Atlanta
cop kills 911 caller
By Dianne Mathiowetz
Atlanta — Kevin Davis’ family
and friends are in disbelief and sorrow.
How could police have shot and
killed Davis, a hardworking, 44-year-old beloved brother and uncle, a “good
guy,” after he called 911 for help?
On the night of Dec. 29, Davis’
girlfriend, April Edwards, was involved in an altercation with Terrance
Hilyard, a co-worker whom Davis had befriended and who was staying at his
apartment temporarily.
The argument escalated.
According to Edwards, Hilyard stabbed her in the arm with a kitchen knife and
fled. While Davis was rendering first aid to Edwards, he called 911.
DeKalb County police officer
Joseph Pitts came in through the apartment’s front door, unannounced, and shot
and killed Davis’ three-legged dog Tooter, who had started barking.
Edwards says that Davis,
hearing gunshots in his living room, feared that Hilyard had returned, armed.
He retrieved his gun from his bedroom. As he came out of the doorway, he was
immediately shot several times by Pitts.
Edwards came running out of the
bedroom, screaming, “What have you done? Why did you shoot him?” She and other
witnesses say Pitts never identified himself as a police officer or ordered
Davis to drop his gun before shooting him.
As Davis lay bleeding on the
floor, he was arrested, handcuffed and charged with aggravated assault on an
officer. The popular restaurant worker was taken to Grady Hospital in police
custody, which meant his family was not allowed to be with him in his hospital
room. Family members beseeched everyone in authority, from police to doctors,
to let them visit him — to no avail.
Davis died two days later, on
Dec. 31. Only then did police coldly grant them permission to see their family
member.
One month has passed since Kevin
Davis was killed by a DeKalb County police officer. Despite repeated requests
for information about an investigation into this officer-involved shooting,
there has been only silence. Since it is common practice to involve the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation in such police killings, the community suspects a
cover-up in this case.
At an emotional rally at the
DeKalb Courthouse steps on the one-month anniversary of his shooting, Delisa
Davis, one of his sisters, spoke of the unfeeling attitude of the police,
saying her family and Kevin were “dismissed like yesterday’s garbage.” She
appealed to the community to help, saying they can’t fight this alone.
The large group walked a few
blocks from the courthouse to the downtown Decatur sandwich shop where Davis’
friendly and personable manner had made him a favorite with customers and
co-workers alike. Next door is a bike shop where he fixed up discarded bicycles
to give to neighborhood kids.
The family is asking that
people request a GBI investigation into Kevin Davis’s death by calling the
DeKalb County Police Department at 678-406-7929 and the DeKalb County District
Attorney’s office at 404-371-2561.
Never,
Never Call the Cops For "Help" Unless You're Willing to Risk Someone
Being Shot and Killed
74-year-old North Carolina Man
Shot and Killed by Cops as They Bust Through His Back Door on a "Welfare
Check"
Brian Doherty|
The police say that 74-year-old
James Howard Allen had drawn a gun on him after they busted into his house near
midnight on Saturday, so they had to shoot and kill him.
WSOC
The grim lead-up details from
Raw Story:
Gastonia police Chief Robert
Helton explained at a press conference on Sunday that a family member had asked
officers to check on James Howard Allen on Saturday afternoon, The Charlotte
Observer reported.
Helton said that Allen’s family
had asked for the welfare check because the 74-year-old veteran had recently
undergone surgery.
An officer first visited
Allen’s home at 10:20 p.m. on Saturday, but there was no answer.
Gastonia police then contacted
the Gastonia Fire Department and Gaston Emergency Medical Services at 11:30
p.m. and a “decision was made to enter the house, concerned that he may be
inside in need of emergency assistance,” Helton said.
According to the chief,
Gastonia police Officer Josh Lefevers announced himself before coming through
the backdoor of the home, but Allen was pointing a gun at officers when they
entered...
“(He) probably woke up,
someone’s breaking in on me, so when you’re by yourself you try to protect
yourself,” Allen’s brother-in-law, Robert Battle, told WSOC.
Otis Thompson, a friend of
Allen’s, said that his first reaction would have been to “grab a gun too.”
“You kicked the man’s door in,”
Thompson remarked. “He’s disoriented and he’s in his own house, privacy of his
own home.”...
Helton told reporters that the
N.C. State Bureau of Investigation had been asked to investigate the shooting.
The Gastonia Police Department followed its standard procedure for officer
involved shootings and placed Lefevers on administrative leave.
Another such story of calling
the cops on your relatives gone awry. The chances of things going awry, from
misunderstanding or even, sometimes, from the citizen just maybe doing
something they shouldn't do, but which wouldn't have been a problem had
amped-up armed men vitally concerned with their own safety not been on the
scene, is so high that it is rarely worth any imagined upside. If you think
your relative needs a welfare check, ride over yourself.
