General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCouple killed by police for sleeping in their car while black.
Parents on a Date Were Asleep in Car When Cops Arrived and Killed Them Both
Inglewood, CA On Sunday, police responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle parked on Manchester Boulevard around 3:10 am. When police arrived, they engaged in a 45-minute long standoff before opening fire on the man and woman inside the vehicle, killing them both.
In the news release on Monday, following the shooting, police claimed that the woman in the car had a gun. Scott Collins, a spokesman for the Inglewood Police Department said that the couple refused to obey the officers commands to exit the vehicle. The officers then feared for their safety and opened fire on the car killing the couple.
The woman was pronounced dead shortly after the shooting, and the man succumbed to his injuries after paramedics transported him to a local hospital, according to the LA Times.
The shooting seemed like an open and shut case until the next day. Mayor James Butts, while responding to questions about the shooting, opened up a huge can of worms both the man and the woman were unconscious.
For at least 45 minutes, police attempted to rouse them in an effort to de-escalate the situation, said Butts.
After admitting that the couple was asleep, Butts quickly defended the officers, noting, Obviously at some point they were conscious because somebody felt threatened.
However, that notion has yet to be proven and is particularly unlikely due to the fact that not a single officer received so much as a scratch, nor did the couple have any reason to be violent.
Both of the victims were parents; Kisha Michael, 31, a single mother of three sons, and Marquintan Sandlin, 32, a single father of four daughters.
Michaels twin sister Kisha stated the obvious when she said that its possible that Kisha merely passed out on the way home from their night out.
Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/parents-date-night-passed-car-police-showed/#W25qrt0m3MrLpolm.99
PatrickforO
(14,587 posts)Gosh, how can we be surprised the officers 'felt threatened' and opened fire? The couple was BLACK, after all.
PatrickforO
(14,587 posts)rocktivity
(44,577 posts)why couldn't the woman have been disarmed if they saw a gun? And why wasn't medical help summoned?
rocktivity
sakabatou
(42,174 posts)MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)Being sick in a cop's presence is all too viewed as being engaged in an illegal activity.
MariaThinks
(2,495 posts)FreakinDJ
(17,644 posts)Iggo
(47,565 posts)Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)is if they had gotten out of the car and pointed a gun at the cops. But nothing in what I have seen has suggested that that happened. At this point it sounds like murder.
I wonder if there is bodycam or dashcam video?
elias7
(4,026 posts)presumably, their collective charge of 7 children were being taken care of, although being irresponsible parents does not justify what sounds like cold blooded murder.
Iggo
(47,565 posts)But I'm obnoxious.
Shame on me.
Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)pacalo
(24,721 posts)After admitting that the couple was asleep, Butts quickly defended the officers, noting, Obviously at some point they were conscious because somebody felt threatened.
femmedem
(8,207 posts)pacalo
(24,721 posts)Takket
(21,625 posts)if they were white, cops would have seen them not moving, woken them up, been genuinely concerned for their well being, had a good laugh over the whole thing with them, and offered them a ride home if they were drunk.
MH1
(17,600 posts)(and yes, OMG for the couple and their children. This is terrible tragedy for people who apparently did nothing wrong.)
I tend to support cops in general in theory. At least the concept of law enforcement and the idea that MOST cops are decent people trying to do a difficult job.
But HOLY FUCK that outlook gets challenged by shit like this.
That whole department needs to get retrained in how they engage in various types of situations.
Catherine Vincent
(34,491 posts)Gosh this is very sad.
postulater
(5,075 posts)The night of my high school graduation (almost 50 years ago) a couple in my class fell asleep in one of their driveways and never awoke. Even sadder their car's exhaust had just been repaired by another classmate.
TeamPooka
(24,254 posts)Arazi
(6,829 posts)The police are completely out of control. Black Lives Matter
Glimmer of Hope
(5,823 posts)Are the police that ill-equipped to deescalate a situation with two unconscious people?
Iggo
(47,565 posts)Fuck.The.Police.
Glimmer of Hope
(5,823 posts)Iggo
(47,565 posts)Elusive, they are.
Stuart G
(38,445 posts)The truth will come out...He will have to quit that job...but what is more important????
Very very sad.
.I hope there someone to tell the truth.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Boxerfan
(2,533 posts)I was a passenger & it was years ago. I was drunk but still having too much fun.
When a cop pulled up to see what was up-I decided to play passed out. As a passenger it would not be a violation & I was scared. I survived-I remember that much.
Just saying they may have been afraid for their lives-and you can never trust the "official" story that much has become self evident.
JI7
(89,264 posts)Stuart G
(38,445 posts)The official story don't mean shit.
That cop had everything planned out, the whole set of one lie on top of another..except that someone was recording everything as he set out the lies..putting the gun in a certain place..getting everything set..and so on...
everyone here knows that scene and the person who took that, was very smart to take the video out of the area, (I think it was in one of the Carolinas) to the New York Times..to protect the video and himself..
as I said, ..the official story don't mean shit...
BarbaRosa
(2,685 posts)Go Vols
(5,902 posts)xfundy
(5,105 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)Much easier to just murder two people in cold blood? There is no law that I know of that says it is instant capital punishment if you fall sleep in a car.
Egnever
(21,506 posts)I think we need to get to the root of that or this crap will never stop.
Nevernose
(13,081 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)etherealtruth
(22,165 posts)I would be concerned rather than "threatened if I couldn't rouse people.
SoLeftIAmRight
(4,883 posts)justice?
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Solly Mack
(90,787 posts)Uh...
Uh...
"de-escalate" what fucking situation?
How the fuck is someone sleeping a "situation"?
And if they felt something was wrong, why didn't they call for medical help during those 45 minutes?