http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2017-06-24-US--Officer%20Shot-St%20Louis/id-80f765424aaf415289ed559fc9226df5
>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 contends.
>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.
>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 being sought.
>When the off-duty officer who lived nearby heard the commotion and 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 hadn't disclosed the names of the officers, who have been placed on routine administrative leave as the matter is investigated. Police described the black officer as an 11-year department veteran and said he was treated at a hospital and released. The officer who shot him is 36 and has been with the department more than eight years.
>The black officer's lawyer, Rufus J. Tate Jr., discussed the shooting with St. Louis Fox affiliate KTVI, but the officer isn't named in that report. Tate did not reply to several phone messages seeking comment left Saturday by The Associated Press.
>Tate told the station that his client identified himself to the on-duty officers at the scene and complied with their commands. He questioned the white officer's account, according to police, that he shot the off-duty officer because he feared for his safety.
>"In the police report you have so far, there is no description of a threat he received. So we have a real problem with that. But this has been a national discussion for the past two years. There is this perception that a black man is automatically feared," Tate said.
>It was in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson where a white officer shot an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, three years ago, setting off months of protests, some of which were violent. The officer, who later left the force, wasn't charged, which further strained relations between the area's black community and the police.
>But there have been several notable instances over the years in which an officer mistakenly shot a colleague.
>In 2009, 25-year-old New York City police Officer Omar J. Edwards, who was black, was shot and killed by a white officer on a Harlem street while in street clothes. He had just finished his shift, and had his service weapon out, chasing a man who had broken into his car, police said.
>Three plainclothes officers on routine patrol arrived at the scene and yelled for the two to stop, police said. One officer, Andrew Dunton, opened fire and hit Edwards three times as he turned toward them with his service weapon. It wasn't until medical workers were on scene that it was determined he was a police officer. A grand jury voted not to indict Dunton.
>A year earlier in the suburb of White Plains, New York, a black off-duty Mount Vernon police officer was killed by a Westchester County policeman while holding an assault suspect at gunpoint.
And in Providence, Rhode Island, an off-duty black police sergeant, Cornel Young Jr., was accidentally killed by two uniformed white colleagues in 2000 while he was trying to break up a fight on a parking lot. Young — at the time the son of the department's highest-ranking black officer — was dressed in baggy jeans, an overcoat and a baseball cap, and he was carrying a gun.
>A jury later rejected a $20 million federal lawsuit by Young's mother against the city and its police force, who she claimed didn't properly train officers about how to identify their off-duty and plainclothes counterparts.
>Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics show such accidental police-on-police shootings occur at a low rate given the tense, confusing circumstances officers routinely face. In 2013, according to online FBI figures, only two officers were killed when mistakenly shot as a result of crossfire, mistaken for a subject, or involved in other firearm mishaps. The FBI statistics don't specify the race of the officers killed.
>>151865
>Black suspects
>Middle of shootout
>Off duty black guy in civilian clothes runs over to help with his gun
Yeah no shit he got shot
>>151868
Police do this kind of shit in civilian clothes all the time, it's incredibly dangerous, confusing and it makes them look like fucking retards but it isn't unheard of.
Another huge problem is the
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_wall_of_silence
Every cop fucking jerks every other cop off and covers for them.
These cops know each other intimately enough to jerk each other off in court but they can't tell the difference between a civilian and a 38 year old man that they've been working with for years?
>>151872
>Middle of shootout
>Not wearing uniform
>Probably early morning or night
>Shooting
>Confusion
>Not all cops know eachother
>>151873
38 year old don't just suddenly decide to be police officers, there's literally no way everyone there didn't know this fucking guy.
>>151874
Idk if you've ever worked in a police precinct, or ever been in a shootout before. Accidents happen and the saftey profiling made sense in the situation
>>151876
I've never worked in a precinct, tell me how not knowing who the fuck you're working with is beneficial to the job of a police officer?
If I go out with on a shooting and have no idea who anyone is and just shoot based on who I think 'looks like a bad guy' am I being effective at my job?
>>151880
If you're being shot at, especially in a dangerous area/time of day you're not thinking straight. If a dude not wearing a uniform raced up towards you, or even caught the corner of your eye, who had a gun and you're not trained/comfortable in that situation it's a common fear reaction to get shoot out of confusion
You have to remember too that these people arent always super great in the heat of it - even professional soldier accidentally shoot their own guys in firefights
Point being, it's super easy to point fingers and call people incompetent. I think calling them racist is pushing it too far, although you can make the case that he met the profile of their suspects
>>151883
Most cops are racist, this is a fact of life. You can not be a cop and be ignorant and not think of the races of suspects.I'm not saying that's a bad thing, they need to be to do their job.
I'm saying the black police officer is an idiot but the white cop fucked up because there's no way he couldn't tell the difference between his black, 38 subordinate and most likely 18-25 year old black suspects.
If you're black and getting into firefights you're not living into your late 30s, yeah it's confusing and scary to be shot at but you need to keep a clear head or you can't do your fucking job.
Friendly fire in military situations is investigated and punished depending on the situation, if you shoot the muslim in your platoon you don't get a free pass because he 'looked like a bad guy'.
didn't this exact scenario happen in the wire lol
>>151868
the problem is that it's considered normal and expected for police officer to display this level of incompetency.
>>151888
"Most cops are racist, this is a fact of life"
Yeah that's where I get off this train
>idiotic oversimplification by someone who doesn't know shit, no surprise
>>151866
>There is this perception that a black man is automatically feared," Tate said.
Hmm, maybe it's because the 6.5% of the population who are Black males commit 50% of the murders in country?
>It was in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson where a white officer shot an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown
Yeah, the 6'4" 250lb "teenager" who was ATTACKING the cop....
>>151925
ALL humans are “racist” and those who claim otherwise, are either lying or retarded.
"There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life,
than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking
about robbery - then look around and see somebody white and
feel relieved."
-- Jesse Jackson --
>>151935
>Blacks more likely to kill cops
Yeah, makes sense
>>151935
>Quoting Jesse Jackson
Kys