Witnesses yell 'he can't hear you' as cop shoots deaf man

[gaymer77]

The Source

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma City police officers who opened fire on a man in front of his home as he approached them holding a metal pipe didn't hear witnesses yelling that he was deaf, a department official said Wednesday.

Magdiel Sanchez, 35, wasn't obeying the officers' commands before one shot him with a gun and the other with a Taser on Tuesday night, police Capt. Bo Mathews said at a news conference. He said witnesses were yelling "he can't hear you" before the officers fired, but they didn't hear them.

"In those situations, very volatile situations, you have a weapon out, you can get what they call tunnel vision, or you can really lock in to just the person that has the weapon that'd be the threat against you," Mathews said. "I don't know exactly what the officers were thinking at that point."

Sanchez, who had no apparent criminal history, died at the scene. The officer who fired the gun, Sgt. Chris Barnes, has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

Mathews said the officers were investigating a reported hit-and-run at around 8:15 p.m. Tuesday. He said a witness told Lt. Matthew Lindsey the address where the vehicle responsible for the hit-and-run had gone, and that Sanchez was on the porch when Lindsey arrived.

He said Sanchez was holding a metal pipe that was approximately two feet (0.6 meters) long and that had a leather loop on one end for wrapping around one's wrist. Lindsey called for backup and Barnes arrived, at which point Sanchez left the porch and began to approach the officers, Mathews said.

Witnesses could hear the officers giving Sanchez commands, but the officers didn't hear the witnesses yelling that Sanchez couldn't hear them, Mathews said. When he was about 15 feet (4.5 meters) away from the officers, they opened fire — Lindsey with his Taser and Barnes with his gun, apparently simultaneously, Mathews said.

He said he didn't know how many shots were fired, but that it was more than one.

When asked why Barnes used a gun instead of a Taser, Mathews said he didn't know. He said it's possible Barnes wasn't equipped with a Taser. Neither officer had a body camera.

Sanchez's father, who was driving the hit-and-run vehicle, confirmed after the shooting that his son was deaf, Mathews said. He said Sanchez wasn't in the vehicle when his father struck something and drove off. It wasn't a person that he struck.

A man who saw Oklahoma City police officers open fire on Sanchez says his neighbor was developmentally disabled and also didn't speak.

Neighbor Julio Rayos told The Oklahoman on Wednesday that in addition to being deaf, Sanchez was developmentally disabled and didn't speak, communicating mainly through hand movements. Rayos said he believes Sanchez became frustrated trying to tell the officers what was going on.

"The guy does movements," Rayos told the newspaper. "He don't speak, he don't hear, mainly it is hand movements. That's how he communicates. I believe he was frustrated trying to tell them what was going on."

Jolie Guebara, who lives two houses from the shooting scene, told The Associated Press that she heard five or six gunshots before she looked outside and saw the police.

"He always had a stick that he would walk around with, because there's a lot of stray dogs," Guebara said.

Guebara said Sanchez, whose name she didn't know, wrote notes to communicate with her and her husband when he would occasionally stop and visit if they were outside.

Police initially said Sanchez was carrying a stick, but Mathews described it Wednesday as a metal pipe.

Sanchez's death is the latest in a string of controversial killings by Oklahoma police in recent years. In 2015, a white Tulsa County reserve deputy fatally shot an unarmed black man who was on the ground being subdued. He said he meant to shoot the suspect with a stun gun but mistakenly used his firearm instead. He was sentenced to four years in prison.

In May, a white former Tulsa police officer, Betty Shelby, was acquitted in the 2016 killing of Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man who had his hands up when she fired. Much like in the Sanchez killing, another officer almost simultaneously fired a Taser at Crutcher when Shelby fired her gun. Unlike Sanchez's killing, both Tulsa killings were captured on video.

So yet ANOTHER officer involved shooting where they kill someone with no criminal background, who posed no immediate threat to them, and wasn't even a suspect in anything. Instead of tazering him, they opened fire and killed him. All because he couldn't hear them even though people were screaming at the officers that the man was deaf...

[Mormolyce]

They couldn't hear them over the sound of them shooting the deaf guy dead. Simple misunderstanding.

[PosPosPos]

Just waiting for the alt-righters to come into this thread and tell us how their beloved violent cops are right to murder innocent citizens who don't obey their every command.

And that said innocent citizens should just roll over and die should they not have psychic powers to read the minds of said violent cops if they are deaf or developmentally disabled.

[Daethz]

Was he approaching the cop with the metal rod while the cop was visibly pointing a gun at him?
If so the cop did nothing wrong.

International Global, Universally known approaching a law enforcement officer with anything that looks like a weapon will get you killed.

[rogoth]

This is the reason we really need body cams on all cops. This one's going to be trouble for those cops.

or better yet, GET RID OF FUCKING FIREARMS and only have them used by specially trained units that need to be authorised by a senior officer, this never happens in the UK, and is why so many people never want to go to the US, it's not the sort of thing that instils confidence in outsiders when you hear that the people who are meant to protect and serve are the ones killing innocents all because they are poorly trained and can't think for 5 seconds in front of their face.

- - - Updated - - -

Was he approaching the cop with the metal rod while the cop was visibly pointing a gun at him?
If so the cop did nothing wrong.

only in America is it known approaching a law enforcement officer with anything that looks like a weapon will get you killed.

fixed it for ya.

also, not heeding the call of those around warning that he couldn't communicate in a standard fashion was unprofessional and downright negligent, he should be suspended and charged with manslaughter at the very least.

[Independent voter]

When I was in grade school the police brought in this "shoot, don't shoot" system to show us kids. You stand in front of this screen with a fake gun and they play a video of a scenario where you have to decide to shoot or don't shoot. The machine will tell you if you're shot or if you shoot the person in the video.

I remember one scenario where you get a call that there's a man with a gun at a train yard. You arrive and this guy is walking toward you, you yell at him to stop but he doesn't he gets closer and closer. He reaches into his shirt. I shot him.

Turns out he pulls out this card that says "I am deaf and mute" so I shot a handicapped person.

[Deleted]

This is the reason we really need body cams on all cops. This one's going to be trouble for those cops.

Not really. We've seen a lot worse cases where cops with cams kill innocent people that pose no threat, the worst that has happened is unpaid vacation for those cops.

- - - Updated - - -

Was he approaching the cop with the metal rod while the cop was visibly pointing a gun at him?
If so the cop did nothing wrong.

International Global, Universally known approaching a law enforcement officer with anything that looks like a weapon will get you killed.

He was mentally challenged. But then again as history has shown in the eyes of the far right, mentally challenged people don't really have a place in the world anyway amirite?

[Daethz]

Not really. We've seen a lot worse cases where cops with cams kill innocent people that pose no threat, the worst that has happened is unpaid vacation for those cops.

- - - Updated - - -



He was mentally challenged. But then again as history has shown in the eyes of the far right, mentally challenged people don't really have a place in the world anyway amirite?

Not when they are going to murder a police officer, no, they deserve to be shot to death equally.
Mental illness does not give you an excuse to murder people or run at a cop with a weapon.

[vindicatorx]

This is the reason we really need body cams on all cops. This one's going to be trouble for those cops.

I doubt they get in trouble at all. They did their part by the book. How were they supposed to know he is deaf or has no criminal background? I'd sure like to know where mind reader cops are stationed.

[gaymer77]

also, not heeding the call of those around warning that he couldn't communicate in a standard fashion was unprofessional and downright negligent, he should be suspended and charged with manslaughter at the very least.

It wasn't 1 cop, it was 2 cops that shot at him.

Was he approaching the cop with the metal rod while the cop was visibly pointing a gun at him?
If so the cop did nothing wrong.

International Global, Universally known approaching a law enforcement officer with anything that looks like a weapon will get you killed.

The man was sitting on his front porch when the officers arrived and he had the pipe in his hand when they arrived. They drew guns on him. The people were screaming he can't hear them. The man (probably confused as to wtf was going on) approaches the cops. One cop shoots him with a gun and the other cop tazes him. The tazer should have been sufficient to take him down. Actually had they listened to the people telling them he can't hear, the guy would be alive now. Instead they killed an innocent man.

[Deleted]

Not when they are going to murder a police officer, no, they deserve to be shot to death equally.
Mental illness does not give you an excuse to murder people or run at a cop with a weapon.

Walking with a stick = Running at a person with the clear intent of murder

I hope there are no cops around when I play stick fight with my kids in the backyard.

[Al Gorefiend]

Sounds like he didn't just grab a nearby pipe for self defense.
Thing has a handle and strap.

Possibly a baton of some kind? Could be a reporter mistake to refer to it as a pipe. Batons are illegal in many places for a reason, designed to be very deadly in angry hands

[vindicatorx]

Just waiting for the alt-righters to come into this thread and tell us how their beloved violent cops are right to murder innocent citizens who don't obey their every command.

I mean it's the use off force guidelines by the book. The guy an object that can be used as a weapon. They gave verbal commands, how are they supposed to know he is deaf? I mean sure it sucks the guy got shot but as long as police guidelines use the same usage of force guidelines shit like this will continue to happen.

And that said innocent citizens should just roll over and die should they not have psychic powers to read the minds of said violent cops if they are deaf or developmentally disabled.

Now, you are just showing your ignorance by making a comment like that.

[rogoth]

It wasn't 1 cop, it was 2 cops that shot at him.

only one used lethal force, the other one had more sense and used a suppressing force, why the first officer didn't do such is up for the investigators to decide.

[Bathory]

Just put cams on officers already. I don't see why people aren't pushing for this unanimously. If the guy WAS approaching the cops, the cops would have evidence. If he wasn't, then those cops need to face the consequences. Frustrating.

[Daethz]

Walking with a stick = Running at a person with the clear intent of murder

I hope there are no cops around when I play stick fight with my kids in the backyard.

If your running at a cop with his gun clearly drawn, yes, it is clear intent to attack and he is within his rights to fill you with lead.

[Deleted]

If your running at a cop with his gun clearly drawn, yes, it is clear intent to attack and he is within his rights to fill you with lead.

You're still confusing the act of running with an object raised for attack and slowly walking with an object hanging by your side. By your definition a cop would be within his rights to fill me with lead if I walked towards him with my car keys in hand.

I have always been curious how people like you would react if a family member of yours was shot while lying on the ground because a cop felt threatened. Would you still defend their right to murder anyone they found dangerous.

[Daethz]

You're still confusing the act of running with an object raised for attack and slowly walking with an object hanging by your side. By your definition a cop would be within his rights to fill me with lead if I walked towards him with my car keys in hand.

I have always been curious how people like you would react if a family member of yours was shot while lying on the ground because a cop felt threatened. Would you still defend their right to murder anyone they found dangerous.

Laying on the ground? is murder unless the cop sees a gun.
Also I actually do support body cams, that way everything can be verified.

[Deleted]

Maybe the officer thought the man was making gang signs with his hands?

[Deleted]

Laying on the ground? is murder unless the cop sees a gun.
Also I actually do support body cams, that way everything can be verified.

So you dont defend the cop in this case at least? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...th-arms-in-air

Then there's hope I guess. To bad no action was taken against that cop though (as usual).