PDF: Officer wounded; suspect killed
Video: Police continue investigation
Video: Investigation continues in police shooting
OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTINGS
June 24 -- Walker County Deputy Terry Miller shot and killed John Coates in a Chick-fil-A parking lot. The deputy was serving a warrant on Mr. Coates when he fired at Fort Oglethorpe Officer Mitchell Moore, whose body armor deflected the bullet.
July 1 -- Alonzo O'Kelley Jr., 15, was shot once in the back by Chattanooga Housing Authority Officer Lt. Erik Reeves in East Lake Courts. Authorities said Lt. Reeves saw the juvenile -- who had just exchanged gunfire with a passing sport utility vehicle -- raise a gun at the officer, who perceived a threat and fired.
Saturday -- Six Chattanooga Police Department officers were placed on paid administrative leave after their involvement in the shooting and killing of 32-year-old Alonzo Heyward. Preliminary indications were that the incident was a case of "suicide by cop," officials said.
ON PAID LEAVE
Here are the Chattanooga police officers placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation of the shooting death of Alonzo Heyward.
* Deborah Dennison, hired in 1998 as a dispatcher, became an officer Feb. 9, 2007
* Lauren Bacha, hired Oct. 19, 2007
* Zachery Moody, hired Aug. 6, 2004
* George Romero, hired Oct. 19, 2007
* William Salyers, hired June 9, 2006
* Bryan Wood, hired July 29, 2002
Source: Chattanooga Police Department
In the wake of three local officer-involved shootings in a month, police say their mindset won't change when responding to armed suspects, but they are reminded of the job's dangers.
"It would kind of just put them on alert or awareness of what could happen to them every day," Chattanooga Police Chief Freeman Cooper said. "This is not something we just hear about locally. We get those kind of alerts daily from all over the world."
Two fatal officer-involved shootings inside the Chattanooga city limits and a third in Fort Oglethorpe have occurred within a month of each other, although each incident involved separate agencies -- Chattanooga police, the Chattanooga Housing Authority and the Walker County Sheriff's Office.
On June 24, Walker County Deputy Terry Miller shot and killed John Coates in a Chick-fil-A parking lot. The deputy was serving a warrant on Mr. Coates when the suspect fired at Fort Oglethorpe Officer Mitchell Moore, whose body armor deflected the bullet.
Fort Oglethorpe police plan to develop a training program from the incident, but are waiting until the investigation is complete so the Georgia Bureau of Investigation can release the Taser camera and in-car camera videos, Police Chief David Eubanks said.
"We'd like to get our hands on that and evaluate that and see how we can turn that into a lesson plan," he said.
Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson is out of the office until Thursday and could not be reached for comment. CHA Police Chief Felix Vess declined to comment.
During the shooting in Fort Oglethorpe, only one of the deployed Taser's probes hit the suspect. The other hit his truck, rendering it ineffective. A Taser's two probes must both hit a target or his or her clothing for the device to fire 50,000 volts.
In incidents when it doesn't work, officers must make a decision about whether to use more force, said Emanuel Kapelsohn, president of the Peregrine Corp., a police training and consulting firm, and vice president and director of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors.
"The ideal doesn't always occur in actuality, and sometimes we try to use a Taser and nevertheless have to use some higher level of force," Mr. Kapelsohn said.
The most recent officer-involved shooting happened Saturday, when Chattanooga police shot and killed 32-year-old Alonzo Heyward at his home on Seventh Avenue. Officers tried to talk him out of dropping his weapon and used a Taser on Mr. Heyward, said police spokeswoman Sgt. Jerri Weary, but they were not successful in getting him to release his gun, so several officers shot him.
Preliminary indications suggest the most recent incident was a case of "suicide by cop," and Mr. Heyward's relatives said he previously had spoken of suicide.
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The six officers involved in the shooting of Alonzo Heyward early Saturday morning are on seven days administrative leave. Officers Lauren Bacha, Deborah Dennison, Zachery Moody, George Romero, William Salyers, and Bryan Wood were placed on paid leave according to Chattanooga Police Department policy. The investigation of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Heyward’s death is underway with the medical examination scheduled for today.
Six officers -- all from the police department's Fox team midnight shift -- were placed on paid seven-day administrative leave per the department's policy regarding officers' use of deadly force, officials said.
The department's sector captains already have met to discuss shifting personnel to cover the temporary vacancies, Chief Cooper said.
During leave, the department offers counseling to the officers involved and time to deal with emotions after a traumatic situation, he said.
"It's never an officer's goal to go out and use deadly force," Chief Cooper said. "That's a last resort, and they don't want to be in those situations where they can be killed or kill someone."
He said he is not aware of a need to make any changes in training or policy regarding use of deadly force.
Hearing about officer-involved shootings helps officers gain awareness of situations they may encounter, Mr. Kapelsohn said. But officers should not rely solely on prior incidents when deciding how to respond to a new one, he said.
"It heightens their awareness or renews their awareness of the fact that they're doing a dangerous job and at times may be faced with a deadly threat," said Mr. Kapelsohn, who is based in Bluefield, Ind. "But ideally, we want officers to treat each case that confronts them on a case-by-case basis."
Mr. Heyward's relatives told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that every officer involved fired a round. Whether that is the case is not yet clear, but Mr. Kapelsohn said such a response would not be unusual or a sign of excessive force.
"No part of police training says I shouldn't fire if I know you're going to fire," he said. "That's partly because there may not be that level of communication at the instant the lethal threat occurs.
"I can't assume that you see the same threat I can see from my vantage point," he said. "Even if I know you're going to fire, I don't know whether your shots are going to hit the suspect or miss him, and I don't know how many shots are going to be required to stop the threat. Also, in the midst of a shooting, I may not even be aware of whether other officers are firing or not."
Although an officer can fire several rounds in only a second or two, it takes longer for them to perceive that the threat has ceased and stop firing, he said.
The shooting in Walker County is a different jurisdiction in Georgia. I don't see how this can be related to Chattanooga, Hamilton County, TN.
There were TWO separate shootings in Chattanooga's jurisdiction -- not three.
Even more reason that the rights of individuals to protect themselves shall not be infringed upon...
How is it not related? It's all a metropolitan area. Just because it's a different jurisdiction doesnt mean it it's not applicable.
I would like to say I support the OFFICIERS 100% and THANK them and all hte others for laying their lives on the line every day..Where was the family BEFORE this man took it this far? He did not have the right to take other individual lives into his hands with a loaded rifle and expect the officiers to stand by......The officiers need MORE people to stand-by them in these situations and then these situations will STOP........Thank You....Lacy Mr. Ryan the third shooting just happened this morning we need more support for our police not more marches for the racism for the people who think like victims....JMO.
Lacylady is correct. Our police put their lifes on the line each day for the people of Chattanooga. They are understaffed and way underpaid thanks to our city council, Mayor Littlefield and lack of mandatory collective bargaining in this right to go broke state. I think it is time for our city leaders to show support for our police, they are the ones in the ditches day after day. They are so understaffed all they do is go from call to call, no proactive policing at all.
We needs to put people in office who will take control of the crime in Chattanooga. Our mayors answer to the problem is annexation, these police are so overloaded they can not even keep up with what they have now. I think the annexation is a great idea but let's not put more stress on our officers. The mayor needs to show the taxpayers how he is going to pay for this annexation. The mayor is putting the carrage in front of the horse.
The law enforcement is helping to perpetuate violence in America; quick to take a life and band together to fabricate the facts to protect themselves from consequences.
"It's your word, although I believe you, against the police officers word. The judge and jury are bias to the judicial system," an attorney once told me. There can be a dozen eyewitnesses and even video tape to contradict the offical report, but doesn't guarantee justice will be fair.
Killings of poor minorities in inner-cities are always justified by resulting investigations performed by their own department. Even if a gun is present, it doesn't mean it belonged to the victim or that the victim had it drawn to police. Police are suppose to make efforts to protect citizen; even from themselves. Only in the minority community is the first recourse to disarm an alleged assailant is to kill him.
I have personally witnessed and been a victim of unlawful enforcement on many occasions- subject to many stops and unlawful searches. If I question police the least little bit, I received traffic violations even when they were not warranted. Once I tried to assert my rights and the officer hand-cuffed me and left me to stand in danger on the side of a busy highway while he sat in his car. I received no cooperation from law enforcement when I tried to file a complaint. My first and only arrest happened five years ago. Officer Nicholas Allen #123 of the arrested me after, what was likely, a racially motivated stop and search of my person, record, and vehicle came up empty. I questioned him without answers and he fabricated a DUI to arrest me. I listened to advice and held my silence throughout most of the ordeal. Even after I was threatened with a year jail sentence if I didn't accept a plea, I still refused a plea and demanded a trial. At times it felt that my own attorney was working against me than for me. He even said, "you're crazy", when I said I'd rather spend a year in jail before I accept a plea. After five years in the judicial system, my charges were dismissed.
These stops and incidents are unacceptable. I worry about all the ones who are less fortunate than me. Too often, unarmed black males are being shoot by law enforcement as a result. My uncle, John Eric Henderson, was shot during a traffic stop. I believe he was a victim and his death didn't have to happen. I'm astounded that these are not isolated incidents, but everyday occurrences in our country. Conscious and unconscious race stereotypes or biases lead to people of color disproportionately being stopped and harassed by law enforcement which further perpetuates violence and racial inharmony in America. I know law enforcement put their life on line everyday to serve and protect us of harm and I respect them for their dedication, but it's know excuse for the reckless taking of life; be it an armed or unarmed man.
Kevin,
I do not disagree with you on the fact that racism does exist. I do agree that sometimes officers with the upper hand will take out their prejudice attitudes on people of a different race. But do understand, more often than not, anytime someone of a minority race gets killed in an officer related shooting, they always want to yell racism. They always want to say the minority is the victim and they were shot due to the police being racist. GIVE ME A FREAKING BREAK! I know many many police officers, and none of them would EVER take the life of a person just because of his race.
I know the tragedy that happened with Mr. Henderson and I am sorry that you lost a loved one. But based on the facts that I heard from mutiple police officers involved, it was a justified shooting. I am sorry but you would truly need to be a part of the situation to pass judgement. I personally know the man involved in the shooting and the last thing he would have wanted to do would be to kill anyone. Do you know what you would have done in that same situation?? No, you don't. Because officers have to make split second decisions every single day that could potentially cost them their life, especially if they wait a milisecond too long. Do you remember the situation of Julie Jacks?? She was a very respected officer who lost her life from a crazed minority who decided to shoot her with her own gun. Maybe she felt she needed to wait that extra second and look what happened.
I take personal offense to the way you view police officers not only because I have many friends on the force who are good people, but also because I myself dream of being one someday.
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