged that “he just pointed it at, like, two children”.


“I have no idea why he made that call,” Sherrod said. “I have no idea why he would do that – why anyone would do that.” She echoed a request made by Crawford’s father to the Guardian last week for police to investigate Ritchie over the mismatch. “It pisses me off,” she said. “I’m so upset about it”.

The US Department of Justice announced last week that it would review the case for potential federal charges following the grand jury’s decision. Asked what would represent justice for her son, Sherrod said: “An indictment. An indictment for Williams”.

She would not rule out bringing a civil lawsuit if no charges were brought. Williams is due to return to desk duties soon and is expected to resume patrol work after the federal inquiry concludes.

Sherrod said Crawford would have been given more of a chance by police if he had not been black.

She said her son had experienced racial discrimination at several points in his life. “He’s been profiled, he’s been followed, he’s been pulled over in the car for doing nothing,” she said. “He’s been cursed at, yelled at, manhandled.”

In the light of her son’s death and the controversial police shootings of several other young black men around the country in recent weeks, Sherrod proposed that police officers be retrained in basic practices, such as “how to talk to them, to not to be so quick to jump to conclusions just because of someone’s race”.

When her son died, Sherrod was at home in Cincinnati with Leecee Johnson, the mother of Crawford’s two young sons, with whom he was speaking on his cell phone. Together, she said, they listened to his final moments.

“It was horrible,” she said on Monday. “It was horrible. I don’t think anyone wants to hear on the phone their child dying, taking their last breath.”

Sherrod complained that she and her family were treated poorly by law-enforcement authorities in the hours after her son’s death.

“They wouldn’t let us see him when we arrived at the hospital,” she said. “They really just said that he was in the store, we were told, pointing the gun at people.” She had not been contacted by Beavercreek police and had learned of all key developments in the case from the media, she said.

She said weapons and toy manufacturers should be prompted by the incident to ensure that air rifles were clearly distinct from full-powered weapons. Walmart and other stores should keep realistic-looking BB rifles locked in cabinets, she suggested. Her son picked up the BB gun, which had already been unpackaged, as he wandered the aisles while speaking on his phone.

Sherrod said the past seven weeks had been troubling for John Crawford IV, her one-year-old grandson. Crawford’s younger son, Jayden, who is about six months old, would never know his father. “It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “They’ll have pictures, we’ll talk about it, but they’re not going to remember what he’s done with them ... he’s not going to be there to take them to football games, teach them how to play sports or just talk to them, do fatherly things.”

Crawford’s mother said she would remember her son by his “quirky laugh” and infectious sense of humour. “I miss him being around,” she said. “I miss him saying ‘mom’; I miss his phone calls and his text messages; I miss coming home and seeing that he ate all my food. There’s a lot of little things I miss about him. I miss his smile. I miss hearing his voice.”

One of the first things you learn as a LEO of any kind is that grieving parents want someone to blame. This woman wasn't even present at the shooting.

Personally I think the officer fired too quickly in a situation that he could have assessed more closely , but inadequate knowledge of how to handle a situation is not a crime.

The kid didn't help himself any with his handling of the gun, I believe 100% that he pointed it at people.

I really can't blame the cops. They were told that a person with a gun pointed it at people in Walmart. They had no way of knowing it was a BB gun and the man wasn't crazy and planning to shoot. I expect the parents to be inconsolable but they had a news conference where they are suing Walmart because the gun was left unwrapped on a shelf for days and they are blaming Walmart for leaving the gun where someone could grab it. The parents had at least five people standing around them. At some point you'd think someone close to them or even the lawyer would pull them aside and say " I'm sorry about your son but he was 22 years old, not a kid, and should have known better". What's next? Using the surveillance footage to find out who originally unwrapped the gun and sue them too? Why are we not responsible for our own actions? Nobody twisted Crawfords arm to pick the gun up and walk around the store with it.

 

[Marianne]

Customers said he pointed the gun at people.

Correction: One customer made that unsubstantiated claim. The video proves he was lying.

Further proof that witness info can be unreliable. I can't blame the witnesses either. Look at the mother with the kids,as soon as she see's Crawford she takes off in a hurry as she should have done. Can you blame someone who's hearts pounding and who felt threatened for making the mistake that the gun wasn't exactly pointed at them?

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

The mother of a young black man killed by police while holding an unloaded BB rifle in an Ohio Walmart has accused the officer who shot her son of giving a dishonest account of what caused him to open fire.

Tressa Sherrod said store surveillance footage did not support the explanation given by officer Sean Williams for fatally shooting John Crawford III while responding to a 911 call from another shopper in a suburb of Dayton last month.

Giving her first full interview since the death of her 22-year-old son, Sherrod accused Williams and the Beavercreek police department of “trying to cover their butts” after discovering that Crawford was holding an air gun from a store shelf while he spoke on his cell phone.

“But it’s not working, because we’ve seen the video, we’ve read the report – it doesn’t match,” Sherrod, 45, told the Guardian during a wide-ranging conversation on Monday.

Williams said in his account of the August 5 shooting that as he approached Crawford, who had been repeatedly accused by the 911 caller of pointing the rifle at people, he feared for his life and the lives of his colleague, Sergeant David Darkow, and customers in the store.

“Sergeant Darkow repeatedly yelled ‘drop the weapon’,” said Williams, in a narrative released by Beavercreek police late last Friday. “After repeated commands to drop the weapon the male turned to us in an aggressive manner with the rifle in hand. At that time the black male was in a position where he could shoot me or sergeant Darkow.”

Walmart surveillance footage released last week, after a grand jury declined to indict Williams on criminal charges, showed that Crawford – who was still on his phone – was shot from the side while apparently moving to run away from the advancing armed officers.

Footage synced by the FBI with a recording of the 911 call indicated that Williams shot Crawford about one second after he and Darkow rounded a corner into the pet products aisle, where Crawford had been standing for five minutes, occasionally swinging the BB rifle at his side and holding it towards a shelf. The word “down” could be heard being shouted in the background of the call moments before Williams fired his two shots.

Crawford’s mother said the discrepancy between the police report and recordings was clear. “Him reaching for the gun? I didn’t see that,” she said on Monday. “He turned towards them in an aggressive way? I didn’t see that. But that’s what they said in their report.”

A police spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on Sherrod’s remarks.

Sherrod said she was left furious by the decision of the grand jury in Greene County not to indict Williams. “I was very angry,” she said. “If they watched the video that everyone else had seen, I just couldn’t understand why [the special prosecutors] didn’t get an indictment.”

She also expressed dismay over the actions of Ronald Ritchie, the customer whose 911 call and repeated claims that Crawford was pointing the BB rifle at shoppers led police to rush to the store. The synced footage showed Crawford holding the rifle at his side and pointing it to the floor at the time when Ritchie alleged that “he just pointed it at, like, two children”.


“I have no idea why he made that call,” Sherrod said. “I have no idea why he would do that – why anyone would do that.” She echoed a request made by Crawford’s father to the Guardian last week for police to investigate Ritchie over the mismatch. “It pisses me off,” she said. “I’m so upset about it”.

The US Department of Justice announced last week that it would review the case for potential federal charges following the grand jury’s decision. Asked what would represent justice for her son, Sherrod said: “An indictment. An indictment for Williams”.

She would not rule out bringing a civil lawsuit if no charges were brought. Williams is due to return to desk duties soon and is expected to resume patrol work after the federal inquiry concludes.

Sherrod said Crawford would have been given more of a chance by police if he had not been black.

She said her son had experienced racial discrimination at several points in his life. “He’s been profiled, he’s been followed, he’s been pulled over in the car for doing nothing,” she said. “He’s been cursed at, yelled at, manhandled.”

In the light of her son’s death and the controversial police shootings of several other young black men around the country in recent weeks, Sherrod proposed that police officers be retrained in basic practices, such as “how to talk to them, to not to be so quick to jump to conclusions just because of someone’s race”.

When her son died, Sherrod was at home in Cincinnati with Leecee Johnson, the mother of Crawford’s two young sons, with whom he was speaking on his cell phone. Together, she said, they listened to his final moments.

“It was horrible,” she said on Monday. “It was horrible. I don’t think anyone wants to hear on the phone their child dying, taking their last breath.”

Sherrod complained that she and her family were treated poorly by law-enforcement authorities in the hours after her son’s death.

“They wouldn’t let us see him when we arrived at the hospital,” she said. “They really just said that he was in the store, we were told, pointing the gun at people.” She had not been contacted by Beavercreek police and had learned of all key developments in the case from the media, she said.

She said weapons and toy manufacturers should be prompted by the incident to ensure that air rifles were clearly distinct from full-powered weapons. Walmart and other stores should keep realistic-looking BB rifles locked in cabinets, she suggested. Her son picked up the BB gun, which had already been unpackaged, as he wandered the aisles while speaking on his phone.

Sherrod said the past seven weeks had been troubling for John Crawford IV, her one-year-old grandson. Crawford’s younger son, Jayden, who is about six months old, would never know his father. “It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “They’ll have pictures, we’ll talk about it, but they’re not going to remember what he’s done with them ... he’s not going to be there to take them to football games, teach them how to play sports or just talk to them, do fatherly things.”

Crawford’s mother said she would remember her son by his “quirky laugh” and infectious sense of humour. “I miss him being around,” she said. “I miss him saying ‘mom’; I miss his phone calls and his text messages; I miss coming home and seeing that he ate all my food. There’s a lot of little things I miss about him. I miss his smile. I miss hearing his voice.”

One of the first things you learn as a LEO of any kind is that grieving parents want someone to blame. This woman wasn't even present at the shooting.

Personally I think the officer fired too quickly in a situation that he could have assessed more closely , but inadequate knowledge of how to handle a situation is not a crime.

The kid didn't help himself any with his handling of the gun, I believe 100% that he pointed it at people.

I really can't blame the cops. They were told that a person with a gun pointed it at people in Walmart. They had no way of knowing it was a BB gun and the man wasn't crazy and planning to shoot. I expect the parents to be inconsolable but they had a news conference where they are suing Walmart because the gun was left unwrapped on a shelf for days and they are blaming Walmart for leaving the gun where someone could grab it. The parents had at least five people standing around them. At some point you'd think someone close to them or even the lawyer would pull them aside and say " I'm sorry about your son but he was 22 years old, not a kid, and should have known better". What's next? Using the surveillance footage to find out who originally unwrapped the gun and sue them too? Why are we not responsible for our own actions? Nobody twisted Crawfords arm to pick the gun up and walk around the store with it.

Oh, the suing WM is beyond the pale.They aren't responsible. Sadly, they will probably settle out of court rather than defend themselves.

 

[Marianne]

I expect nothing else from a mother.

Well yeah you'd expect nothing less but why aren't the clear thinking people around them trying to give them a better perspective?

 

[ClosedCaption]

Wow no one is calling for the witness to do time for perjury huh?

 

[DriftingSand]

How to keep from getting shot by cops:

1) Don't carry weapons in plain site while in public places.
2) Don't point guns at innocent people/shoppers.
3) Give up the gang mentality and become a productive member of society.

(for starters)

 

[Marianne]

Pointing a finger in the shape of a gun in school will get you suspended.

Just sayin.

I agree Crawford should have known better. When is our society going to stop pointing the finger at everyone else and start taking responsibility for their own actions. Brown,Garner and now Crawford, all acting like idiots and the family/ community's are blaming everyone else but the actual people who started it in the first place with their moronic actions. Time for our society to own up and grow a pair. Even Sandy Hook is suing the gun manufacturers for the death of their children. Sorry for your loss but the gun didn't sprout legs and walk in shooting on it's own. Why blame them?

 

[ClosedCaption]

How to keep from getting shot by cops:

1) Don't carry weapons in plain site while in public places.

2) Don't point guns at innocent people/shoppers.

Pointed at no one still shot...

3) Give up the gang mentality and become a productive member of society.

(for starters)

From the video mentality had nothing to do with it...still shot

 

[Marianne]

How to keep from getting shot by cops:

1) Don't carry weapons in plain site while in public places.
2) Don't point guns at innocent people/shoppers.
3) Give up the gang mentality and become a productive member of society.

(for starters)

My parents made sure I got the" how to avoid the police" memo early in life. I agree time for parents to be parents and the kids to pull up their pants and act their age.

 

[DriftingSand]

How to keep from getting shot by cops:

1) Don't carry weapons in plain site while in public places.

2) Don't point guns at innocent people/shoppers.

Pointed at no one still shot...

3) Give up the gang mentality and become a productive member of society.

(for starters)

From the video mentality had nothing to do with it...still shot

1) Stupid to open carry military weapons in public.
2) Pointing DID occur.
3) Mentality is 99% of the problem.

 

[mudwhistle]

Pointing a finger in the shape of a gun in school will get you suspended.

Just sayin.

I agree Crawford should have known better. When is our society going to stop pointing the finger at everyone else and start taking responsibility for their own actions. Brown,Garner and now Crawford, all acting like idiots and the family/ community's are blaming everyone else but the actual people who started it in the first place with their moronic actions. Time for our society to own up and grow a pair. Even Sandy Hook is suing the gun manufacturers for the death of their children. Sorry for your loss but the gun didn't sprout legs and walk in shooting on it's own. Why blame them?

Every bully I ever had a run-in in school had parents that never blamed their rotten kids.

 

[DigitalDrifter]

The old, the officer "feared for his life" defense.

In this day and age though, it's not smart to be walking around inside of a store with what appears to be a gun, and if he actually was pointing the gun at other customers, then he went way beyond stupid.

Anytime I'm at a dept store that sells guns, I stay right at the gun counter if I'm handling any kind of firearm.

 

[mudwhistle]

Customers said he pointed the gun at people.

Correction: One customer made that unsubstantiated claim. The video proves he was lying.

Further proof that witness info can be unreliable. I can't blame the witnesses either. Look at the mother with the kids,as soon as she see's Crawford she takes off in a hurry as she should have done. Can you blame someone who's hearts pounding and who felt threatened for making the mistake that the gun wasn't exactly pointed at them?

I can blame a media that has divided this country to the point that black kids are assumed to be up to no good and white cops are racists.

 

[Marianne]

How to keep from getting shot by cops:

1) Don't carry weapons in plain site while in public places.

2) Don't point guns at innocent people/shoppers.

Pointed at no one still shot...

3) Give up the gang mentality and become a productive member of society.

(for starters)

From the video mentality had nothing to do with it...still shot

1. What's the occasion that those pictures were taken?

2. He was waving the gun around playing with it. The people in your photo are walking with them strapped at their sides. police acted on what they were told which was the guy was pointing it at people.

3. Maybe not in the Crawford/Walmart case but in general I.E. Michael Brown the gang mentality was alive and well. A 12 year old was shot by police for waving a BB gun around certainly had the gang mentality. This isn't the 1950's when kids played cowboys and indians with cap guns, this is 2014 where kids have real guns. Time for people to realize that the gang mentality isn't something to aspire too and time for people to realize they can't wave shit around even if it is a toy. A 22 year old man should have known better.
Death of 12-year-old Cleveland boy shot by police ruled a homicide Fox News

 

[Marianne]

Customers said he pointed the gun at people.

Correction: One customer made that unsubstantiated claim. The video proves he was lying.

Further proof that witness info can be unreliable. I can't blame the witnesses either. Look at the mother with the kids,as soon as she see's Crawford she takes off in a hurry as she should have done. Can you blame someone who's hearts pounding and who felt threatened for making the mistake that the gun wasn't exactly pointed at them?

I can blame a media that has divided this country to the point that black kids are assumed to be up to no good and white cops are racists.

I agree the media has a lot to do with this.

 

[ClosedCaption]

How to keep from getting shot by cops:

1) Don't carry weapons in plain site while in public places.

2) Don't point guns at innocent people/shoppers.

Pointed at no one still shot...

3) Give up the gang mentality and become a productive member of society.

(for starters)

From the video mentality had nothing to do with it...still shot

1) Stupid to open carry military weapons in public.
2) Pointing DID occur.
3) Mentality is 99% of the problem.

1. Ok
2. No unless you are making up "what if" scenarios but even the guy who called the police said he was lying. I think he'd know
3. From the video mentality had nothing to do with it...still shot

 

[ClosedCaption]

 

[ClosedCaption]

How to keep from getting shot by cops:

1) Don't carry weapons in plain site while in public places.

2) Don't point guns at innocent people/shoppers.

Pointed at no one still shot...

3) Give up the gang mentality and become a productive member of society.

(for starters)

From the video mentality had nothing to do with it...still shot

1. What's the occasion that those pictures were taken?

2. He was waving the gun around playing with it. The people in your photo are walking with them strapped at their sides. police acted on what they were told which was the guy was pointing it at people.

3. Maybe not in the Crawford/Walmart case but in general I.E. Michael Brown the gang mentality was alive and well. A 12 year old was shot by police for waving a BB gun around certainly had the gang mentality.

Because he's black or because kids that play with guns have gang mentality?

This isn't the 1950's when kids played cowboys and indians with cap guns, this is 2014 where kids have real guns.

And kids still play with guns...what are you saying? No one plays with guns anymore?

Time for people to realize that the gang mentality isn't something to aspire too and time for people to realize they can't wave shit around even if it is a toy. A 22 year old man should have known better.
Death of 12-year-old Cleveland boy shot by police ruled a homicide Fox News

You've gotta be fucking kidding me....That kid did nothing but yet you place the gang mentality label on him. I'm curious how you come to that conclusion but I dont want to hear some tortured babble session where you talk around profiling