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Retired police commander confused, angry over daughter’s death at hands of Redmond officers
seattletimes ^

Posted on 12/28/2021 5:22:15 PM PST by algore

Andrea Churna thought someone was trying to kill her when she called Redmond police for help the night of Sept. 20, 2020. Raised around cops, she did what she was asked to do when police arrived to find her armed with a handgun.

She put the weapon down, walked out of her apartment unarmed, clad in a T-shirt and yoga pants, hands up, and laid face down on the carpeted hallway floor outside her door — “proned out” as officers at the scene described it.

None of that kept police from killing her. An officer, just 18 months out of the police academy, shot the 39-year-old mother six times with a high-powered rifle as she lay on the floor 30 feet away.

“She called them for help,” said an emotional Michael Thomas, Churna’s father, as he sat at the dining room table in his home in Port Orchard. “And they killed her for it. This is a nightmare. Where is the justice for my daughter?”

The shooting was investigated by the King County Sheriff’s Office, whose detectives repeatedly expressed frustration over the lack of cooperation of the Redmond officers and interference by their union attorney.

They turned an admittedly incomplete investigation over to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office last spring. Prosecutors have declined to decide whether to pursue criminal charges against the officers pending a coroner’s inquest — a process stalled since 2017

Fifteen months after the shooting, the officer who killed Churna, 26-year-old Daniel Mendoza, has declined to give a statement to sheriff’s investigators or be interviewed

Several other officers at the scene — the only witnesses since there were no civilians in the hallway, no surveillance cameras and none of the officers wore body cameras — were sent home that night without talking to investigators

(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: andreachurna; banglist; danielmendoza; donutwatch; kingcounty; police; redmond; redmondwashington; washington; washingtonstate
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Redmond cops are worthless lying revenue officers, Kirkland too

Kirkland cops even have their own drive by shooting range where they practice shooting at targets out their car windows while driving

A few weeks ago in Redmond a bunch of kids? Took over over a ranch/wedding venue off avondale one evening to hold a rave party shot and killed the 80 year old owner.

Was this reported in the news or did the cops even investigate, nope cause that might involve real police work

It is only by a very random chance i heard about it.

1 posted on 12/28/2021 5:22:15 PM PST by algore
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To: algore

If she was white then there will be no coverage or riots.


2 posted on 12/28/2021 5:25:11 PM PST by HighSierra5 (The only way you know a commie is lying is when they open their pieholes.p)
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To: HighSierra5

.
It’s not a big Media story when someone is white.

Police Chiefs, nearly all minorities, are well aware of that.

None of the rules applied when they killed Ashli Babbitt.

Not one. No one in power uttered a syllable.


3 posted on 12/28/2021 5:29:15 PM PST by AnthonySoprano (‘’)
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To: algore

Pretty much the same thing happened to Daniel Shaver. He was shot dead by cops as he laid prone on the floor. The cop who murdered Shaver got away with it.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mesa-police-shooting-daniel-shaver-seen-crawling-begging-in-disturbing-video/

Back the blue...until it happens to you.


4 posted on 12/28/2021 5:30:26 PM PST by Leaning Right (The steal is real.)
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To: algore
She put the weapon down, walked out of her apartment unarmed, clad in a T-shirt and yoga pants, hands up, and laid face down on the carpeted hallway floor outside her door...An officer...shot the 39-year-old mother SIX TIMES times with a high-powered rifle as she lay on the floor 30 feet away.

That is absolutely sickening. What the hell???

5 posted on 12/28/2021 5:32:08 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (81 million votes...and NOT ONE "Build Back Better" hat)
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To: algore

I read the full report and it seems the woman was a bit nutty.

This story seems to be a hit piece by the Seattle Times against police in general.


6 posted on 12/28/2021 5:33:32 PM PST by Presbyterian Reporter
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

> That is absolutely sickening. What the hell??? <

Yep. Something changed maybe 30 years ago. Cops ceased thinking of themselves as “peace officers”. Instead they became “law enforcement officers”. With that name came a huge change in attitude. Too many of today’s cops act like they’re part of an occupying military force.

(And yes, I get that being a cop is a tough job, tougher than it was 30 years ago.)


7 posted on 12/28/2021 5:38:37 PM PST by Leaning Right (The steal is real.)
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To: Presbyterian Reporter
Oh the woman was more then a bit nutty. If nothing else no sleep will do a number on your reasoning ability.

There was still no reason to shoot her at that time. And really no reason for the police not to have body cams on and to delay their interviews until they could get their stories straight.

8 posted on 12/28/2021 5:46:17 PM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear (add a dab of lavender in milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing with it)
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To: Presbyterian Reporter
"I read the full report"

??

The posted story said none of the officers involved gave a witness statement and the shooter declined being interviewed.

9 posted on 12/28/2021 5:50:20 PM PST by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's for sure.)
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To: algore

“...called Redmond police for help the night of Sept. 20, 2020...”

“...pending a coroner’s inquest; a process stalled since 2017...”

“...Fifteen months after the shooting, the officer has declined to give a statement...”

Someone has a strange calendar.


10 posted on 12/28/2021 5:50:42 PM PST by Repeal The 17th (Get out of the matrix and get a real life.)
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To: Repeal The 17th
If you read the article you can see that it was rather clumsily clipped by the poster.

1.The lady was shot the night of Sept. 20, 2020.

2. Since 2017 the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office has been arguing over if they should pursue criminal charges against the officers (involved in any shooting not just this one) pending a coroner's inquest.

Two separate items.

It has been 15 months since the lady who was the main subject of this story was shot by the police.

11 posted on 12/28/2021 6:07:07 PM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear (add a dab of lavender in milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing with it)
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To: algore

Paging Dexter...


12 posted on 12/28/2021 6:11:53 PM PST by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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To: Presbyterian Reporter

Cops around here no longer wear caps because their heads got too big. I no longer back any of them. They showed their true colors when Trump was running for president.


13 posted on 12/28/2021 6:19:10 PM PST by roving
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

Reading this, it’s a bad shoot. Up goes the Blue Wall.

https://www.kuow.org/stories/no-filing-decision-yet-in-case-of-redmond-police-killing-of-andrea-churna


14 posted on 12/28/2021 6:24:21 PM PST by ETCM
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To: ETCM
Yes. It sounds like a bad shoot going on the information given. There might be mitigating circumstances not given in the publicly available report but as it stands I would go for second degree murder.

It reads almost as if he (Daniel Mendoza) shot her because he was annoyed with her. And I have no doubt that she was being annoying. People who have been going without sleep and are hyped up on drugs are annoying. Throw in what ever other mental problems she may have had and they become down right exasperating.

But you are not allowed to kill them for that.

15 posted on 12/28/2021 7:38:44 PM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear (add a dab of lavender in milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing with it)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Why not. When the Police are called out, they must kill someone. No dog to kill. No husband and wife to kill. They had no other choice. She forgot Rule Number One and it cost her her life: To Wit} No matter how bad the situation, involving the Police makes it worse. In spite of Free Republic Dogma, the Police are not your friend. At one time I believed they were your friend.


16 posted on 12/28/2021 7:53:05 PM PST by sport
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To: Presbyterian Reporter

Is being “A Bit Nutty” a reason for killing someone?


17 posted on 12/28/2021 7:57:29 PM PST by sport
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

I got the impression from the article that this ended in an unnecessary death because of a series of errors and misapprehensions. Knowing his daughter was having mental problems including an obsession that some ex-boyfriend was stalking her, the woman’s father bought her a gun and taught her how to use it. Some cops arrived at the scene know the woman was having a psychotic episode and was armed. Another incorrectly thought he was pointing a gun at him and blazed away at her with a 9mm but missed. Other cops heard those shots and thought she was firing at them. She lay down in the hallway, then, thinking her ex-husband had arrived, turned 90 degrees and was reaching for something. Mendoza panicked, assumed she is going for a gun, and took out the “threat”. The cops all clam up, because at least several of them contributed to a royal screw-up, and whoever was in command failed to control and coordinate his forces.

Some lessons: 1) Don’t arm your paranoid schizo drugged up children. 2) Police frequently are not good at dealing with people having mental crises, because they expect somewhat rational behavior, like following commands, staying still more than ten seconds, etc.; unfortunately, nuts act nutty. 3) Unfortunately, good tools do not exist for dealing with armed, violent, or potentially violent nuts.


18 posted on 12/28/2021 8:29:49 PM PST by Chewbarkah
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To: Leaning Right

And he had committed no crime.


19 posted on 12/29/2021 4:31:31 AM PST by Eagles6 (Welcome to the Matrix . Orwell's "1984" was a warning, not an instruction manual.)
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To: Chewbarkah
Churna, who was 5-feet-3 and weighed 150 pounds, walked out of the apartment with her hands up. Officers ordered her to lie face down, head facing the other direction, and cross her ankles. She complied.
Several officers, using profanity, told her if she moved she would be “shot multiple times.” At least five officers were crowded at the top of the “T,” none more than 10 yards from where Churna lay waiting to be arrested.

Or perhaps the lesson here is that cops should have secured her while she was prone rather then having temper tantrums like five year olds.

That ONE thing is what their job was. To secure her to prevent danger to the public and themselves.

But that is apparently too complicated. And not nearly as much fun as yelling and cursing at her.

20 posted on 12/29/2021 8:26:51 AM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear (add a dab of lavender in milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing with it)
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