LA deputy shoots unarmed man in the back
Monday night, all 36-year-old Darrick Collins wanted was his cell phone. But when he reached for it, instead of phoning a friend, he died.
A Los Angeles County deputy killed him, firing rounds through a fence, three striking Collins in the back.
Collins, who had two children, was suspected of being involved in an armed robbery according to Los Angeles police. Stalking the unincorporated community of Athens, the deputy spotted two men who allegedly fit the description of the suspects. “Collins appeared to reach into his waistband for a weapon while fleeing the scene, and a deputy opened fire, sheriff’s Sgt. Diane Hecht said,” according to KTLA.com.
Police would later find no weapon and no connection to the robbery.
Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca ordered an “expedited” investigation into the killing, while Collins’ family has called for murder charges to be filed against the deputy.
NBC Los Angeles added: “Sheriff’s Department Spokesman Steve Whitmore said that, in having the department quickly examine Monday’s shooting, Baca is not saying that ‘anything was wrong’ with it.”
“He just wants to examine from top to bottom and maybe training has to be refocused,” Whitmore told the network.
“‘Why would they kill him?’ said Kendra Dean, the mother of one of Collins’ children, a 16-month-old boy,” reported MyFoxLA. “‘They’re supposed to serve and protect. They ain’t doing that for me. They ain’t doing that for Derrick Collins Senior because they killed him, they shot him down.’”
The MyFoxLA video broadcast notes that the deputy fired his weapon through a wooden fence, and includes photos of the bullet holes. The network’s story neglects to mention this, as do other area reports.
“He killed my nephew,” said Jane Lawrence, Collins’ aunt. “He put three bullet holes through this wooden gate, shooting him in the back. Cop just wanted to fire over his head and say stop, just shoot into the sky, you know? He didn’t have to shoot him and kill him.”
This video is from MyFoxLA, broadcast Sept. 15, 2009
Source: Raw Story
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