Posted on 07/22/2012 9:32:41 PM PDT by Altariel
Maybe if the police officer had arrived just a minute later, the young man would still be alive.
That’s what the friends and family of Destin Thomas say, after Columbus police confirmed yesterday that it was one of their own officers who shot and killed Thomas while responding to a 911 call he had made on Tuesday morning.
Police gave few details yesterday about what happened between the 21-year-old Thomas and Officer William Kaufman, a 17-year veteran, citing the ongoing investigation.
They said that Kaufman shot Thomas twice, in his hip and chest. Thomas died at the scene.
“The fact that they’re trying to justify it, no apology or nothing, (just saying), ‘Oh, we’re just doing what we were trained to do,’” said Thomas’ cousin Derek Harris, 24. “I didn’t know you were trained to kill the person you were supposed to help.”
Police also said yesterday that they’ve charged a man who they had said earlier was thought to be involved in the break-in at Thomas’ Far East Side apartment — the reason that Thomas had called police.
David J. O’Neal, 19, of Shaker Heights, Ohio, is charged with grand theft auto, vandalism and receiving stolen property — all fourth-degree felonies — as well as a count of obstructing official business, a fifth-degree felony.
All of those charges are in connection to a stolen police cruiser that authorities say O’Neal took from an officer who was patrolling about a half-mile from Thomas’ apartment on Tuesday afternoon.
So far, O’Neal hasn’t been charged in the break-in, though Sgt. Rich Weiner, spokesman for Columbus police, said other charges could be filed. O’Neal was in the Fairfield County jail tonight under $500,000 bond.
Thomas was found with a gun next to his body, but police haven’t said where that gun came from or whether Thomas even had it in his hand when he was shot.
His roommate and cousin have both said that Thomas didn’t own a gun, and they think he somehow got the weapon off the men who broke into his apartment at 7277 Brooke Blvd.
Thomas’ roommate, DelShawn Walker, 22, said his friend had no interest in guns. “He said on several occasions, ‘I don’t plan on getting a gun. I don’t need one,’” he said.
Walker and Harris are angry with police. Thomas was the one the police were supposed to be protecting, they said.
“If (the officer) didn’t show up on time, he’d still be alive today, because he did their job for them (by chasing the burglars out),” Harris said.
Police have said that Officer Kaufman saw Thomas and another man run from the apartment. A neighbor said that a third man also ran from it, though police so far have arrested only O'Neal.
When Thomas called 911 at 8:46 a.m. Tuesday, he said in a whispered voice that people had broken into his apartment and he could hear them talking.
O’Neal was caught several hours later when Police Officer Billie Camp-Donovan saw him and recognized him as a suspect wanted in connection with the break-in. She jumped from her cruiser to chase him, and he doubled back and stole the cruiser, police say. Camp-Donovan then fired six gunshots at the cruiser, though she didn’t hit O’Neal.
The county prosecutor’s office will review both officers’ actions.
Walker and Harris wonder why, if Thomas was holding a gun when he ran from his apartment, the officer didn’t ask him to put it down. Knowing Thomas, they said, he would have immediately.
“I honestly believe he was trying to tell them, ‘I’m the one who called you,’” Walker said. “But they didn’t give him a chance.”
Police officers, though, say they have little time to sort out a situation when someone is holding a weapon.
Because of the rash of recent police shootings, officers held a demonstration of how they handle confrontations with armed people for media representatives at the Police Training Academy today.
Columbus Police Chief Kimberley Jacobs said it’s impossible for officers to predict what a person intends to do when that person approaches with a weapon.
“We have to be able to react in instantaneous fashion,” she said.
Asked if she was concerned that Thomas might have been wrongly shot, she said it “would be concerning if someone who has no (malicious intent) toward an officer was shot.”
“But we can’t predict that, and we can’t know that when someone has a gun in their hand.”
That explanation is little comfort to Thomas’ friend and cousin.
Its a shame.
As an old cop and vet, many times I was reprimanded for putting myself in danger, because I would never draw my weapon unless I shot something.
I would walk up and ask why you had a gun in your hand.
Maybe I was stupid. I never wore a vest either.
Unfortunately, we have too few peace officers and too many LEOs these days.
And now, we are being treated to frequent examples as to why peace officers are and were superior to LEOs.
Better to murder someone with a gun just in case....
This is why we need gun control—to keep dangerous weapons in the hands of trained professionals. /s
Great work by the female cop getting her squad stolen. Probably had a shotgun in it too.
As an old cop and vet, many times I was reprimanded for putting myself in danger, because I would never draw my weapon unless I shot something.
Yes, I do agree. It is easy to second guess situations like this and even I occasionally form an opinion based on what I read or see that is at odds with the published police version. I can only say that I'm glad I'm not in that situation. During my time in combat I practiced the 'shoot first' policy but that wasn't the same as being a police officer confronted with a man with a gun while responding to a call of the nature that is reported here in this news article.
It is a dangerous job but at the same time police officers are human and they have to deal with the fear factor. It's how the officer deals with that fear is what must be factored in, IMO. I personally believe that some officers panic and just shoot first when confronted with danger and fear and have only a spit second to decide to shoot or not and thus claim that they feared for their lives as it is usually seen as a get out of jail FREE card by the public. I do think that the police should not be allowed to be the only ones to investigate their own. There has got to be a better way to handle police involved shootings, IMHO.
Was the gun a ‘plant’?
NONE.
I graduated from a Columbus High School, one of the things that stuck with me from there is that I rarely saw a Police Car, on the other hand they had these helicopters that would fly all night and that damn searchlight of theirs would creep me out as it scanned across the backyard. After awhile a person could get used to the chopper noise but that light coming in the bedroom window was always creepy.
I graduated from a Columbus High School, one of the things that stuck with me from there is that I rarely saw a Police Car, on the other hand they had these helicopters that would fly all night and that damn searchlight of theirs would creep me out as it scanned across the backyard. After awhile a person could get used to the chopper noise but that light coming in the bedroom window was always creepy.
I forgot to say that was back in the early 70’s. I joined the service right out of high school and never went back there. I hear its changed a lot and not for the better. Even my parents moved shortly after I graduated from high school.
We need community police, not jacked-up ninjas. If an officer thinks that he "needs" an M4 and body armor, he's doing it wrong. If areas are so dangerous that officers "need" military gear to police them, then the whole department is doing something wrong.
I agree/
There needs to be strong civilian oversight
Oh my
One of my pet complaints
I NEVER want to see an officer with his face covered
If he is undercover he should not be working that detail.
No no
I want to know who you are
“But we can’t predict that, and we can’t know that when someone has a gun in their hand.”
Cops know that when going to a violent crime scene, that both the suspects and victims may be armed, and need to react with that’s basic truth in mind. Cops need reminded that their lives aren’t the first focus of the job, the lives of innocents come first. Cops had a choice in putting on the badge. Their victims didn’t get a choice.
Far too many officers are apparently being told otherwise in police academies: their number one priority is their safety.
I live here, actually less than three miles from the incident. This is section 8 housing, in a relatively rural area. Just to the west is a very high crime area which has almost completely been shut down or bulldozed because businesses could not survive the crime. To the east is a very nice suburban area in a different county jurisdiction than Columbus. Columbus used to be a great city, we get daily multiple murders now. I understand from good sources that this victim knew the “robbers” they were at his apartment. He was involved in drugs and there was a dispute. He supposedly called police, they were there quickly, the assailants ran, the victim came out carrying a gun to shoot his “friends”, although the police did not know this, he was told to drop the weapon, he would not do so and was shot. While this was happening one of the suspects grabbed the police cruiser. So what did you want the police to do?
Whom are your sources?
A long time Columbus police officer.
Do you have any independent, objective source for the information?
Indeed. This same rationale will be used to gun down law-abiding Freepers who dare hold a gun in the presence of an Agent of the State.
I fear it will not be long before we read vanities beginning with “The police shot Freeper X.”
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