Ohio Attorney General Releases Animation of Police Shooting Involving 137 Shots Fired at Pursued Car

[Logical]

The police chase of Timothy Russell, driver, and Malissa Williams, passenger, began in East Cleveland when an unidentified cop said he heard the sound of a gun shot from Russell’s car. No shell casings or gun was ever recovered. Twenty-five minutes later, in Cleveland, the chase ended with 13 officers firing 137 shots (ranging from 2 shots fired by one cop to 49 by another) in about 20 seconds, killing Russell and Williams.

Needless to say, the cops in this fucking country have NO oversight. It is sickening.

137 shots fired at 2 unarmed people? What a bunch of morons.

Video animation and more at link below:
http://reason.com/blog/2013/02/12/ohio-attorney-general-releases-animation

[GoneOffShore]

1. Out of control employees of the security & prison industry.

They're called police but that's what they really are.

[uppityperson]

3. It gets into the "police code" where they protect one another by over reacting to a

perceived threat, like this one. This shooting was insane.

[Occulus]

6. It doesn't help that they almost always get rewarded directly with a paid vacation

Following incidents like this.

And cop defenders, please don't piss on my intelligence by calling it a routine administrative measure. It's a paid vacation, and it's a reward.

[uppityperson]

7. 13 got leave. It should be unpaid following incidents like this for sure.

[Logical]

8. I bet in the long run, no one gets fired. n-t

[uppityperson]

2. 0-0!!!

and WTF?

[Logical]

18. Hard to believe n-t

[Smilo]

4. Could it have been the car back-firing?

RIP Timothy and Melissa.

It is getting harder and harder to defend the police in this country.

It seems to be that PDs have employed people who are not interested in justice, but only how quickly and how often they get to fire their guns.


At least DeWine seems to understand the problem.........

DeWine’s response, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

“This type of attitude, this head in the sand, refusal to look at the facts, could mean we could have this problem again, and next time we may have an innocent bystander who dies, or police officers who are killed, which could very well have happened this time,” DeWine said. “People in leadership need to take responsibility. The police department system failed these officers and they failed the general public. You can’t look at that report and come up with any other conclusion.”

It’s not one or two officers who made a mistake, DeWine said, but dozens of officers, which “means you have a systemic problem.”

[Logical]

5. Cops KNOW there is no downside to bad behavior. No punishment. n-t

[WCGreen]

9. Just so you know one thing...

I am not in any way, shape or form condoning this clearly wanton disregard for the safety of civilians.

The area this took place has some of the most troubled and dangerous neighborhoods in all of Cleveland. There are hundreds of abandon homes, boarded up businesses and empty urban wasteland that has become a lawless no mans land.

Did the cops over react to what probably was a car backfire or a gunshot fired somewhere other than the targeted car? Of course they did and they should be brought up on disciplinary action and criminal charges. But it is not as if these 137 shots were fired in the middle of a thriving, populated neighborhood. Considering that no one but the two people in the car were hit should have been the first clue that this happened in a depopulated area.

Again, the police over reacted and are guilty of egregious behavior, but those in the media that have not pointed out what I just did are guilty of blowing a tragic incident into a media and political event way out proportion.

The very presences of Mike DeWine anywhere near this event should show you how political this has become. Remember, it's a year and a half until he has to run again for Attorney General and it will look real good to all the white folks in the deep red counties of surrounding Ohio's' urban areas that DeWine is "protecting them from "Urban" violence" by keeping it up there in Cleveland where it belongs....

[uppityperson]

10. I am sorry but shooting a car over 130 times is not a "tragic incident" but indeed a political event

that needs to be closely scrutinized and without public and media coverage that simply will not happen.

[WCGreen]

11. it was 137 shots not 150... (Sorry, I have a very dingy screen...)

It wasn't a racial thing because East Cleveland is 99% African American and the police reflect the population.

The main political event is Mike DeWine inserting himself into this tragedy.

[uppityperson]

12. I mistyped the number, corrected. Even at 137 shots, it deserves a good look and usually public and

media notice is needed for that. Either way, it is not a "tragic incident" but a massive over reaction that needs to be scrutinized.

[WCGreen]

13. Of course it is...

But Dewine is the worst of the worst kind of grand standing politician and I wanted to point out all the stuff that was not reported.

[uppityperson]

14. Thanks, I appreciate it.

not snark but I mean it. I've read little and it should be looked at. Grandstanding is not needed, just true reform.

[Logical]

15. Wow, I have no idea what you are trying to say.....

So it is OK to do this in a underpopulated area? The media should be telling the good side of this story? What? The police did not fire 200 bullets?

2 people. Unarmed. You have no idea if the car backfired. You have no idea if a gun was fired somewhere.

All we know is these idiot cops fired 137 bullets. If they had fired 5 or 10 then I can maybe forgive them.

You saying "guilty of blowing a tragic incident into a media and political event way out proportion" is way off. This should be fucking NATIONAL news. No excuse. No justification. And the police should be hammered by the media.

[WCGreen]

17. I hesitated before pointing this out...

But the media doesn't even mention the brutal violence that is a day to day occurrence in this area. This is drive through land for white suburbanites trying to avoid the highway congestion.

There are blocks and blocks of empty houses falling down on themselves. It is the area with the most crime in the city.

I was trying to put some perspective to the coverage and the very fact that DeWine inserted himself into this as he is ginning up fundraising for his re-election bid.

I never said it was OK and it never should be OK. There is no good side to this story. I was just adding some more information into this story.

[uppityperson]

16. Rereading what you read, I skimmed too fast last time, my apologies.

He is trying to make this about keeping the white folks safe from urban violence when the violence was the police over reacting? Good grief.