Authorities released disturbing dashcam video Tuesday from Sandra Bland’s July 10 arrest. The officer in question can be heard telling Bland, “I will light you up,” referring to his taser. Bland was stopped for a minor traffic violation, which she points out to the aggressive, violent officer. Texas Rangers, along with the FBI supervision are investigating Bland’s death as a homicide, which is a standard in jail death investigations. A grand jury will ultimately deliver a decision in the case based on the investigation. The medical examiner ruled the Chicago-area woman’s death a suicide, but Bland’s family questions the account. The Waller County sheriff’s office also released video Monday from inside the jail cell where the 28-year-old woman was found and a timeline of her interactions with guards on the day she died. The video shows the corridor outside Bland’s jail cell and jail personnel allegedly scrambling to save Bland on July 13. Authorities said she hanged herself with a plastic garbage bag in a toilet area that is concealed by a privacy wall. The log released by the sheriff’s office indicates that at 7:05 a.m, Bland appeared in good health, telling a jailer, “I am good.” At 7:55 a.m., Bland used her intercom to ask how to make a call from the phone in her cell. No call is ever made. Her body was found about an hour later. Officials said the jail surveillance video shows no one entering Bland’s cell before she was found dead.
A North Carolina police officer went on trial Monday in the shooting death of an unarmed man reports NBC News. Officer Randall Kerrick of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police is charged with voluntary manslaughter in the September 2013 killing of former Florida A&M University football player Jonathan Ferrell, 24. Ferrell had been in a car accident, and went to a nearby home for assistance but the owner thought he was trying to break into the house. The woman inside called 911 to report a possible break-in. Responding officers confronted Ferrell, and Kerrick fired shot him 10 times. Kerrick responded to the call and wound up shooting Ferrell 10 times.
A fatal shooting of a motorist by a University of Cincinnati police officer who stopped him over a missing front license plate is under investigation, authorities said Monday. According to the Associated Press, University Police Chief Jason Goodrich say Officer Ray Tensing was near the University of Cincinnati campus on Sunday evening when he spotted a car driven by Samuel Dubose. The officer follows Dubose and stops him, requesting his driver’s license multiple times, Goodrich says. The chief says Dubose apparently refuses to provide his driver’s license and then refusing the officers requests to get out of the car. A struggle ensues and then Office Tensing fires one shot. The car rolls a short distance before stopping. Goodrich says the 43-year-old was shot in the head and died at the scene. Tensing’s legs were bruised, and his uniform was torn, police said. Tensing was treated at a hospital and released Sunday night, has been put on paid administrative leave while the investigation continues. Cincinnati police Lieutenant Colonel James Whalen says Cincinnati police also are investigating and are reviewing body camera footage and any video from nearby buildings.
According to the Miami Herald, a Homestead police officer shot and killed an alleged gun-wielding man from his police car late last Thursday afternoon, police said. Miami-Dade Police Detective Marjorie Eloi says the officer responded to a call about Edward Foster III, 35, with a gun near a building under construction. She says he gave a verbal warning and “a firearm was brandished.” The shooting happened near a partially built building at the intersection of Southwest 328th Street and 187th Avenue shortly after 4 p.m. The officer opens fire at Foster who then transports to Kendall Regional Medical Center, where he died. In Thursday’s shooting, neighbors and the victim’s sister say they couldn’t believe the father of six caused any trouble. Edward Foster’s sister, Adrina Foster, says her brother “did not walk out with no gun.” She says her brother was on his way home from his job at nearby supermarket.
On Monday, Tulsa Reserve Deputy Bob Bates pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Eric Harris. According to News On 6, Bates admits he accidentally pulled his gun instead of his Taser during an undercover sting involving stolen weapons. He says that although the shooting was traffic, he believes his client is innocent of manslaughter. After the hearing, Caputo decided he will continue to serve as the presiding judge in the case. Judge James Caputo a jury trial for February 8, 2016. A petition drive led by We The People received enough signatures to call for a grand jury investigation into Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office after the shooting. Several highly placed members of TCSO have lost their jobs in the fallout. Tulsa County Commissioners held a meeting on last Monday to reconsider allowing Sheriff Stanley Glanz to use public money to pay for attorneys during a grand jury investigation of his office.
