Posted on 07/04/2008 7:08:28 AM PDT by PotatoHeadMick
THE distraught mother of a young Irishman shot dead by a policeman in the United States broke down in tears yesterday as she revealed how she had been left "begging for information" on how he met his violent death.
Andrew Hanlon (20), who had travelled to the US a year ago to stay with his sister in Silverton, Oregon, was killed by a police officer responding to a burglary on Monday night. Neighbours reported several shots were fired.
His heartbroken mother, Dorothea Hanlon-Carroll, from Dundrum, Dublin, was yesterday being comforted by three of her children as they tried to come to terms with the tragedy.
But the family last night said they were being kept "totally out of the loop" by US police investigating the shooting.
"I'm terrified of a closed-shop cover-up, that my son will be just swept under the carpet," Dorothea said.
A short statement from the Marion County District Attorney's Office said officer Tony Gonzalez encountered Mr Hanlon when he responded to a burglary call in the town around 11.18pm. He had shot and killed him, the statement said, but did not elaborate any further on the reasons why the officer opened fire on Mr Hanlon.
Fatal
The County Sheriff's office is now investigating the fatal shooting. The officer involved has been placed on administrative leave -- a standard procedure.
Silverton police chief Rick Lewis said he understands the community's desire to know what happened, but said investigations should not be hurried.
Speaking from her home in Silverton, Mr Hanlon's sister, Melanie Heise, said the multi-task outside agency investigating the shooting could take several weeks. But she said the family, who are anxious for more information, were being kept in the dark about developments. There was no suggestion her brother had any involvement in any crime, she said.
His mother, who had last spoken to him a few months ago, said her son was shot while walking to her daughter's home. He was only a few hundred yards away from his destination when he died.
Ms Hanlon described her artistic son, as a very "sociable young man".
"He did have a heart of gold, he was a softie," she said. She added: "No amount of answers from this police force is going to bring my son back but I need to know why... he can't be brought back, that is the bottom line."
Mr Hanlon was living illegally in the US after his holiday visas had expired. His sister said he had begun to have psychological problems over the past few months.
"He was never actually diagnosed with any psychological problems but he went in and out of delusions and paranoia and stuff like that," she said.
Ms Heise said her brother was "not that kind of kid" who would carry a gun or weapon.
The tight-knit community of Silverton have held a public protest in the town.
Appalled
"People are appalled because they want to know why there was such excessive forced used," his sister said. She queried why a taser stun gun was not used instead.
Speaking in Silverton, Aerial Burton said her friend, Mr Hanlon, had issues but he had not owned a weapon and had no criminal record.
"I don't understand why," said Ms Burton, who was holding a teddy bear which she said belonged to Mr Hanlon. "People need to know he was a good person with a big heart."
Marie Carthy, a sister of John Carthy, the man shot dead by gardai during a 25-hour siege at his home in Abbeylara, Co Longford, yesterday urged the Hanlon family to keep going until to "get the truth".
Members of the public generously pledged funds to help the Hanlon family after his mother told RTE's 'Liveline' programme that she was unable to fly out to the US or repatriate the body due to the cost involved.
The radio station confirmed people had offered "more than enough" to cover costs. "You've got to go and you've got to find out what happened to your baby," Mrs Hanlon was told.
Mr Hanlon is being mourned by his sister Melanie in the US, and sisters Mary-Kate and Danielle, brother Eamon and step-dad Justin in Ireland. Ms Hanlon said she would never be able to tell people how much it meant to her to be able to bring her son back to Ireland.
There is more here than has been reported. Basically, we’re hearing only from the family side, and I’ve been around the block long enough here near Atlanta to know that....
You also should have mentioned that it appears he was involved in the burglary to which the police were responding. I highly doubt the police would have shot this man without a reason.
Yep, it's a one sided story designed to gather sympathy for the family. Anything the police say now about the circumstances surrounding the shooting will be dismissed as a cover-up.
We don't know the officer's background, whether he has been involved in other confrontations, we don't know if the perp was armed or presumed to be armed or startled the officer to react in this way, or what.
Best to see all the evidence before passing judgement. And the family will not know anything until the investigation is complete.
They will not like the results either way it goes.
My family has lived in and around Silverton for years. Small town with lots of imports. He wasn’t shot because he was Irish.
I don't know that these investigations, especially by an internal affairs type group, have any oversight by someone out side the system, but if not it would certainly go a long way in calming such appearances if they did.
I have no reason to question the conclusion of these investigations, but it sure seems to me as though some sort of third-party oversight would help ease the tensions that always accompany them.
About six months ago, however, the family started to notice some problems with Hanlon's behavior. Though never ultimately was diagnosed with a specific mental illness, Hanlon suffered elements of paranoia and schizophrenia, Heise said.
Heise said Hanlon then began to come into frequent contact with the police. He said all the officers on the force knew him, and knew of his mental health issues. The Heises tried unsuccessfully to get Hanlon into some type of counseling program.
For a time, he was homeless, though they tried to provide him with some financial support and he was able to get an apartment. Still, at one point, Hanlon broke into their home, Heise said -- not for money or possessions, but to use the Internet.
-snip-
http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/07/silverton_police_investigating.html
He may or may not have been involved with the burglary, he may have acted "wild" when confronted. We may never know, but we should find out a bit more than we have so far.
There is some more information Seatle Post Intelligencer where the young man is described as suffering "from paranoia and delusions" by his brother-in-law.
How about everyone (city, family, media)steps back and gives the process that always occurs after any Police involved shooting gets conducted and proper answers are determined.
Headline: “Cop shoots illegal alien burglar; Europeans whine.” On second thought, neither part of that ought to be news.
Could be a drug problem.
Heard of a case the other day where a person was waving a gun threatening to shoot himself. The Police held him off for a while then he pointed the gun at the them and they kind of wasted him.
I would venture to say his ORIGINAL intent was carried out, but of course the Police will be vilified.....
Not enough to go on.
The family itself says that he was having serious mental problems. So I would GUESS either that he had broken into a house (which he apparently had done before to “use the internet”) or that he happened to be in the area by bad luck, was acting strangely, and responded badly when he was given a warning by the police to put up his hands and surrender himself.
All this is pure speculation, but there’s certainly enough information given even by the family’s version of events to give the police the benefit of the doubt until more information is released.
Y'know, this carpet is kind of lumpy. Maybe the padding is bunched up.
It only happened on Monday night. They are probably still working the autopsy.
ping
Because the cop couldn’t understand his accent, so he just shot him. What else?
was he shot during a burglary?
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