Black St Louis police officer shot by white colleague ‘fearing for his safety’ | The Guardian |
An off-duty black St Louis police officer’s race factored into him being mistakenly shot by a white officer who didn’t recognize him during a shootout with black suspects this week, the wounded officer’s lawyer said on Saturday.
The 38-year-old black officer was off duty when he heard a commotion near his home and ran toward it with his service weapon to try to help his fellow officers, police said.
At Barnes-Jewish Hospital early Thursday, Interim Police Chief Lawrence O’Toole told reporters the off-duty officer had come out of his home to help after the stolen car crashed nearby, and was hit in the crossfire between officers and suspects who had been in the car. But police now say the off-duty officer …
St Louis’ interim police chief, Lawrence O’Toole, said the incident began when officers with an anti-crime task force followed a stolen car and were twice fired upon by its occupants. One suspect was shot in an ankle and was arrested, along with another teenager who tried to run from police, O’Toole said. A third suspect is still being sought.
When the off-duty officer arrived at the scene to help, two on-duty officers ordered him to the ground but then recognized him and told him to stand up and walk toward them. As he was doing so, another officer arrived and shot the off-duty officer, “apparently not recognizing” him, police said.
The police department as of Saturday had not disclosed the names of the officers, who have been placed on routine administrative leave as the matter is investigated.
Seven officers involved in the incident were placed on administrative leave, as is department policy after a shooting. The department’s Force Investigative Unit is looking into the incident.
○ Black and in blue: A Ferguson police sergeant reflects on a tough time | St. Louis Today |
The blue overseer, Mike Brown and black oppression in Ferguson, Missouri
The nation and world has been focused on the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, over the killing of unarmed black teen Mike Brown and the police response. Protests turned violent as an over-militarized police force descended [one year later] on the black community. Media outlets have shown residents being tear gassed, shot with rubber bullets, pepper bullets and assaulted with flash-bang grenades. These shocking images seem out of place in America, especially under the nation’s first black president.
The criminalizing of black skin from the days of Jim Crow to today’s post-racial society has never ended but has continued. Even President Barack Obama has been labeled a criminal by many in the white political power structure with racist white Americans agreeing and perpetuating this stereotype. Black people from all socioeconomic groups can’t seem to escape this truth.
○ American policing is broken, here’s how to fix it
