Baltimore County police officers shot and killed an unarmed man in Owings Mills early last Thursday while responding to a report of domestic violence at a home they had visited more than a dozen times over the past three years, according to The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore County Police Chief Jim Johnson said officers believed Spencer Lee McCain, 41, was armed. They did not find a weapon on him. Police received a 911 call about a possible domestic disturbance at the home in the 3000 block of Hunting Ridge Drive in Owings Mills, Maryland shortly after 1 a.m. Officers allegedly feared that someone was in great danger or possibly death, and forced their way into the home. As the officers went inside, they encountered McCain in a “defensive position” making movements that led officers to believe he had a weapon, Johnson stated. Police did not release the names of the officers. All three officers fired at the man and hit him several times. Nineteen shell casings were found on the floor in the area where the officers shot the man, according to officials. McCain, died about at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore in the morning of June 25. All three have been placed on administrative duty, Johnson said. Baltimore County homicide detectives are investigating. The case is to be reviewed by the department’s shooting review board, the chief and the county state’s attorney’s office.
Two Colorado Springs officers have been cleared of any wrongdoing during a traffic stop last spring that was caught on camera. According to KKTV, passenger Ryan Brown said he and his brother weren’t anything wrong when police pulled them over in March. When his brother Benjamin Brown told officers David Nelson and Allison Detwiler that he didn’t have his license, Ryan said the officers pulled out a Taser and ordered Benjamin out of the car. Ryan recorded the stop on his camera. He later posted the video to YouTube and sent the police report to KKTV. The video revealed Benjamin being arrested and frisked outside of the car. Ryan is then removed from the vehicle by Nelson and pushed to the ground. Officer Detwiler can be heard off-camera telling Ryan, “we’re just checking for weapons.” The police report stated Ryan was becoming uncooperative during the stop. The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, who defended the Browns in court, said the incident is an example of “driving while Black.” The Colorado Springs Police Department conducted an internal investigation, the results of which were released this month. It found, according to a letter sent to Ryan on June 8, that the actions of David Nelson was legal and proper. The ACLU is are disappointed with these findings and has requested the entire investigative file.
On June 23, a petition calling for a grand jury investigation into the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office has garnered enough signatures to be forwarded to a judge who will decide whether to impanel a jury. The Tulsa County Election Board said Tuesday that 6,647 of the 8,952 signatures on the petition are valid. Five thousand valid signatures were needed. The petition gathered by the civil rights group We the People Oklahoma drive began after volunteer deputy Robert Bates fatally shot an unarmed Eric Harris on April 2. Bates has said he confused his gun for a stun gun. The petition demanded the removal of Sheriff Stanley Glanz, an investigation of Glanz and whether volunteer deputies received preferential treatment for giving gifts to Glanz or the sheriff’s office. Bates was a friend of Glanz and donated tens of thousands of dollars in cash and equipment to the office.
According to WLS-TV Chicago, federal authorities are investigating a police-involved shooting in Chicago that took place a year and a half ago, now that a retired judge recently released dashcam video of the incident. On December 22, 2013, a police cruiser with its dashcam on arrived as back-up to a police stop at 95th and LaSalle, where officers had pulled over a car for speeding. There were six teenagers in the car. In the video, one is seen exiting the vehicle and fled. Chicago police officer Marco Proano approached the vehicle with sidearm drawn. As the suspect car shifts into reverse, Proano opened fire at the suspect car. A civil suit filed months later claimed that Proano fired more than a dozen rounds into the vehicle filled with minors without provocation, cause or justification. One of the teenagers was wounded in the shoulder, and the other had a wound in his hip and heel. The original police account stated that one of the teenagers attempted to exit the car, and Proano fired to stop the car. Retired juvenile court Judge Andrew Berman, who heard the criminal case, saw the video, made a copy and provided it to the Chicago Reporter. The police department said Proano was reassigned to desk duty after the incident and the investigation is under review with state and federal authorities. Several of the teenagers were criminally charged because of the stolen car, but their families also sued the city claiming excessive force. Pending council approval next month, the city has tentatively agreed to settle that suit for $360,000.
