Oklahoma City Police Fatally Shoot Deaf Man Despite Yells Of 'He Can't Hear'

[Flicky]

[quote]Police in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night fatally shot a deaf man who they say was advancing toward them with a metal pipe as witnesses yelled that the man was deaf and could not hear them.

It's the fifth officer-involved shooting in the city this year, according to the Oklahoma City Police Department.

Officers were responding to a hit-and-run accident around 8:15 p.m., Capt. Bo Mathews, the police department's public information officer, told reporters Wednesday. A witness of the accident told police a vehicle involved went to a nearby address.

Lt. Matthew Lindsey arrived at the address and encountered 35-year-old Magdiel Sanchez, who was on the porch holding a 2-foot metal pipe with a leather loop in his right hand. Lindsey called for backup and Sgt. Christopher Barnes arrived.

Police ordered Sanchez to drop the weapon and get on the ground, Mathews said. Both officers had weapons drawn — Lindsey had a Taser and Barnes a gun. Sanchez came off the porch and was walking toward Barnes.

"The witnesses also were yelling that this person, Mr. Sanchez, was deaf and could not hear. The officers didn't know this at the time," Mathews said.

Both officers fired their weapons at the same time when Sanchez was about 15 feet away from them; more than one shot was fired, the police captain said.

Emergency Medical Services Authority personnel pronounced Sanchez dead at the scene.[/quote]

[url=http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/21/552527929/oklahoma-city-police-fatally-shoot-deaf-man-despite-yells-of-he-cant-hear-you]Source: NPR[/url]

[noruzenchi]

I... Was he blind, too? I'd imagine a gun pointed at you by police would coerce you to stop.

Edit: Shit situation regardless because of the fact he discharged his weapon.

[TheHydra]

according to eyewitnesses, he usually walks around with the pipe because of stray dogs that are in the area, so he probably wasn't heading over to assault the police.
also:
[quote]Some of the department's officers wear body cameras, but neither of the two police officers at the scene were wearing them at the time.[/quote]

fucking seriously?

[Provost]

[QUOTE=TheHydra;52704417]according to eyewitnesses, he usually walks around with the pipe because of stray dogs that are in the area, so he probably wasn't heading over to assault the police.
also:

fucking seriously?[/QUOTE]

Departments that haven't figured out the logistics of implementing body cameras across the board might encourage officers to go out and buy their own, but they obviously aren't going to require it.

[c:]

This is going to cause a lot of commotion in the community. My teacher keeps a sign in his car that says "I am Deaf" and holds it on the steering wheel until he's sure the officer understands because there's been instances like where a Deaf person reached for their registration and turned around to see a gun in their face. Cross-cultural communication needs to be a strong focus in police training.