It’s no wonder why people are so opinionated about this, and on both sides of the fence. You’ve got your police defenders and police haters. But, pay close attention – Usually the police defenders are people who have never experienced racism and poverty in any real sense. They’ve also never experienced institutionalized oppression, deprivation and marginalization, nor do they really believe that these kinds of things really exist. The defenders, the ones who immediately jump to defend the actions of the police in almost every circumstance and certainly before a good portion of the facts are in, are most certainly people who are white or lighter skinned, and have enough personal resources to move into their own safe and protected little areas. In other words, these people usually see the police working for them, defending their life and property. And, they’re right. However, they also believe the fallacy that the same goes for everyone else, regardless of your race, wealth or class. It’s a false impression that many, many people have who can and do turn a blind eye to how other people, not nearly as fortunate as they are, are treated by the police. I’ve seen, heard and read about it too many times for there not to be a systemic issue of misuse of power with APD. Just stand outside the ARCH in downtown Austin, at any time of day where the homeless are forced to gather. First, there is always a police presence at that location. Always. Second, APD is notorious for selectively enforcing certain laws against the homeless, eg, the no sitting or lying on the sidewalk law. There has been case after case of homeless persons who have no resources being strong-armed by the police. This is also a good example of the many, many strong-armed tactics used by the police that you will never read or hear about. Yes, APD is your friend if you have wealth, or if not your friend, you at least will be treated with decency and respect. But APD can be your worst nightmare if you are poor and black, or hispanic. Ask yourselves – if the same scenario took place in Westlake with three clean cut white guys in a car, would the same thing have happened? Probably not.

“Is Ansel really a free lance journalist or just a concerned citizen who started a website where people could give their opinions regarding Police inpropriaties.” I’m both, actually. The cops’ point-of-view was over-represented in the local mainstream media. Multiple news stories identified Sanders as a “documented gang member” based on the say-so of the police, not any documentation, for example.

Sanders’ criminal history is a matter of public record… he’d just been arrested for assault a few days earlier and was out on bail with a gun in a car suspected of other robberies.

http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=240250

My questions are why did it take the medical examiners so long to arrive on the scene, and why didn’t the shooting officer have his camera on.

It’s also interesting to note that the rumor that Sanders was shot while sleeping, and not while reaching for a gun is so wide spread.

Why is this? Is it that people distrust the officer’s account and have developed their own counter-theory, or is it that people honestly believe this is the substantiated truth? Anyone know of any eye-witness accounts? It’ll be interesting to hear what the wounded suspect has to say.

(You can remove this comment if you want, Ansel, I just needed to blow off some steam.)

“Officer-involved shootings are uncommon in Austin,” Mayor Will Wynn said at the beginning of the press conference.

“• Sophia King, a black woman with a history of mental illness was shot and killed by an APD officer in June 2002 as she was running towards an East Austin housing project manager wielding a knife. The officer was hailed for saving the life of the housing manager. But testimony in court cast aspersions on the police for not properly dealing with a woman they must have known was mentally ill. The case raised awareness in how officers are trained to deal with people with mental illness.

• Jesse Lee Owens, a black man, was shot and killed by an APD officer in June 2003. Officer Scott Glasgow was later indicted by a Travis County grand jury, but the indictment was quashed by a state district judge for lack of evidence. Glasgow was eventually reinstated to the police department, but in a non-patrol role.

• Daniel Rocha, a Hispanic man, was shot in the back at close range by Officer Julie Schroeder in June 2005. Schroeder was later fired for failing to following correct police procedure. But a Travis County grand jury declined to indict her in the case.

• Kevin Brown, a black man, was shot several times and killed by Officer Michael Olsen in June 2007. Olsen was fired from the police force and that firing was upheld by a civil service commission.

Each of the officers involved in these four shootings was white.”

On the camera situation:
[Information from APD press release] “• Acevedo said of the three patrol cars on the scene at the time of the shooting, one vehicle’s dashboard camera was functioning for a substantial portion of the incident, another was not activated and the third is being reviewed for functionality at this time. ”

[Slightly contradictory and all-around sketchy information from another News 8 Austin article]

“Austin’s police chief said Monday’s officer-involved shooting in East Austin was recorded on an officer’s dashboard camera.

Chief Art Acevedo Wednesday said the video, however, is not from the car of the officer who fired the shots.

Police are also trying to figure out why two other officers at the scene did not turn on their cameras.

Acevedo said all three were working and he’s glad at least one recorded everything on tape.”

Two things terrify me about this situation. 1) That there have been so many people of color shot by white APD officers and that Will Wynn still thinks it’s “uncommon” and 2) That two of the three officers involved, according to our very own police chief, “did not turn on their cameras”. That would be an interesting angle to pursue.

This is just another case where the police force is closing ranks around the complicit officer and clinging desperately to claims that the suspect was reaching for a weapon. Two years ago, Michael Olson claimed that Kevin Brown, who was running AWAY from him, was reaching for a gun, to justify his shooting Brown several times in the back. Brown was found to be unarmed. Not that I’m claiming Sanders was unarmed, it’s just that no coverage of the shooting has confirmed that detail and precedence demonstrates that APD has a history of making false claims to get out of a pinch.

Ultimately, I hope Destiny’s right and that people do start to pay attention to the growing death rate in East Austin due to cops killing kids. An issue that was more prevalent in the Kevin Brown murder but I think is still relevant here is the issue of gentrification and police involvement in the neighborhood’s changing dynamic.

Links to both articles cited in this comment.
http://www.news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=240497&SecID=2
http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/?SecID=278&ArID=240221

Maybe Officer Quintana was in a life-threatening situation in the moment he approached the car a second time. We don’t know yet.

I do think our analysis needs to extend beyond that particular moment. Why did the police decide to approach the car at that time, when it was dark? Was that a proper decision – after the two previous police killings of youth of color also took place at night on the Eastside? Why was only one officer carrying out the arrests? Why did Quintana fire at the third man, who allegedly lunged at him, instead of using non-lethal weapons? And as KC said above, crime rates have been going down in East Austin. Who are the police protecting and serving?

A guy may or may not be conscious, you walk up to his car, and he points a gun at you. While I don’t think anyone is happier that the victim is now deceased, when a police officer is put in a life-threatening situation he has the right to use lethal force. Police are trained and required to protect their lives when put in this type of situation.

Also, when I read that you have dubbed yourself an “anarchist,” I figured that this site would accept any comments from anyone. When I see you threatening other people, I realize the true irony. Even though you believe you are an anarchist, you don’t know how to deal with an opposing viewpoint. I would call this closer to fascism than really anarchism.

This story was still developing as I produced the audio on Monday. I had not seen an official APD statement that he reached for the weapon. All I heard from a few news reports was that the weapon was in or near his lap. I reported this – you can go to any news site and read what APD is now claiming, which incidentally doesn’t contradict my narration. I did add an update with APD’s current claim to the bottom of the post.

“APD says Quintana saw a weapon in Sanders’ lap and shot him.”

There is a term for this, it’s called libel:

Now, if you want to believe (for whatever self-serving reason) that the deceased was sleeping at the time of shooting, that’s your right and worth investigation… but when you allow unsubstantiated rumors by non-witnesses to go unchallenged and then edit the official APD claim that he “was reaching for a weapon” to say that he merely incidentally had one in his lap. That’s when you’ve crossed the line from journalism to intentional misinformation.