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Cleveland Police Under Investigation After Unarmed Couple Killed In Hail Of 140 Bulle

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#1 ·
Cleveland Police Under Investigation After Unarmed Couple Killed In Hail Of 140 Bullets

February 6, 2013

Police are investigating a bizarre case of police panic where 115 police officers may have been involved in a car chase and mass shooting incident where two unarmed individuals were killed in a hail of 140 bullets in Cleveland. Police reports contained erroneous or false information on the scene that led to the deaths.

The car chase in November involved two individuals in a 1979 Chevrolet Malibu. Officers David Siefer and James Hummel were following the Malibu when they reported over the radio that they thought they saw the passenger turn in her seat, get onto her knees and extend both arms toward the rear window as if she was holding a gun. Siefer yelled “He’s pointing the gun. He’s pointing the gun out the back window. Heads up. Heads up. Passenger is pointing a gun out the back window. Everybody be careful.” Siefer later admitted that he never saw a gun.

After the chase, the car eventually pulled into a middle school parking lot. The first shots were reportedly fired by Officer Wilfredo Diaz. He was also the first to the car and found Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell, 43, dead . . . and unarmed. They were found to have drugs in their systems.

The city believes that 115 officers were involved in the either the chase or the shooting or both — that is one-third of the officers on duty that night. Some 13 officers fired their weapons despite that fact that no one had shot at the officers. Officer Michael Brelo reported that he saw “the suspects moving and I could not understand why they are still moving, shooting at us. Even through Iraq, I never fired my weapon. I never have been so afraid in my life.”

Some officers assumed that the firing had started from the car while others thought they saw an officer hit or a report of shots fired.

Police frantically searched for a gun, including bringing in a dive team and search crews along the roads. While there are gunpowder residue in the car and on the two suspects, the large amount of rounds fired into the car could easily explain that positive reading.

A police mechanic also found that the car was in a condition that could easily have produced a backfire sound from the engine.

Cleveland Police Under Investigation After Unarmed Couple Killed In Hail Of 140 Bullets JONATHAN TURLEY


Black Blade: Moral of the story - when driving in Cleveland and you see flashing lights in your rearview mirror ............... run! Run like hell!
 
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#5 ·
Cleveland - the mistake by the lake!
 
#6 ·
I thought they were supposed to be protecting people becasue they are the only ones "qualified" to handle firearms.

So asking a LEO buddy of mine (whom I shoot with often) says in his department the officers are only required to qualify with their firearms once a year. My buddy told me that I shoot more in one year than most officers he works with will shoot their entire career. So that means they must be more qualified than me. Even though I am a Combat Marksmanship Instructor, Range Safety Officer, Advanced Combat Trauma qualled, Taken extensive advanced Carbine and Pistol courses with both Military and Private Instructors...

Either way this is a homocide no matter how you cut it. Jumpy Cops with itchy trigger fingers. Maybe they though the people had a dog or something too.
 
#7 ·
And some people wonder why the public is losing confidence in law enforcement, and becoming suspicious of them.
 
#11 ·
HMMMMM WELL AT LEAST THEY WONT BE RUNNING FROM COPS IN A HIGH SPEED CAR CHASE.,

THINGS SEEM A LITTLE FISH WITH THE STORY WHY WERE THEY BEING CHASED WHY WOULD THE COP ADMITT HE SAW NO GUN???? SOMETHNG DONT SEEM RIGHT HERE.

THERE ARE A WHOLE LOT OF FACTS MISSING HERE AN ONLY CRAP TO MAKE THE SUSPECTS WHO WERE SHOT OUT ON A SUNDAY DRIVE . WHO IS REPORTNG THIS STORY ????? IS IT A RIGHT WING MEDIA SIGHT OR WHAT ????????

WAS THE STORY WRITTEN BUY THE SUSPECTS GRAND MOTHER OT THE ATTORNEY FOR THE FAMIALY ???? WHEN THE CHASE ENDED AN THE CAR JSUT STOPED IN A PARKING LOT LEAVES A LOT OF FACTS OUT . WHY DID THEY RUN???????????
WERE IS THE ADMISSION FROM THE COPS THAT HE SAW NOTTTHINNNNNG ?????? WERE IS THE REST OF THE STORY ?????????????????????????????/

LOTS OF SHOOTING ILL SAY THAT.

YEARS AGO A GUY WAS CHAASED INTO A LIITEL TOWN IN NORTHER CALIFORNIA WERE HE WAS OUT OF THE CAR AT A GAS STATION THE GUY HAD A GUN AN THE 7 OR 8 COPS SHOT LIKE 50 TIMES AN HIT HIM AROUND THREE TIMES AT CLOSE RANGE . SOME OF THOSE BULLET HOLES WERE 15 FEET IN THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING WERE HE WAS STANDING LOL . I SAW THOSE MY SELF .
 
#12 ·
A LITTLE MORE ON IT .


y Rachel Dissell, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer
on February 10, 2013 at 6:00 AM, updated February 10, 2013 at 9:56 AM Print


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Cleveland: Officials react to police shooting report
Enlarge Plain Dealer photography staff Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath answers questions from the media at a press conference in the mayor's office Tuesday, February 5, 2013. A report released from the attorney general's office today said there was a systematic failure by the police department in the chase and shooting of Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell. (Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer)
Cleveland police chase, shooting report revealed gallery (18 photos)

Cleveland: Officials react to police shooting reportCleveland: Officials react to police shooting reportCleveland: Attorney General Mike DeWine talks about police shooting reportCleveland: Attorney General Mike DeWine talks about police shooting reportCleveland: Attorney General Mike DeWine talks about police shooting reportCLEVELAND, Ohio -- As more than 60 cars fell in behind a 1979 Malibu for a high-speed, 25 minute chase through city streets on Nov. 29, the Cleveland police supervisor in charge of the pursuit thought only three police cars were involved.

Cleveland Sgt. Randy Dailey told investigators none of his fellow supervisors in other police districts told him they had cars that had joined in the pursuit, contrary to department policy.

And, to add to the confusion, commands were being broadcast on separate radio channels so not all officers were clear on what their orders were.

One officer critical of the chase later characterized the chaotic scene in a text message as "Cowboys and Indians. Horses Everywhere."

The role supervisors played -- or didn't play -- in how the pursuit unfolded was at the center of criticism this week by Attorney General Mike DeWine as he released an investigative report on the incident that ended in a disordered shootout among officers with about 140 shots fired.

DeWine cited a lack of supervision when he said the incident -- in which Timothy Russell, 43 and Malissa Williams, 30, were shot dead in an East Cleveland parking lot -- was evidence of a systemic failure of the department.

"Command failed, communication failed the system failed," DeWine said.

He specifically singled out Dailey saying a review of broadcasts during the chase indicated he "could not be heard coordinating or actively monitoring the pursuit."

Cleveland's policy dictates that during a pursuit, the supervisor for the officer that initiated the chase takes control. In this case that was Dailey in the Second District.



Attorney General Mike DeWine says system failed everyone in Cleveland police shooting

Attorney General Mike DeWine says system failed everyone in Cleveland police shooting
The Ohio Attorney General's office, after a two-month investigation, concluded that a systematic failure in the Cleveland police department helped lead to the fatal shooting of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams after a 25-minute pursuit.
Watch video Supervisors on duty that night told investigators that despite some confusion and communications problems, they overwhelming thought the pursuit was handed properly and followed city policies.

The Malibu had to be stopped because police believed that someone had brazenly fired shots out the window of its window, said Dailey, who monitored the chase via radio broadcasts from his Second District office, before getting into his car to try to get closer to the pursuit.

No gun was found in the suspects' car and an investigation later revealed the car had a propensity to backfire -- though investigators said they could not rule out the possibility of a gun being wielded at some point.

Dailey told DeWine's investigators that he was looking at the totality of the circumstances in his decision-making that night, although he said he didn't know how many cars had joined and acknowledged that 60 was probably too many.

"It's the gravity and the seriousness," he told investigators during a Jan. 25 interview. "I thought we owed it to the public. We have to at least stop the car and investigate what's going on."

Dailey also said no other cars asked to join the pursuit -- which city policy requires. But he said it was "an accepted viewpoint that if an officer is asking for help other officers are going to head that way."

Fraternal Order of Police President Brian Betley said Friday that supervisors made the right decisions for what he called extreme and unusual circumstances of that night.

Dailey, he said, was controlling the situation and also relying on another supervisor he trusted who was in the midst of the pursuit. Dailey kept his questions and commands to a minimum so he could listen to the officer in front relaying what was going on.

Too much talk on the radio, Betley said, can add to confusion.



Animation of Cleveland police shooting

Animation of Cleveland police shooting
This animation of the Nov. 29, 2012, Cleveland police shooting of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams was recreated, "to the extent possible," by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation of the office of the Ohio Attorney General as a tool for state investigators.
Watch video "There was nothing to make him believe 'we have to stop this now' because it is a danger to the public," Betley said. The pursuit went through 189 city intersections during its 22 miles.Dailey told investigators he had terminated at least two pursuits before Nov. 29 and that if he felt officers were getting too emotional, he would have terminated the November chase.

DeWine also said that Second District Sgt. Patricia Coleman, who Dailey said he was relying on, "did not broadcast any instructions on the radio until the pursuit had ended, informing officers to be aware that shot had been fired."

He said no officers were warned that if gunfire did occur to avoid crossfire or spontaneous shooting.

But Betley pointed out that it was Coleman who tried to get aviation assistance and ordered officers not to perform a tactical maneuver to stop the Malibu while on "Dead Man's Curve" because it was too dangerous. She also told officers to drop back from the Malibu to avoid being shot during the chase.

Coleman, who has 24-years of experience, told investigators that she and other officers acted in line with their training.

"All they had to do was stop and none of this would have happened," she said.

DeWine's report also noted that supervisors from other city districts seemed to give no commands or conflicting commands.

Lt. Cheryl Brown, a supervisor in the Fifth Police District, joined the pursuit after hearing radio broadcasts where officers were confused about their location. Brown left her desk to join the chase because it was coming towards her district.

Brown told investigators that at that point, she thought the chase should continue. Two sergeants who ranked below her had already told Fifth District officers not to take part unless there was a foot pursuit in their district.

She overruled them saying on her district's radio channel: "Yeah, but this is our patch here, so that's why we are going to see what's going on." they were going because it was entering "our patch."

Interviews with other supervisors and officers show that many orders were being broadcast on different police radio channels, so not all officers were clear on what their orders were.

During the chase commands and information were being broadcast on at least three radio channels, even though Cleveland's pursuit policy outlines that those involved should switch to that originating radio channel.

Robert Pusin, an expert in police pursuits, said it is vital that one supervisor has total control of the situation and that they are making objective decisions during a pursuit.

"Police officers who are involved in a pursuit are emotionally engaged," said Pusin, who was talking based on general experience and not specifically about the Nov. 29 incident. "They want to do anything they can to get the guys involved."

Pusin said each pursuit must reviewed and part of that should be to examine the conduct of supervisors as well as officers. Both, he said, have to he held to the policy.

"If you don't hold people accountable, you might as well not have a policy," he said.

But Betley says the policy may have to be tweaked or clarified. "One thing I'm quite certain of," he said, "there will be some fine tuning of the pursuit policy and probably the use of force policy."
 
#14 ·
HMMMM NOT BEING THERE BUT IMO IT MIGHT NOT BE A GOOD IDEA TO GET COKED UP AN RUN FROM COPS AT 100MPH IN TOWN IN A PILE OF CRAP THAT SUSPOEDLY BACK FIRES. THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF TO JUST PULL OVER . HMMMMMMM

SOUNDS LIKE MANY MISTAKES WERE MADE BY BOTH SIDES. GETTING IN A HIGH SPEED CHASE IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA
 
#15 ·
Have any of you seen the stories of the LAPD opening fire on "dark colored" pick up trucks, in case it might be Dorner? One woman shot and two vehicles perforated without warning:

Christopher Dorner manhunt: Two innocent women shot by LAPD officers had "no warning" - CBS News

Police seeking Dorner opened fire in a second case of mistaken identity - latimes.com

In the second story, the man had just left a police checkpoint when a police vehicle rammed his truck and the officers started shooting.
 
#19 ·
i hate to quote maimi vice but--"word on the street" is Ex-police officer c dorner has Obammas REAL birth certificate! the one from NIGERIA!

you remember the infamous nigerian businessman? the global can artist!

thats why the police are gunning down anybody who remotely resembles him --

the police man that took him in alive would probably end up in jail--it is DOA only on this case-
 
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