Alleged police attacker shot twelve times in back
Comment:
The details of this case need to be investigated. While I have developed serious concerns about command-control of the NOPD rank-and-file under Superintendent Warren Riley, I will not assail the actions of police officers until an independent investigation is conducted. This would, by the way, be an essential time for the independent police monitor position to be filled. Police officers are trained to defend themselves and others. They are trained to meet force with equal force, and when lives are threatened, and they have to defend themselves or others, their training calls for bursts of gun fire to incapacitate an attacker. It’s entirely conceivable, rational, and justifiable, that an attacker would be shot twelve times, and no less surprising that many of those shots were in the back. The question an investigation should attempt to answer is, who shot first, and did the police shoot the man in the back first, or the front. My sincere hope is that the police will be exonerated, but if they are not, justice should be sought. In any event, this incident should be seen as yet another occasion to review the ability of the police to respond to potentially life-threatening situations, not just for the safety of the community, but for the safety of police officers themselves. -BD
Officers shot man 12 times from behind
by Brendan McCarthy and Laura Maggi, The Times-Picayune
Friday January 02, 2009, 9:21 PM
The 22-year-old man killed early Thursday in a police shootout was wounded 14 times, with 12 of the bullets hitting him in the back of his body, Orleans Parish Coroner Frank Minyard said.
After releasing a terse statement about the shooting Thursday morning, New Orleans police officials ducked questions about the shootout Friday. Meanwhile, the family of Adolph Grimes III, a Brother Martin High School graduate, demanded a thorough criminal investigation, including a federal inquiry and an independent autopsy.
Minyard said Friday evening that Grimes died after suffering 14 bullet wounds. Two bullets hit him in the front torso, and 12 struck him from behind, in the lower back and legs. In all, eight bullets were retrieved from Grimes’ body.
“I’m no expert, but they look like they were .40 caliber, the Glock that the police issue, ” Minyard said. “He was shot up pretty good.”
A full autopsy and toxicology report is pending, and the results won’t be available for several weeks, Minyard said.
In releasing details of Grimes’ death, Minyard called it a “big case” and said because of that, he wanted to be forthcoming about his findings.
[more]
