Police shoot and kill man in Farrell

FARRELL, PA.

State police are continuing to investigate the Thanksgiving Day altercation that ended in police shooting and killing a man.

Two Southwest Regional Police officers went to a home on Dream Boulevard around 3:15 p.m. because of a domestic dispute, Southwest Police Chief Riley Smoot confirmed Friday.

But Smoot said he cannot discuss what may have happened that resulted in the death of Donteau Napier, 27. He also said he will not name the officers involved, adding that by early next week, he expects the department to make a statement. They’re both on administrative leave pending the results of an investigation.

State Police in Mercer are handling the investigation. They also said there will be no more information until Monday.

Smoot said that it is his department’s policy to ask state police to investigate such circumstances.

“We turned it over to them immediately,” he said.

He said that after the shooting, more Southwest officers along with Sharon police responded.

Napier was pronounced dead at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown. The Mercer County District Attorney’s Office also is investigating the shooting.

Napier had been involved in several thefts in the past few years and was sentenced to prison in 2009 for terroristic threats, simple assault and retail theft. Napier was formerly of Youngstown.

SBI probing use of stun gun on Halifax County man who died

SCOTLAND NECK, N.C. — The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of a Halifax County man who died after a Scotland Neck police officer shocked him with a stun gun, while his family mulls filing a lawsuit.

Roger Anthony, 61, died Tuesday, one day after an officer used a stun gun on him while he was riding a bicycle. The state Office of the Medical Examiner hasn't yet determined a cause of death.

Officers were responding to a 911 call Monday night about a man who had fallen off his bicycle in the parking lot of BB&T Bank. The caller told dispatchers that the man appeared drunk and that it looked like he had hurt himself.

Officers said they repeatedly told Anthony to get off his bike, but when he didn't respond, they shocked him. Family members say Anthony had hearing problems and suffered from seizures.

Now they're considering whether to file a lawsuit against the town.

"What did they tase him for? It's hurting me. It's really hurting me," said Anthony's brother, Michael.

Scotland Neck Mayor James Mills said Wednesday that he wouldn't blame the family for suing.

"There has been no information that this man was a threat to anybody," he said. "If I was a family member, I'm sure I'd be thinking the same way."

Mills said he has tried to get information from the police department about what happened to Anthony, but they have turned him away.

Police Chief Joe Williams says the officer is on administrative leave while the SBI conducts its investigation. He declined to comment further.

Anthony's family said they hope the case is resolved soon.

"I'm sad. I lost an uncle," Anthony's niece, Porsha Anthony, said. "Hopefully it will be (rectified) so that not another family in Scotland Neck has to go through this."

Machine Gun Used in Deadly Downey Police Shooting

From KTLA:

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office has confirmed that a Downey police officer used a sub-machine gun to shoot and kill Michael Nida.

The Power Of The Blog: Local Blog In Fullerton CA Broke A Story Leading To Police Murder Charges

From Reason.tv



The pretrial hearing for excessive force and murder charges filed against Officer Manuel Ramos and Cpl. Jay Cicinelli in the death of Kelly Thomas begins November 4, 2011. Thomas was a 37 year old schizophrenic drifter who was beaten to death by officers at a Fullerton, California, bus depot in July 2011.

The charges came down after multiple headlines were made, not by local media, but by a local small-government blog in Fullerton called Friends for Fullerton’s Future . The blog was the first to publish a horrific picture of Thomas in the hospital and a chilling video of the incident captured by a cell phone video camera.

“The picture was so horrific that the local news channels wouldn’t show it and a lot of times they don’t think there is much of a story there because they get the police version of the story,” says Travis Kiger, a blogger at Friends for Fullerton’s Future.

Kiger and Chris Thompson, also a blogger, sat down with Reason TV in the video above to talk about how the blog broke the story and what they think contributed to the international media attention.”

Two men killed by Huntington Beach police

From LA Times blog:

Two men were shot and killed by Huntington Beach police officers after they stopped a vehicle in Westminster and said they heard a gunshot, a Police Department spokesman said Tuesday night.

The two officers who made the stop fired multiple rounds after they heard a gunshot coming from inside the vehicle, said Lt. Russell Reinhart of the Huntington Beach Police Department. It was unclear whether a shot had been fired toward the officers.

"I'm not sure if it was aimed at the officers, or who it was aimed at," Reinhart told The Times. He said at least one firearm was recovered from the vehicle.

He said the shooting occurred about 4:30 p.m. near Hammon Place and Westminster Boulevard, just outside the Huntington Beach city limits.

An adult female was inside the car with the two men who were killed. She was not injured, police said.

Reinhart said the shooting was being investigated by the Orange County Sheriff's Department. No additional details were immediately available.