Mother sues police over son's accidental shooting

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | July 31, 2012

[artichokegrower]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The mother of a parolee who accidentally shot himself to death during a gunbattle with San Francisco police is suing the city for failing to give him immediate medical care.

The San Francisco Chronicle (http://bit.ly/Qewm5g ) says 19-year-old Kenneth Wade Harding didn't pay a Muni light-rail fare and was running when his gun fired and the bullet pierced his neck last July.

He was trying to shoot at officers at the time.

[artichokegrower]

Maybe society could sue his mom for producing such a retrograde dirt bag.

[FoxInSocks]

When trying to shoot someone, I would suggest not aiming through yourself.

[RichInOC]

If you’re trying to shoot the cops who are chasing your and you shoot yourself instead...you’re a really bad shot.

[TurboZamboni]

well, he’ll probably have a jury of his peers give him some $.

it IS San Francisco.

[Vendome]

Guy was a truly bad guy through and through(sorry for the pun,....not really). Don’t feel bad that he’s gone, just sorrow the mother lost a son...who was...again...heinous and probably not redeemable.

But, I don’t like that cops don’t render aid or allow aid to those who are injured.

[GOPPachyderm]

Why would you fire at police over a muni ticket? There’s something deeper there.

[Gay State Conservative]

Another one of Osama Obama’s people...one of the many passengers in the cart...thinking that she's won the lottery.Why doesn't she sue Exxon/Mobil as well? After all,it was one of *their* billboards that distracted him while aiming,thus causing him to hit someone other than the cop.

[GOPPachyderm]

Ah, a convicted child rapist. Using the muni ... huh, the Huber law?

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/07/18/suspect-shot-dead-by-sf-police-was-convicted-child-rapist/

[DPMD]

Don’t know enough of the story to guess what kind of aid the cops should have given. Certainly wouldn’t want any of them to risk exposure to his blood, so that rules out CPR or direct contact first aid. And since cops aren’t necessarily tasked with giving first aid - especially to someone trying to kill them - I don’t know what else to say. I’m willing to bet they called for an ambulance; why isn’t that enough? And your contention that they don’t “allow aid” to those who are injured doesn’t have the ring of truth.

Imagine if they had touched him in an effort to give aid, and he’d died anyway. Many - would that include you? - would be charging them with murdering him after shooting him, and the lawsuit would proceed anyway.

Damned if they do, damned if they don’t. But that’s what many citizens seem to want cops to be.

[Lonely Bull]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The mother of a parolee who accidentally shot himself to death during a gunbattle with San Francisco police is suing the city for failing to give him immediate medical care.

That mother was also behind this effort:

Protesters Plan to Shut Down (San Francisco) Muni Service on Monday

A random group called the Humanists for Revolutionary Socialism is backing Monday's protest, dubbed "Kenneth Harding Jr. Transit Shut Down Day" and blames Muni's policies for Harding's death.

She's also announced plans to repeat this every year on the anniversary of her son's death. Nothing works to reinforce how much of a [insert choice word here] her son was like being one herself.

[GeronL]

lawsuit lottery needs to end

[dennisw]

Mother of Kenneth Harding Sues SFPD Over Son Accidentally Shooting Himself

Denika Chatman, the mother of parolee Kenneth Harding — who died during a chase with San Francisco police last year in which he accidentally shot himself in the neck while apparently attempting to shoot at the cops chasing him — has now filed a federal civil rights lawsuit claiming that the city failed to provide immediate medical care to her son as he lay dying in the street. The 19-year-old Harding was fleeing police at the time because he was suspected of fare evasion on Muni, and he was on parole at the time for pimping a 14-year-old girl in the Seattle area. He was also a person of interest in the murder of a 19-year-old woman last year in Seattle.

[Secret Agent Man]

Ummm......just no. 100 percent with the officers on this one.

[Secret Agent Man]

Wow her lawyer must be really bad. Good lawyer would go after the gun manufacturer. /sarc

[formosa]

Agreed. All these criminals should be sued along with their families for raising murderers and pedophiles. Maybe then parents will pay more attention to what is going on in the lives of their children.

There is a scientific correlation between parental abuse and those who go on to commit crimes.

[Secret Agent Man]

Deeper == convicted felon with concealed firearm on parole, at the very least. Automatic violation of parole, going back to prison immediately.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

Of course. It’s not her little angel’s fault and it’s not her fault for raising a dirtbag. It must be the police’s fault.

[muawiyah]

That happened in the first Anaheim shooting week before last. Guy was going down ~ and on the way down they shot him in the head too, and then he continued to twitch. The cops didn't tend to him for quite some time and then only to handcuff him.

Kind of hard ~ sort of thing you'd expect with somebody else's police force.

He was also unarmed.

I think the idea is that California is being totally undermined by the sort of ideas that guide police in Latin countries.

[muawiyah]

Most states have laws that hold harmless those who give aid under any circumstances.

Seriously, we have numerous videos of this behavior showing up recently of cops just hanging around while the perp bleeds out.

That is really, really crude stuff.

[muawiyah]

Washington state seems to have just turned him loose to wander off to California.

This dude was convicted of armed robbery first and then child rape.

THERE'S NO REASON HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN OUT OF JAIL!