This is not meant to be a police bashing thread-- there are many fine men and women in uniform-- but the lack of judgement displayed here (by the deceased and the police) is frightening. This does put holes in the theory that we should all give up our right to arms and call 911 instead.
There are several stories written on this, but here is one: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42639-2000Oct30.html
A Party, a Death and New Anger at the LAPD
By Rene Sanchez and William Booth
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, October 31, 2000; Page A03
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 30 –– Anthony Dwain Lee came to a Halloween costume party at a hillside mansion here this past weekend dressed as a devil and carrying a toy pistol, a mocking gesture to the rough gang life that he had left behind decades ago to build a successful career as a stage, television and film actor.
A few hours later, in a strange and tragic incident that has left the Los Angeles Police Department once more defending its aggressive conduct, Lee was dead. He was shot several times by an officer who had come to the party to investigate a complaint about noise and apparently mistook Lee as a gun-toting threat.
Police say a three-year veteran of the force fired at Lee through a window of the crowded mansion in the city's posh Benedict Canyon neighborhood early Saturday morning after the 39-year-old actor pointed a gun at him. But partygoers, residents nearby and community groups that monitor the LAPD are asking how such a minor report of raucousness at an upscale party could have escalated into deadly violence.
"It is a typical LAPD response, which is to be too quick to draw a firearm," said Carol Watson, a civil rights lawyer and board member of Police Watch, a local law enforcement watchdog group. "I can't imagine how the department is going to deal with this. It was an outrageous shooting."
The LAPD already is engulfed in trouble. Four of its officers are on trial for allegedly framing innocent people, and dozens more are being investigated for rogue conduct in what has come to be known here as the Rampart scandal. Since it came to light last year, nearly 100 criminal convictions have been overturned.
Last year, LAPD officers also were criticized for fatally shooting a disruptive homeless woman wielding a screwdriver. To avoid a federal civil rights lawsuit, the police department last month reluctantly agreed to allow the Justice Department to oversee its latest attempts at reforming the beleaguered force.
Police officials are calling Lee's death unfortunate, but justified. In a statement released Sunday, the department said that around 1 a.m. Saturday, two patrol officers responded to a report of a loud party in the wealthy Benedict Canyon neighborhood, a haven for entertainment industry figures.
Upon arrival, the officers sought out the owner of the mansion and were told by several costumed partygoers to go to the rear of the residence, according to the department's account. To get there, they began walking along a paved path beside the mansion. On the way, one of the officers, Tarriel Hopper, 27, looked through a glass door and saw three people in a small room, police said.
"When one of the individuals observed the officers, he suddenly produced what appeared to be a handgun and pointed it directly at Officer Hopper," the police statement said. Hopper opened fire. Lee was struck several times and collapsed. A nurse attending the party tried to revive him. But paramedics called to the scene soon pronounced him dead. Police said Lee's gun was a dark "replica semi-automatic pistol."
Erik Quisling, an author and filmmaker, was in the room when Lee was shot. "It was a bedroom on the first floor, in the back of the house, facing the back yard." Quisling recalls that four or five party-goers were in the room, all of them in costumes, enjoying the music and conversation. "Then I heard firecrackers. Like pop, pop, pop. Someone said, 'Oh, my God, they're shooting at us,' and I looked and saw holes in the glass. And instinctively, I sniffed the air and smelled gun smoke."
Quisling turned, "and I looked on the floor, and there was this guy, laying in this unnatural position, slumped by the bed, and dead still."
Quisling said that he did not see police officers outside in the yard, nor did they announce their presence. The police, he said, shot from a darkened yard into a lit room.
"There was no warning," Quisling said. "Nothing like that."
According to Quisling, his friend, Steve Sims, a nurse, was blocked from entering the room by one of the two officers. The police eventually relented and Sims went to Lee's aid, but according to Quisling, the police did not allow Sims to perform CPR efforts on Lee. Sims has told police and reporters that he saw a toy gun next to Lee's body.
Quisling described the police behavior as outrageous and reckless. Other party-goers said the police fired five shots into the room, and that there were five bullet holes in the window and five holes in the wall. "Other people could have been killed," Quisling said.
Quisling also said that, as one of only a few eyewitnesses in the room, he was interviewed by Hopper's partner after the shooting, but has not been contacted since by the LAPD or by investigators with the city's district attorney. "Now, don't you think that is strange?" he asked.
Quisling and other guests and neighbors stressed that the Benedict Canyon party was not out of control, but "a highly organized affair." There were hired bartenders, a disc jockey, security guards and shuttle drivers. The hosts had taken pains to alert neighbors to the party, inviting several and promising to keep the noise down.
Connie Rice, a civil rights attorney who has represented both police officers and civilians charging abuse at the hands of the LAPD, said that the police commission and federal overseers of the LAPD must reexamine how officers are trained.
Rice said she is disappointed that the first response by the LAPD command is to suggest that the shooting, while tragic, appeared justified. "What are they teaching these recruits at the academy? Where is the common sense? This was a nuisance call. This was in Benedict Canyon. And finally, this was the night of all the Halloween parties. People in costumes, people with fake swords and guns? Halloween? Helllllo. When is LAPD going to learn?"
Lee was remembered by his friends as a gentle man, a practicing Buddhist whose acting career was beginning to flourish. He had roles in the movies "Buffalo Soldiers" and "Liar, Liar," and had recently taped several guest appearances on the television hit show "E.R." that have not yet run.
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This is a tragedy not just for this man and his family, but for all of the honest, hard working and competent men and women of the LAPD who will undeservedly feel the backlash.
I am curious to here from the LEOs on this board-- how would you have handled this situation? I'm really disturbed by the fact they would not let a nurse in the room to perform CPR. IMO, it seems the fact that this was at a Halloween party in an upscale neighborhood would tend to argue against shoot first, ask questions later approach.
There are several stories written on this, but here is one: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42639-2000Oct30.html
A Party, a Death and New Anger at the LAPD
By Rene Sanchez and William Booth
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, October 31, 2000; Page A03
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 30 –– Anthony Dwain Lee came to a Halloween costume party at a hillside mansion here this past weekend dressed as a devil and carrying a toy pistol, a mocking gesture to the rough gang life that he had left behind decades ago to build a successful career as a stage, television and film actor.
A few hours later, in a strange and tragic incident that has left the Los Angeles Police Department once more defending its aggressive conduct, Lee was dead. He was shot several times by an officer who had come to the party to investigate a complaint about noise and apparently mistook Lee as a gun-toting threat.
Police say a three-year veteran of the force fired at Lee through a window of the crowded mansion in the city's posh Benedict Canyon neighborhood early Saturday morning after the 39-year-old actor pointed a gun at him. But partygoers, residents nearby and community groups that monitor the LAPD are asking how such a minor report of raucousness at an upscale party could have escalated into deadly violence.
"It is a typical LAPD response, which is to be too quick to draw a firearm," said Carol Watson, a civil rights lawyer and board member of Police Watch, a local law enforcement watchdog group. "I can't imagine how the department is going to deal with this. It was an outrageous shooting."
The LAPD already is engulfed in trouble. Four of its officers are on trial for allegedly framing innocent people, and dozens more are being investigated for rogue conduct in what has come to be known here as the Rampart scandal. Since it came to light last year, nearly 100 criminal convictions have been overturned.
Last year, LAPD officers also were criticized for fatally shooting a disruptive homeless woman wielding a screwdriver. To avoid a federal civil rights lawsuit, the police department last month reluctantly agreed to allow the Justice Department to oversee its latest attempts at reforming the beleaguered force.
Police officials are calling Lee's death unfortunate, but justified. In a statement released Sunday, the department said that around 1 a.m. Saturday, two patrol officers responded to a report of a loud party in the wealthy Benedict Canyon neighborhood, a haven for entertainment industry figures.
Upon arrival, the officers sought out the owner of the mansion and were told by several costumed partygoers to go to the rear of the residence, according to the department's account. To get there, they began walking along a paved path beside the mansion. On the way, one of the officers, Tarriel Hopper, 27, looked through a glass door and saw three people in a small room, police said.
"When one of the individuals observed the officers, he suddenly produced what appeared to be a handgun and pointed it directly at Officer Hopper," the police statement said. Hopper opened fire. Lee was struck several times and collapsed. A nurse attending the party tried to revive him. But paramedics called to the scene soon pronounced him dead. Police said Lee's gun was a dark "replica semi-automatic pistol."
Erik Quisling, an author and filmmaker, was in the room when Lee was shot. "It was a bedroom on the first floor, in the back of the house, facing the back yard." Quisling recalls that four or five party-goers were in the room, all of them in costumes, enjoying the music and conversation. "Then I heard firecrackers. Like pop, pop, pop. Someone said, 'Oh, my God, they're shooting at us,' and I looked and saw holes in the glass. And instinctively, I sniffed the air and smelled gun smoke."
Quisling turned, "and I looked on the floor, and there was this guy, laying in this unnatural position, slumped by the bed, and dead still."
Quisling said that he did not see police officers outside in the yard, nor did they announce their presence. The police, he said, shot from a darkened yard into a lit room.
"There was no warning," Quisling said. "Nothing like that."
According to Quisling, his friend, Steve Sims, a nurse, was blocked from entering the room by one of the two officers. The police eventually relented and Sims went to Lee's aid, but according to Quisling, the police did not allow Sims to perform CPR efforts on Lee. Sims has told police and reporters that he saw a toy gun next to Lee's body.
Quisling described the police behavior as outrageous and reckless. Other party-goers said the police fired five shots into the room, and that there were five bullet holes in the window and five holes in the wall. "Other people could have been killed," Quisling said.
Quisling also said that, as one of only a few eyewitnesses in the room, he was interviewed by Hopper's partner after the shooting, but has not been contacted since by the LAPD or by investigators with the city's district attorney. "Now, don't you think that is strange?" he asked.
Quisling and other guests and neighbors stressed that the Benedict Canyon party was not out of control, but "a highly organized affair." There were hired bartenders, a disc jockey, security guards and shuttle drivers. The hosts had taken pains to alert neighbors to the party, inviting several and promising to keep the noise down.
Connie Rice, a civil rights attorney who has represented both police officers and civilians charging abuse at the hands of the LAPD, said that the police commission and federal overseers of the LAPD must reexamine how officers are trained.
Rice said she is disappointed that the first response by the LAPD command is to suggest that the shooting, while tragic, appeared justified. "What are they teaching these recruits at the academy? Where is the common sense? This was a nuisance call. This was in Benedict Canyon. And finally, this was the night of all the Halloween parties. People in costumes, people with fake swords and guns? Halloween? Helllllo. When is LAPD going to learn?"
Lee was remembered by his friends as a gentle man, a practicing Buddhist whose acting career was beginning to flourish. He had roles in the movies "Buffalo Soldiers" and "Liar, Liar," and had recently taped several guest appearances on the television hit show "E.R." that have not yet run.
********************************************
This is a tragedy not just for this man and his family, but for all of the honest, hard working and competent men and women of the LAPD who will undeservedly feel the backlash.
I am curious to here from the LEOs on this board-- how would you have handled this situation? I'm really disturbed by the fact they would not let a nurse in the room to perform CPR. IMO, it seems the fact that this was at a Halloween party in an upscale neighborhood would tend to argue against shoot first, ask questions later approach.