Black Alabama man killed by pig.. Update:Bama pig charged w/ murder..
Options
stringer bell
Members Posts: 26,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/crime/2016/02/25/mpd-probes-officer-involved-shooting/80919140/
Shock, sadness fill neighborhood after man killed by police
A west side neighborhood is shocked and saddened after a longtime resident was shot and killed by a Montgomery police officer Thursday morning.
At about 3:20 a.m. Thursday, witnesses saw the unidentified officer shoot Greg Gunn, 58, in front of his next door neighbor's house, yards from his own home on McElvy Street in Mobile Heights.
Gunn’s next door neighbor, Colvin Hinson, said the officer shot Gunn “four or five times” in his front yard. The gunshots came after Hinson and other neighbors heard Gunn banging on Hinson’s window and screaming his neighbor’s name.
"He was banging on the window and calling my name as loud as you could call it, his voice raising more and more," Hinson said. "That was the only voice I heard. I didn't hear anybody say, 'Stop, halt, lay down.' Nothing."
Hinson was walking across the house to find his cell phone and dial 911 when he heard the gunfire.
Hinson walked out the door and saw Gunn dead on the ground and an MPD officer holding the gun. Three shell casings were sitting on his door mat.
"By the time I got to the door, the officer was standing there, my neighbor lying dead," Hinson said.
Scott Muhammad was staying in a house across the street and saw two people fighting in Hinson’s yard.
He saw one person get “thrown around” and decided to walk across the street to break it up. Only then did he see that an officer was present.
“It escalated. You could just feel the energy,” Muhammad said. “I turned around and told my wife to call the police. Then I saw him shoot four or five times and said, ‘Damn, that was the police.’”
Muhammad confirmed that Gunn was screaming for help.
“I saw when they killed him,” Muhammad said. “He was calling for his mother, his neighbor. He was knocking on the window.”
Muhammad also said he saw two officers on the scene: one laying in Hinson’s yard with a hand over his head and the other standing over Gunn. However, Public Safety Department spokeswoman Martha Earnhardt said there was only one officer involved.
After Gunn was killed, several more officers and an ambulance arrived on the scene. Muhammad said he didn’t see anybody check on Gunn.
“There were only two cops. Then other cars came, and an ambulance came,” Muhammad said. “The paramedic never even made it over (to Gunn). Nobody came and actually checked on this brother. Nobody tried any lifesaving techniques or anything like that. I watched the whole thing.”
Montgomery Police Chief Ernest Finley held a press conference Thursday morning and said the investigation was immediately turned over to the State Bureau of Investigation and Alabama Law Enforcement Agency as per protocol.
According to Finley, the officer fatally shot what he determined to be a "suspicious person."
No call was made to 911 about a suspicious person in the area. Finley said the officer noticed the person as part of his patrol and saw the male subject holding an instrument that Finley understood to be some kind of pole.
"It was part of his patrol duties, something he noticed at this time in the morning," Finley said while describing the event.
After the officer engaged the subject, the two struggled for about a block before the officer fired, shot and killed the subject, according to Finley.
Finley said the "young" officer has been on the force for about four years.
Gunn’s friend, Tarkisha Mathews, was playing cards with Gunn that night at a house down the street from where Gunn lived and was eventually killed. Mathews said she and Gunn left the house at the same time, and Gunn never had a weapon, including a stick or pole.
“We were right there playing cards,” Mathews said. “Greg didn’t have nothing.”
Mathews saw a patrol car slow down as it passed her and Gunn and said she hurried home. Mathews said a rash of break-ins have increased police presence lately in the neighborhood.
“When dusk starts, if you walk down this street, an officer is going to stop you. It’s ridiculous,” Mathews said. “We’ve been having a lot of break-ins around here so I know people call and ask for police, but not for this.”
Mathews was almost home when she heard “about five” gunshots. Sirens soon followed.
\
Finley said the MPD hopes to remain transparent about what transpired and will continue to support and assist the community.
He also said the MPD will continue to support the family as they grieve the loss and he met with the family for hours Thursday.
"We're going to be professional and support the family at this time. They are mourning the loss of their loved one," Finley said. “We want the community to know we will continue to be proactive and attend those community meetings and services.”
The officer involved is required to take at least 72 hours of administrative leave, and Finley said it's important to help the officer deal with the trauma as well.
"We will make sure that he's whole when he comes back," Finley said. "We talk about external, but internal, we have to make sure that our folks come back whole."
Still, Muhammad and many other neighbors are questioning the motives of the officer involved.
"Here's a question: Should a young, white male police a black community? They don't know us. The police brought violence to the community last night," Muhammad said.
Gunn’s sister Kimberly said Gunn’s routine was to come home at about 3 a.m. and go to work at 8 a.m.
“He did that every day, and he has never owned a weapon in his life,” Kimberly said. “You can ask anybody. My father didn’t bring us up like that.”
Gunn’s father, Frank Gunn Jr., was a Montgomery police officer, according to Kimberly.
The officer involved in the shooting is currently in isolation and on administrative leave. He will be interviewed by the SBI as part of the investigation. The SBI is also gathering information from the surrounding area. It is unconfirmed if the officer's body camera was on.
Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey said at a press conference this afternoon that the case would be presented to a grand jury once all the evidence had been collected and reviewed.
“I assure our community that once the investigation into this matter has concluded that the Montgomery District Attorney’s Office will review the evidence in a thorough manner and will conduct any additional investigation if it is deemed appropriate or necessary,” Bailey said.
He also said his office was not at liberty to release any information about the investigation, including how many officers were involved.
“I think it would be inappropriate to talk about that at this time,” Bailey said. “What I want the community to know is that we will be reviewing this. We have an investigative staff that’s skilled in investigations. “They will be looking at it and this matter, at the conclusion of the investigation, will be presented to a grand jury.”
SBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Joe Herman was also present at MPD headquarters, but declined comment saying it was too early in the investigation.
In a release from Sgt. Steve Jarrett of ALEA, "Nothing further is available as the investigation is ongoing. The SBI’s findings will be turned over to the District Attorney."
Comments
-
I've been trying to keep up with this story since I found out about it yesterday evening. This is some straight ? .
The city seems to be calm right now, don't know how long that will last tho. -
http://www.wsfa.com/story/31311999/montgomery-man-killed-in-officer-involved-shooting#.VtB6jiiP6S0.twitterWitness, family of victim speak about Montgomery officer-involved shooting
MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -
Family members of the Montgomery man who was killed in an officer-involved shooting Thursday have identified him as 59-year-old Gregory Gunn.
According to Montgomery Police Chief Ernest Finley, the shooting happened around 3:20 a.m. in the 3200 block of McElvy Street, which is in the Mobile Heights neighborhood. This is the first fatal police shooting in Montgomery in five years.
Finley said the officer was on routine patrol when he noticed what he believed to be a suspicious man walking down the street.
"At this point in time what we have is we had a suspicious person, and the officer engaged that individual. There was a slight struggle that continued for about a block or so at which time the officer fired and shot and killed the suspect," Finley said.
The investigation was turned over to the State Bureau of Investigations, which is common practice when an officer is involved in a shooting. The investigation could take months.
When asked if the man was armed, Finley said "there was some indication of some instrument." He later called it a stick, pole and painting pole.
Finley says the officer, who was identified as a young officer with under four years with the department, has been placed on administrative leave. The police chief said he doesn't know if the officer was injured. The officer will be "isolated" and interviewed.
The findings of the investigation will be turned over to the District Attorney's office. Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey released the following statement:
I assure our community that once the investigation into this matter has concluded that the Montgomery District Attorney's Office will review all the evidence in a thorough manner and will conduct any additional investigation if it is deemed appropriate or necessary. I also assure our community that once this investigation is concluded and I am satisfied that all evidence has been collected and reviewed that this case will be heard by a Montgomery County Grand Jury.
I encourage anyone with information regarding this incident to contact ALEA at (800) 392-8011 or the Montgomery County District Attorney's Investigation Unit at (334)-832-1642.
Gunn lived in the community, and the initial encounter was about a block or so from where he lived.
"Our condolences go out to the family. We did talk to the family. We're going to be professional. We're gonna give them support as well. They are in this time mourning the loss of their loved one," Finley said.
For most of the day Thursday, family and friends gathered near the scene. They were all in shock and disbelief, wondering how this could happen and why.
According to family, Gunn was shot five times and died in the front yard of 3237 McElvey St.
"This was a wrong and senseless death by the Montgomery Police Department. My brother was not a violent person and never was," said Kenneth Gunn who was the brother of the victim.
Kenneth Gunn said his brother had a few misdemeanors on his record but nothing major. Gunn added his brother cut people's yards and worked at the Foodland grocery store on the Southern Boulevard. Gregory Gunn was apparently well known and well liked in the neighborhood.
Kenneth Gunn said his brother usually got off work at 10:30 or 11 p.m. After work he would usually go to his girlfriend's house. He said his brother had just left his girlfriend's home and was walking to his mom's house two blocks away at the time of the shooting.
Scott Muhammad was staying at a friend's house and heard the commotion.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom," Muhammad said.
Muhammad says he saw the officer fire the shots. He quickly used his phone to record the aftermath on video. The video shows flashing blue lights and officers walking around. Muhammad thought it was "odd" the officer allegedly involved did not try to render immediate aid to Gunn but instead got on his police radio.
"He was on the ground already. He unloaded on him. Everybody around here knows each other. [Gunn] was coming from his girlfriend's house two blocks away and walking to his mom's house and was shot to death," Muhammad said.
Kenneth Gunn said he believes his brother was singled out.
"From my experience of this neighborhood. It's been police harassment -- people always on guard for the police. They don't feel sale, and he was singled out. Not because he was doing anything wrong, because he was black. He was black at 3 in the morning," Kenneth Gunn said.
Kenneth Gunn also said he believes police are using the "stick" as a cover up. He said his brother was being chased by the officer, and the tool was on a neighbor's porch. -
Ever notice how when a black man is gunned down by the police life-saving techniques are almost never administered?
It fits the pattern of the language that's used as well. They call us "subjects" or refer to us as black "male" subject.
This is done to remove any association with a human being deserving of life (a "male" can also be an animal that needs to be put down).
Then they immediately dig in our criminal past to control the media narrative, so the viewing public can reach the conclusion "he was a career criminal, he had it coming." Then they comb through our social media accounts to look for pictures that put us in an unflattering light. Gang signs pic, blunt in the hand posing with racks, etc.
All this is info is leaked to potential Grand juries to paint us as the prototypical thug, not worthy of ruining a law enforcement officers career for with an indictment. Cue in "? news" with the obligatory "cops are under attack, they keep us safe, they are hero's who risk their lives for us." Then BLM folks start tweeting & marching, until they ? another one of us......
? . The. Police.
-
stringer bell wrote: »http://www.wsfa.com/story/31311999/montgomery-man-killed-in-officer-involved-shooting#.VtB6jiiP6S0.twitterWitness, family of victim speak about Montgomery officer-involved shooting
MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -
Family members of the Montgomery man who was killed in an officer-involved shooting Thursday have identified him as 59-year-old Gregory Gunn.
According to Montgomery Police Chief Ernest Finley, the shooting happened around 3:20 a.m. in the 3200 block of McElvy Street, which is in the Mobile Heights neighborhood. This is the first fatal police shooting in Montgomery in five years.
Finley said the officer was on routine patrol when he noticed what he believed to be a suspicious man walking down the street.
"At this point in time what we have is we had a suspicious person, and the officer engaged that individual. There was a slight struggle that continued for about a block or so at which time the officer fired and shot and killed the suspect," Finley said.
The investigation was turned over to the State Bureau of Investigations, which is common practice when an officer is involved in a shooting. The investigation could take months.
When asked if the man was armed, Finley said "there was some indication of some instrument." He later called it a stick, pole and painting pole.
Finley says the officer, who was identified as a young officer with under four years with the department, has been placed on administrative leave. The police chief said he doesn't know if the officer was injured. The officer will be "isolated" and interviewed.
The findings of the investigation will be turned over to the District Attorney's office. Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey released the following statement:
I assure our community that once the investigation into this matter has concluded that the Montgomery District Attorney's Office will review all the evidence in a thorough manner and will conduct any additional investigation if it is deemed appropriate or necessary. I also assure our community that once this investigation is concluded and I am satisfied that all evidence has been collected and reviewed that this case will be heard by a Montgomery County Grand Jury.
I encourage anyone with information regarding this incident to contact ALEA at (800) 392-8011 or the Montgomery County District Attorney's Investigation Unit at (334)-832-1642.
Gunn lived in the community, and the initial encounter was about a block or so from where he lived.
"Our condolences go out to the family. We did talk to the family. We're going to be professional. We're gonna give them support as well. They are in this time mourning the loss of their loved one," Finley said.
For most of the day Thursday, family and friends gathered near the scene. They were all in shock and disbelief, wondering how this could happen and why.
According to family, Gunn was shot five times and died in the front yard of 3237 McElvey St.
"This was a wrong and senseless death by the Montgomery Police Department. My brother was not a violent person and never was," said Kenneth Gunn who was the brother of the victim.
Kenneth Gunn said his brother had a few misdemeanors on his record but nothing major. Gunn added his brother cut people's yards and worked at the Foodland grocery store on the Southern Boulevard. Gregory Gunn was apparently well known and well liked in the neighborhood.
Kenneth Gunn said his brother usually got off work at 10:30 or 11 p.m. After work he would usually go to his girlfriend's house. He said his brother had just left his girlfriend's home and was walking to his mom's house two blocks away at the time of the shooting.
Scott Muhammad was staying at a friend's house and heard the commotion.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom," Muhammad said.
Muhammad says he saw the officer fire the shots. He quickly used his phone to record the aftermath on video. The video shows flashing blue lights and officers walking around. Muhammad thought it was "odd" the officer allegedly involved did not try to render immediate aid to Gunn but instead got on his police radio.
"He was on the ground already. He unloaded on him. Everybody around here knows each other. [Gunn] was coming from his girlfriend's house two blocks away and walking to his mom's house and was shot to death," Muhammad said.
Kenneth Gunn said he believes his brother was singled out.
"From my experience of this neighborhood. It's been police harassment -- people always on guard for the police. They don't feel sale, and he was singled out. Not because he was doing anything wrong, because he was black. He was black at 3 in the morning," Kenneth Gunn said.
Kenneth Gunn also said he believes police are using the "stick" as a cover up. He said his brother was being chased by the officer, and the tool was on a neighbor's porch.
Was about to post this once I got back from lunch. ? pig trying to use a ? painters pole as a reason to gun this dude down. I hope it was on the front porch like the brother claim it was. -
-
The irony of the victims name being Gunn but the shooter cop remains unidentified..
-
-
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/crime/2016/02/26/montgomery-police-greg-gunn-and-search-facts/80989642/
Some Bama saltine columnist writes the typical "hey let's wait and til we hear the police's side of story" and please don't rush to judgment column.. smh... -
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/crime/2016/02/26/mayor-strange-asks-patience-during-greg-gunn-investigation/81001746/Mayor Strange asks for patience during Greg Gunn investigation
In a conference call with reporters Friday, Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange expressed his condolences for the family of Greg Gunn and his confidence in the State Bureau of Investigation’s current investigation.
Gunn, 58, was shot and killed by a Montgomery police officer Thursday morning at about 3:20 a.m.
“Our hearts and sympathy go out to the family of Mr. Gunn,” Strange said. “It’s a regretful, tragic scenario. Anytime you have an officer involved in a shooting it’s a difficult scenario.”
While Strange said he will not comment on the incident until he is briefed by law enforcement officials Monday, he said he wanted to inform the city about the seriousness with which the case is being handled.
While the SBI is handling the case, Strange said the city has been in communication with federal authorities as well.
“We’ve tried to reach out as widely as possible so the light of truth will be shined on this,” Strange said. “All the resources and evidence we initially gathered that evening has been turned over to the SBI.”
Strange will hold a press conference Monday at 12:30 p.m. after being briefed on the case details. While he said he did not know enough to comment on the case Friday, Strange said he wanted to dispel rumors being circulated about the shooting and the subsequent events.
“There’s a lot of things out there I know aren’t true, but may have some basis of credibility,” Strange said.
Strange has been out of the state and will be until Saturday night, hence the conference call and the press conference Monday. Citizens are also welcome to attend the presser Monday, he said.
“Anytime there’s an officer-involved shooting, it affects the community,” Strange said. “I want to make sure the citizens of Montgomery understand we will get to the facts, we will be transparent, we will be open, and wherever the facts lead us, that will tell us what the next steps will be.”
Strange also asked citizens for patience as the SBI conducts a “not quick” and “thorough” investigation.
“I understand there is frustration right now,” Strange said. “I anticipate that would be at least a couple weeks. Certainly not a couple of days. That will lead us into asking for patience and asking for calmness.”
Following the SBI investigation, the case will be given to the district attorney’s office and go to grand jury. Until then, Strange asked that anybody who wants the truth to come out should help the SBI.
"There will be no cover up. There will be nothing withheld. I would encourage our citizens, and even the family, that if they have information that would be helpful to the SBI, that they contact SBI and give them that information," Strange said.
The white mayor want everybody to "patience" and "calm".. Unlike that pig who just killed an innocent black man over a stick... -
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/blogs/moonblog/2016/02/26/anger-over-gunn-shooting-builds-city-leaders-ask-patience/80989674/As anger over Gunn shooting builds, city leaders ask for patience
In the front yard of the home Greg Gunn shared with his parents, a small group of neighbors and friends milled about on Friday afternoon, talking and hugging and sharing stories, even a few laughs.
It was a calm scene — one the belied the anger that is apparently bubbling just below the surface of the community. On social media, such as Facebook, and on local radio shows, the true feelings were more obvious.
The anger over Gunn’s shooting by a Montgomery patrol officer on Thursday morning is growing rapidly.
“People are hot over this,” said Karen Jones, a local activist who often finds herself in the middle of hot-button issues. Jones was in the odd position on Friday of attempting to quell the anger among young people, asking during a call to a local radio show that people stop posting threats of violence or destruction to Facebook.
“If there are protests, they will be peaceful — that’s the only kind that work,” Jones said. “People have to keep themselves under control. Not going to be any riots around here. We will protest and demand action, but there will be no riots.”
Fear that Montgomery could devolve into the sort of chaos that struck towns like Ferguson, Missouri, or Baltimore is also on the minds of city officials. Friday afternoon, Mayor Todd Strange, who is on vacation in Central America, held a conference call with media to address the situation.
Strange repeatedly said that Gunn’s shooting would be investigated thoroughly by the State Bureau of Investigations and that “the full light of the truth will be shined on this.” He also offered condolences to Gunn’s family and said his heart goes out to them.
“I understand that there is frustration out there,” Strange said. “We will get the facts out there and be as transparent as possible. I hate to use the word ‘cover-up,’ but there will be no cover — of anything.”
Strange said he was aware of rumors that protests were being planned for Monday and said city leaders were monitoring the situation. He said they would honor any protest permit request and work with the applicants to ensure their rights are honored.
Strange also said there will be a press briefing at 12:30 p.m. Monday, which will be open to the public, at City Hall. At that point, he said, while he and other city and police officials might not be able to answer specific questions about the shooting itself, they would attempt to answer all others.
“We’re going to do what we can to be transparent and to dispel many rumors and set the record straight where we can,” Strange said. “But we also know that this incident will take on a life of its own.”
The 58-year-old Gunn was walking through the neighborhood in which he had lived most of his life at 3 a.m. Thursday after leaving a neighborhood card game, when he was confronted by an unidentified MPD officer.
After a confrontation, which MPD Chief Ernest Finley labeled a “slight altercation,” and a chase, Gunn was shot in the front yard of his next-door neighbor. Seconds before the shooting, his neighbor, Colvin Hinson, had been awakened by Gunn banging on his door, screaming for help and calling out to his mother.
MPD has stated that Gunn was chased and shot by one officer. However, several neighbors at the scene said they saw two officers and even offered descriptions of them.
As neighbors stood talking Friday near the scene of Gunn’s shooting, the frustrations of the incident turned to the overall issues between police and predominantly black communities, like the Mobile Heights neighborhood where Gunn and his family lived.
One of the original black neighborhoods in Montgomery, Mobile Heights was established in the 1950s and was where the middle-class black families resided. It was filled with school teachers, police officers and other state workers. Gunn’s father was a police officer.
“Everyone knew that family around here — that’s why you see so much outrage over this,” Jones said. “You know how you have that one or two houses in every neighborhood where all the kids stay at. That was their house. On a summer day, there’d be 20, 30 kids around there. That family is very well known.”
That was obvious as a steady stream of neighbors walked through the Gunns’ front door to offer condolences and express their anger — including anger over the lack of interaction they have with the MPD officers who patrol their streets.
“Why doesn’t that cop know my brother?” Greg Gunn’s sister Kimberly asked. “Everyone else in this neighborhood knew him. Look at all these people. They’re from every house you can see around here. They all knew my brother. They didn’t know the cop who shot him. How is that right?”
Connecting with the community was one of Chief Finley’s primary goals when he was hired in December 2014. Finley’s efforts in that regard have been exceptional, Strange said Friday, noting that a number of community leaders and citizens have called asking to help with the current crisis.
The people who live in Mobile Heights, however, had a different story to tell — one of frequent turnover among officers, unfamiliar faces, and officers who drive through the neighborhood with windows rolled up, never interacting with the residents.
For the people who live in Mobile Heights, while Gunn’s death is bothersome, and they want justice, weighing heavier on their minds are the circumstances and relationships that led to it.
“When this was happening, I turned to my wife and told her to call the police,” said Scott Muhammad, who lives across the street from the Gunns. “I got out here and realized it was the police. That’s a problem. And it’s not one the people here want. This is a good neighborhood with good people. We all know each other. This shouldn’t happen here.” -
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/crime/2016/02/28/black-lives-matter-protest-demands-answers-gunns-death/81080908/Black Lives Matter protest demands answers in Gunn's death
Montgomery's black community doesn't want to resort to marches again similar to those of the Civil Rights Movement, but they will if they have to.
McElvy Street in Montgomery's Mobile Heights neighborhood was packed with people Sunday afternoon awaiting to hear African American city, county and state leaders make a stand with Black Lives Matter's local community group, in the death of Greg Gunn.
Gunn, 58, was a black man, who was shot and killed by a Montgomery police officer Feb. 25 at about 3:20 a.m.
Gunn's brother, Franklin Gunn stood with his brothers and sisters outside their mother's home where Greg Gunn was shot and killed. Gunn was heard calling out to his mother for help the morning he died.
"The family appreciates the concern and love expressed by so many in this community ... we ask that we be given respect and peace during this difficult time," Franklin Gunn said. "My mother is 80-years-old and she's having a very difficult time understanding the circumstances of my brother's untimely death."
The family and community leaders are not satisfied with how the city is handling the investigation, in what Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, called an "execution." They publicly made their frustrations known.
"There was no evidence that they had to ? him. He (Gunn) had no weapon, he did not attack the police officers. He was knocking on the next door and police shot him," Holmes said. "What we are asking is that the district attorney file first degree murder charges against him (police officer) and bring him before the Montgomery County Grand Jury."
In addition, Holmes wants to see the officer immediately fired from his position with MPD and charged with violation of civil rights.
The officer who shot and killed Gunn, is currently on administrative leave for 2-3 days. His name has not been released, but Police Chief Ernest Finley, said last week that the officer has been with the department for about four years.
An element that may clear up confusion surrounding Gunn's death would be the video footage from either the officer's body camera or the police patrol car's dash-cam, said State Rep. John Knight.
"Over a year ago, the city announced they would have body cameras on all police officers, but now all of a sudden, they can't find the body camera footage. We're asking them to present to this community exactly what's on the camera," Knight said. "We can't wait forever ... we want transparency and we're not going to tolerate a cover up on this."
Knight wants an agency from outside the state investigating Gunn's death. He does not have confidence in ALEA (Alabama Law Enforcement Agency), which he said is a "political arm of the governor's office."
Local attorney Tyrone Means, who is representing the Gunn family, drafted a letter to send to United States Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, head of the Justice Department this week to request a special investigator be sent to Montgomery to investigate this case.
Means does not believe the officer who killed Gunn to be in compliance with the state's 'stop and identify' laws and use of a deadly weapons when he did not face immanent danger, he said.
ALEA, formerly known as SBI, the State Bureau of Investigations, is currently handling the case and all evidence has been turned over to their officers. Following the SBI investigation, the case will be given to the district attorney’s office and go to grand jury.
Many of those giving statements Sunday, said they did not want to indict all of Montgomery's police officers. In fact, Gunn's father was one of the first black officers to be sworn into the department, according to County Commission Chairman, Elton Dean.
Dean, who represents the area, grew up around Mobile Heights and knew the Gunn family well. Greg was scared of guns and the police, Dean said.
"I want people to know Greg Gunn ... his daddy taught his family about law enforcement. Not one of his children broke the law," Dean said. "It's Greg this time, but it could be somebody else the next time."
"The Gunn family and every family in Mobile Heights is peace-loving family. We grew up in this neighborhood, we'd go next door to borrow a cup-of-sugar or milk, we loved each other, parents could 'whoop' anybody, so as a product of this community, I don't want this to happen to anybody else here or any community," Dean added.
Dean questioned why the leaders of Montgomery Police Department would send white officers to patrol a predominantly black community. Instead, men and women who grew up in those communities should patrol them.
Chris Miles, a close friend of the Gunn family, said as a black man living much of his time in Mobile Heights, he does not feel safe with white officers patroling their community.
"I want to see all white officers out of the black community. I don't want them patrolling here anymore, because we're either 'suspicious,' or if something happens, they say they were in fear of their life. Those 'talking points' get them not indited. We can't live under those conditions anymore," Miles said.
Representatives from local Black Lives Matter and Birthplace for Justice community groups were also present and made requests for Montgomery's mayor to answer at his press conference scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Monday.
"We would like a community police review board created at the next city council meeting," said Karen Jones, a community activist. "We're also asking the Montgomery Police Department to stop patrolling our black neighborhoods ... We are going to do our own community policing. When we call you, that's when we need you and you (police) will be our last resort."
Several of those who spoke at the gathering, said they were not advocating violence or rioting, but they want the violence to stop.
"We cannot sit idly by and let our young men be shot down," Holmes said. "We don't want to start marches or massive demonstrations in Montgomery again, but we will unless something is done about this case."
"We're going to have to stay vigilant," said Rep. Thad McClammy. "The main reason we're here today is to make sure they know that we're not going away." -
http://www.wbrc.com/story/31338073/rep-holmes-calls-for-mpd-officer-to-be-arrested-body-cam-footage-to-be-releasedRep. Holmes calls for MPD officer to be arrested, body cam footage to be released
MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -
In a press conference Sunday, Representative Alvin Holmes, along with other local and state leaders, called for the Montgomery District Attorney to file first degree murder charges against the Montgomery Police Officer who shot and killed Gregory Gunn Thursday.
Holmes says they are also calling on the help of federal leaders, with plans to request, in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, for federal officials to investigate the case.
“We want this matter to handle out [sic] of the U.S. Attorney's office up in [Washington] D.C., and we want them to send a special prosecutor down here to prosecute this man,” Holmes said.
Leaders also spoke about a potential cover-up in the case.
According to Holmes, he reached out to the Director of Public Safety, Chris Murphy. He says Murphy told him the body camera the officer was wearing malfunctioned.
“They admit he had a body camera on him, but he said at the time of the shooting took place the body camera malfunctioned,” Holmes said. “In my opinion, what they have done is erased the recording off the camera that is a criminal offense within itself.”
“We live in west Montgomery,” said Chris Miles. “We're worried because what happened to Greg could also happen to us.”
Residents say they fear for their lives, and believe changes must be made to the police department.
“We are asking the chief of police here in the City of Montgomery to pull all white police officers completely out of the black community,” Miles said. “We want police presence in the black community, but we want that to come by the way of the black officers.”
“I'm not indicting the entire Montgomery Police Department, we have some fine Montgomery police officers on the Montgomery Police Department,” Holmes said. “As a matter of fact, the majority of them are fine officers, but you have some of them on there, about 15 or 20 percent, that are rotten to the core. They will do anything when it comes to black people.”
In a statement, Director Murphy:
In the wake of this tragic fatal shooting I contacted state Rep. Alvin Holmes to reiterate to him that MPD and MDPS were going to be transparent, that the State Bureau of Investigation was conducting the investigation, and that we would take whatever action is warranted based on the facts. Rep. Holmes specifically asked me about video of the incident. I told him I was in California, had not been to the scene and had viewed nothing. I told him that MPD secured the scene and had turned over all evidence, including any video, to SBI. I also advised that he could contact SBI Director Gene Wiggins regarding the investigation and evidence. We both discussed the need to await the results of the investigation.
We are committed to and have worked to assure a thorough, fair and complete finding of facts in this tragic shooting death. I have been in conversation with District Attorney Daryl Bailey and with the FBI special agent in charge in Mobile. As the mayor has said, we will follow the facts wherever they lead and take any action that is warranted. To be perfectly clear: MPD is cooperating fully with SBI's investigation, and we are looking to SBI for a full accounting of the facts.
We have made requests for any body cam or dash cam videos that involved the shooting, but those request were denied as officials tell us that state law prohibits the release of information pertaining to active investigations by law enforcement. -
-
Greg Gunn's brother is going all the way in on during this saltine's mayor propaganda press conference...
-
stringer bell wrote: »Greg Gunn's brother is going all the way in on during this saltine's mayor propaganda press conference...
Bout time somebody didn't have a filter!!
What is he saying in response so far? Where can I find it? -
Now a real militant brother is speaking and getting @ saltine pigs.. Saying black folks don't want white pigs in the black community...
-
stringer bell wrote: »Greg Gunn's brother is going all the way in on during this saltine's mayor propaganda press conference...
Look @ that ? cop trying shield his ? /mayor & house ? police chief... -
stringer bell wrote: »stringer bell wrote: »Greg Gunn's brother is going all the way in on during this saltine's mayor propaganda press conference...
Look @ that ? cop trying shield his ? /mayor & house ? police chief...
I love what he said. How the ? can a man look "suspicious" by his own damn house?
I know junkies steal from people in their own neighborhoods but the average person would be highly offended walking down the street a block from their own house and some outsider pull up all aggressive talking about you look "suspicious".
I 100% respect what the brother is saying and where he coming from with that statement. -
Ain't the first 48 hours the most critical time of a homicide investigation then how come it be taking these pigs weeks or months, that's called a cover up
-
"Cradle of the Confederacy" .....
-
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-montgomery-police-shooting-20160301-story.htmlFatal police shooting roils community and opens old wounds in Montgomery, Ala.
Growing up in Montgomery, Ala., Gregory Gunn was raised with a healthy respect for law enforcement. His father was one of the first black men to be sworn into the city's police force.
All of which makes his death — fatally shot by a white police officer as he walked to his mother's home on a recent morning — that much harder for those who knew him to accept.
His family and former neighbors in Mobile Heights, a tightknit African American neighborhood in Montgomery, said they were struggling to make sense of his death, and the case is being investigated by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
On Monday, state Rep. Alvin Holmes, whose district is in Montgomery, said he and the Gunns' attorney were drafting a letter to send to U.S. Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch, requesting that the Justice Department assign a special investigator to conduct a full inquiry.
"We want police officers to maintain peace in the community, not shoot someone down simply because they are walking down the street," Holmes said. "We don't think the state of Alabama is going to do anything other than whitewash."
Ferguson officials, now mostly black like the city, still face federal suit over police reforms
Holmes said he thought the officer should be brought before a grand jury and indicted for first-degree murder.
At about 11 p.m. Wednesday, Gunn walked to a friend's house for a neighborhood game of cards after his shift at a Winn-Dixie grocery store, said Tyrone C. Means, the Gunn family's attorney. Sometime after 3 a.m. Thursday, he headed to his mother's home about 600 feet away, Means said.
A lone officer, A.C. Smith, who was conducting a routine patrol in the neighborhood, pursued him.
According to a Montgomery police statement, Smith "approached a suspicious person and a struggle ensued."
Means said he had not been told the nature of the suspicious activity.
According to Means, witnesses reported that at the time of the shooting, Gunn was knocking on the window of a neighbor's house, pleading for help.
"His neighbor said he called out four or five times," Means said. "He could hear the fear in his voice."
The neighbor instructed his wife to call police and then opened his front door, Means said. "He saw the police, and he saw his friend on the ground."
Gunn was pronounced dead by 3:35 a.m.
Smith, who has worked for the Montgomery Police Department for four years, had no prior record of misconduct. He has been put on administrative leave, a routine procedure.
"We don't believe that there was any justification for the police officer to even engage Mr. Gunn, let alone get out of his car and chase him and take his life," Means said.
Witnesses reported hearing five shots, Means said. Montgomery officials did not say how many shots had been fired, noting that the case and evidence had been turned over to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Some in the community, however, are suspicious of local and state officials.
In 1975, Montgomery police officers shot an African American man named Bernard Whitehurst, mistakenly believing he was the suspect in the robbery of a grocery store. Officers then reportedly planted a gun on him and claimed he had fired shots.
The shooting death ignited a scandal that roiled the city, ultimately causing the resignation of the mayor and police chief. Last year, Montgomery officials erected a marker in Whitehurst's name on the street where he was gunned down, and formally apologized.
Gunn, 59, was recently divorced and living with his 87-year-old widowed mother, providing care and financial support. "She is taking it very badly," Means said. "Her son was suddenly snatched from her."
At a news conference Monday, Mayor Todd Strange urged the community to have patience.
"We pledge to you that we … will do our best, and that the full truth, and nothing but the truth, comes out," Strange said. "Wherever that truth leads to, whatever factual situation it presents, we will in fact act as strongly and as judiciously as we can."
During the news conference, Gunn's brother, Franklin Gunn, requested five minutes of silence for his brother before angrily calling on the mayor and police chief to resign.
Another speaker, who identified himself as one of Gunn's friends, urged the Police Department to withdraw all white police officers from black neighborhoods.
"We want all white police officers to be taken out of our community," he said. "We don't trust them. We don't trust you all."
Strange, who is white, tried to convince the crowd that the city had changed, distinguishing between the "Montgomery of yesterday and Montgomery of today."
"This is our Montgomery," Strange said. "We're better than erasing tapes. We're better than trying and convicting someone in their frontyard. Let's not tear down the bridges we've built. This is a defining moment for us." -
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/01/they-stood-over-him-and-watched-him-die-outrage-in-alabama-after-white-cop-kills-unarmed-black-man/They stood over him and watched him die': Outrage in Alabama after white officer kills black man
Colvin Hinson heard his neighbor die.
It was about 3 a.m. Thursday when Hinson was awoken by a commotion outside his Montgomery, Ala., home. Someone was frantically pounding on his window and shouting his name.
As Hinson searched for his phone to dial 911, a flurry of gunshots suddenly split the night in two.
When he looked outside, though, Hinson realized it was pointless to call the police.
An officer was already there, with a gun in his hand.
“By the time I got to the door, the officer was standing there, my neighbor lying dead,” Hinson told the Montgomery Advertiser.
Details are still vague, with police providing few details, but the little that is known about the fatal Feb. 25 shooting already has stirred outrage.
The officer is white. His victim, a 58-year-old grocer named Gregory Gunn, was black and unarmed. Police say he was acting suspiciously, carrying a retractable painter’s stick and that the shooting followed some sort of struggle.
Now Gunn’s family is claiming he was killed because of the color of his skin.
“I know he was racially profiled,” Franklin Gunn, Gregory’s younger brother, told The Washington Post early Tuesday morning. “He was black. That was the only thing suspicious about him.
“They thought he was a low-life nothing, walking the street,” he said. “They didn’t see a man. They didn’t see a black man. They saw somebody who needed to die, and they executed him. Now they are trying to cover it up.”
Authorities say that isn’t true. Local police say they have turned the case over to state investigators, and the mayor has promised a thorough and impartial investigation.
“We will get to the facts. It will be open. It will be transparent, and wherever the facts lead us, that will then tell us what our next steps will be,” said Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange on Friday, according to WSFA. “I understand that there is frustration right now. The [state investigators] will not do a quick investigation; they will do a thorough investigation.”
But in Montgomery, the birthplace of the civil rights movement, those promises have done little to soothe the anger of Gunn’s family, friends and neighbors — some of whom are now calling for white police to stay out of their historically black neighborhood.
“I want to see all white officers out of the black community,” Chris Miles, a close friend of the Gunn family, told the Advertiser. “I don’t want them patrolling here anymore, because we’re either ‘suspicious,’ or if something happens, they say they were in fear of their life. Those ‘talking points’ get them not indicted. We can’t live under those conditions anymore.”
The Black Lives Matter movement has organized protests. Meanwhile, Franklin Gunn has gone so far as waging a literal staring contest with the mayor over Gregory’s death.
Sixty years after Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of a Montgomery bus, the city is again a cauldron of racial tension.
“We cannot sit idly by and let our young men be shot down,” Alvin Holmes, a state representative, told the Advertiser on Monday. “We don’t want to start marches or massive demonstrations in Montgomery again, but we will unless something is done about this case.”
Little is known about the shooting, other than the shock, sadness and anger it has left behind.
Police have identified the officer as A.C. Smith, a white male with less than four years on the force.
According to Montgomery Police Chief Ernest Finley, who is black, the officer thought Gunn looked “suspicious” when he spotted him walking along McElvy Street in Mobile Heights at about 3:20 a.m. Thursday morning.
As Gunn neared the house he shared with his 87-year-old mother, the officer exited his patrol car and approached Gunn. A struggle ensued, and the officer fired several shots, fatally wounding Gunn, Finley said, according to the Associated Press.
Neither Finley nor Strange has said what, exactly, was suspicious about Gunn, although Strange said there has been rash of burglaries in the area.
In an interview shortly after the shooting, however, Finley told the Advertiser that Gunn was killed while holding what appeared to be a weapon and was later identified as a retractable painter’s stick.
Franklin Gunn says that story is bogus.
“He was not carrying a painter’s stick,” he told The Post. “I do know the painter’s stick is a lie, and they know it’s a lie.”
Gunn tells a different tale. He said his older brother was a “good man” who was the glue holding their family together. He said that as far as he knew, Gregory’s only past offenses were “two or three traffic violations.”
According to the Advertiser, Gregory Gunn did have a criminal record, but nothing foreshadowing Thursday’s fatal shooting.
“Gunn was arrested a dozen years ago for stealing a refrigerator and hand trucks,” the newspaper reported. “He had charges for bad checks the year before that. And he had outstanding traffic tickets. But there was no violence, no altercations with police, no signs of a dangerous man.”
Kenneth Gunn, another brother, pointed out that their father had been one of Montgomery’s first black police officers.
Gregory was “scared to death of police,” Kenneth told the Advertiser. “He might run from them, but he wouldn’t attack one. No way.” -
Franklin Gunn says his brother was on his way home from a late-night card game after a shift at the grocery store when he was attacked by an officer for no other reason than being black.
“When they use the word ‘suspect,’ it’s a code word for ‘black,'” he told The Post.
“He was hollering, ‘Help,’ and he was beating [on the neighbor’s door] like it was the last breath of his life,” said Franklin Gunn, who was at his Virginia home when the incident occurred but said he spent the last four days in his home town talking to witnesses.
He claims the city is covering up the truth about the police-involved shooting. He says that the painter’s stick was on the neighbor’s porch, there were several officers involved and that his brother was shot as many as five times, including two rounds in the back.
Most controversially, Franklin Gunn claims police let his brother die.
“They didn’t call [the paramedics] for 20 minutes as my brother laid on the ground and they stood over him and watched him die after they executed him,” he said.
Officials have strenuously denied that claim. They have also said the officer’s record does not show any history of racial discrimination.
In interviews with the media, however, several neighbors have given fragmentary accounts.
“He was banging on the window and calling my name as loud as you could call it, his voice raising more and more,” Hinson told the Advertiser. “That was the only voice I heard. I didn’t hear anybody say, ‘Stop, halt, lay down.’ Nothing.”
Another neighbor, Scott Muhammad, said he spotted someone get “thrown around” and went outside to break up what he thought was a fight.
“It escalated. You could just feel the energy,” Muhammad told the Advertiser. “I turned around and told my wife to call the police. Then I saw him shoot four or five times and said, ‘Damn, that was the police.'”
He also said Gregory Gunn was shouting for help when he was shot.
“I saw when they killed him,” Muhammad said. “He was calling for his mother, his neighbor. He was knocking on the window.”
Muhammad said he saw two officers on the scene, one standing over Gunn and another laying in Hinson’s yard with a hand over his head.
“The paramedic never even made it over” to Gunn, he told the Advertiser. “Nobody came and actually checked on this brother. Nobody tried any lifesaving techniques or anything like that. I watched the whole thing.”
Those accusations have sparked intense interest in the shooting. On Sunday, Mobile Heights was packed with Black Lives Matter protesters and state politicians.
“There was no evidence that they had to ? him. He had no weapon, he did not attack the police officers. He was knocking on the next door and police shot him,” Holmes, the state representative, told the Advertiser. “What we are asking is that the district attorney file first degree murder charges against [the police officer] and bring him before the Montgomery County Grand Jury.”
The officer is currently on 72 hours of administrative leave, according to Finley.
“We will make sure that he’s whole when he comes back,” the police chief told the Advertiser. “We talk about external, but internal, we have to make sure that our folks come back whole.”
Tensions were strained even further by the fact that Strange, who is white, was on vacation in Central America when the shooting happened. In his absence, rumors circulated that there were problems with the officer’s body camera.
On Monday, Strange sought to dispel that rumor, saying that all evidence had been turned over to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA). He also expressed condolences for what he called a “tragic” event.
But the community meeting quickly turned into a strange staring contest when Franklin Gunn demanded five minutes of silence to honor his dead brother.
“I want five minutes, five minutes for my brother. Five. Can I get that right now?” Franklin Gunn asked the mayor. When the mayor agreed, the two proceeded to stare uncomfortably at one another. At one point, the mayor offered a tissue to Gunn, who was crying.
Gunn said he was asking for the five minutes of silence because that’s how long it would have taken the officer to figure out his brother wasn’t doing anything wrong.
“A man who runs and says, ‘Momma, help,’ and beats down on the door, he is not suspicious,” he said during the meeting. “He was fearing for his life.”
He said the worst part of the whole ordeal was that their 87-year-old mother heard her son get shot but that she wasn’t allowed to come and help him as he lay dying.
“She is torn up,” he told The Post.
The incident could have an impact beyond the Gunn family, and perhaps beyond Montgomery.
It’s a sad and ironic twist to history in the city where legally sanctioned segregation began to crumble 60 years ago.
“Should a young, white male police a black community?” wondered Muhammad. “They don’t know us. The police brought violence to the community last night.”
This Franklin Gunn cat is really holding his family and deceased brother down w/ how hard going at the system... -
@stringer bell
I appreciate these drops. It's hard for me to keep up with what the media is saying while at work
