- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Crowds of Children Look on as Florida Cop Kills Homeless Black Man

© Flickr / viajorCrowds of Children Look on as Florida Cop Kills Homeless Black Man
Crowds of Children Look on as Florida Cop Kills Homeless Black Man - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Dozens of children attending a YMCA summer camp on Thursday were tragic witnesses to the fatal police shooting of a homeless black man.

The Miami Police were called to Gibson Park to investigate a “violent disturbance” involving a man carrying around a metal pipe.  When Antonio Torres, a 20-year police veteran, and the rookie he was training arrived at the scene, they ordered Fritz Severe, a 46-year-old homeless man, to drop the pipe.

Miami Cops Sent 100s of Racist, Pornographic Emails, Including Some About Obama - Sputnik International
Miami Cops Sent 100s of Racist, Pornographic Emails, Including About Obama

Witnesses claim that Severe did not swing the pipe at officers, but used it to point at them.  At this point Torres opened fire on Severe, shooting him five times in front of as many as 60 witnesses, most of whom were children.

“The officer confronted the subject and discharged his weapon,” Miami Police Chief Rodolfo Llanes told reporters. “There was more than one shot.”

Severe was transported to a local hospital for treatment, but later died of his injuries.

Witnesses have already begun to speak out, suggesting that what they saw may have been excessive force by the officer.

Using top-of-the-line software algorithms, Miami is hoping to stop crime by predicting it before it happens. - Sputnik International
Miami Police Want to Use Technology to Predict Crime

“[The officer] stopped the man, the man had the metal stick, pointed at him, the next thing you know the man shot him,” neighbor Stephanie Severance told the local CBS affiliate.

"The man had a stick in his hand. They could have tasered him. He was a homeless guy who's there every morning," Nichelle Miller, another witness to the shooting, told the station.

The union representing rank-and-file Miami police officers is already standing behind Torres.

“The FOP is confident that when the independent investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is complete, it will find that our officer involved acted within the law,” Javier Ortiz, president of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police, said in a statement.

The department has placed Torres on administrative leave pending an investigation.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала