Parents of black Utah man shot by police sue officers, city

[mick silver]

Parents of black Utah man shot by police sue officers, cityhttp://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/d/0c/d0c3eb8ca18907492a4b337b5cec5193.jpeg (http://www.reuters.com/) By Peg McEntee January 2, 2015 7:09 PM












By Peg McEntee
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SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - The parents of a 22-year-old black man who was shot and killed by police in Utah while holding a sword sued the officers and city in federal court on Friday, claiming that his civil rights were violated.
The fatal shooting of Darrien Hunt in Sarasota Springs in September raised tensions in the mostly white, fast-growing community some 30 miles south of Salt Lake City. It came a month after a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, shot unarmed black teenager Michael Brown to death, leading to a wave of violent protests.
Hunt was shot six times after two white Sarasota Springs police officers, Nicholas Judson and Matt Schauerhamer, responded to reports that a man was walking around with a samurai-style sword. The officers say Hunt lunged at them with the sword.
In their lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, Hunt's parents say he did not threaten the officers and removed the sword from its sheath at their request. The lawsuit contends that neither officer warned Hunt before he was shot and that he was struck by six bullets.
“When defendant Schauerhamer fired the final three shots, Darrien was physically incapable of wielding a sword or running, and posed no threat of imminent danger to anyone,” the lawsuit says.
Saratoga Springs Police spokesman Owen Jackson declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman ruled that the officers were justified in using deadly force against Hunt because they thought he would harm them or others.
That decision, as well as the shooting itself, has led to several protests in Utah and has become a part of discussions about police use of force around the nation, including Ferguson.
The suit seeks an unspecified amount of money for the Hunts, and demands that the shooting be deemed unconstitutional and that Saratoga Springs equip its officers with body cameras.
Hunt's mother, Susan Hunt, was charged in November with four misdemeanor counts that she accosted Saratoga Springs police on Oct. 19 as they were making an unrelated traffic stop. She is scheduled for arraignment on Jan. 23.
Predominantly white Saratoga Springs is home to Mia Love, a former mayor who last year became the first black Republican woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
(Reporting by Peg McEntee in Salt Lake City; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Mohammad Zargham)


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[crimethink]

shot and killed by police in Utah while holding a sword

Case dismissed.

"But, he dindu nuffin!"

[mick silver]

he was about to go back to school and he was also looking for a job so he could take care of his five baby and was about to go to church

[Ponce]

Guy with a sword and cops with guns.......why can't they shoot him on the leg? or the arm? or the shoulder?.....are the cops such a bad shots that they have to go for the center mass of the body?...for the killer cops this is only a sport.

V

[crimethink]

Guy with a sword and cops with guns.......why can't they shoot him on the leg? or the arm? or the shoulder?.....are the cops such a bad shots that they have to go for the center mass of the body?...for the killer cops this is only a sport.


Use of deadly force training invariably teaches "target center mass" (if you'd had any, you'd know that). That applies to both cops and civilians. The principle is that deadly force (gunfire) must not be used unless one has a reasonable fear for their life or great bodily harm, and, if the situation rises to that level, you shoot to bring an immediate end to the situation. Pussying around shooting at limbs demonstrates you did not have a fear for your life or well-being, and, therefore, did not have justification to employ deadly force.

[Dogman]

Shooting center mass is the only way to almost guarantee that the target will go down, any place else may not stop an attack.

[Hitch]

Shooting center mass is the only way to almost guarantee that the target will go down, any place else may not stop an attack.

Then there's the "opps" factor involved in shooting someone in the leg.

"Deadly force was not justified, so I shot him in the leg" Cop says on the stand in front of a jury....

"and what happened next, mr. Cop?" says the lawyer.

"Well, the bullet severed his femoral artery, and he bled out and died. I said Opps I'm sorry though!!"

[Ponce]

I can see that not everyone was what I was......I seen it all and now I wished that I was blind... and that's why I am now what I am, it is one of my ways to say "SORRY".

V