None of the police officers on the scene speak
Spanish.
Durham police have identified the man fatally shot by
an officer as Jose Adan Cruz Ocampo, 33.
He didn’t have to die.
Scott Holmes, director of the Civil Litigation Clinic,
is representing the Ocampo family. Holmes asked for an independent investigation
of the shooting by private investigator Steve Hale, former head of the Wake
County Sheriff’s Homicide Department. Holmes said that the findings of the
investigation, based on three independent eyewitness accounts, differ from the
version released by Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez.
Witnesses say Ocampo was carrying a small pocket
knife, but wasn’t threatening anyone when police arrived. Police were called to the 800 block of Park
Avenue because of an altercation between Ocampo and another resident.
He did not speak English and the Police did not speak
to him in Spanish.
Witnesses say he was holding the blade of the knife
with the handle facing the police. They
say four officers were at the scene with their guns drawn when Ocampo extended
his arms outward to give the knife to a police officer who was standing about
five feet away.
Ocampo was waiting for police to discuss the
altercation that took place before they arrived.
Multiple witnesses say a police officer fired between
three to five shots directly at Ocampo.
Two bullets entered his chest and one landed in his head.
Witnesses say ambulance attended first gave attention
to a person whose face had been cut with a bottle instead of Ocampo. One
witness said they waited for Ocampo to die before bringing the ambulance over
to help him.
Why did police shoot Ocampo instead of using a taser? Why
wasn’t an officer on hand who speaks Spanis? Why wasn’t immediate care given
to Ocampo?
Holmes said it is his opinion, based upon the facts
found by the private investigator, that the Durham officer was not justified in
using lethal force.
“It is unreasonable to believe that a person
presenting the handle of a knife posed a threat of death or imminent bodily
harm,” Holmes wrote in a press release. “Based upon the eyewitness statements
of the three non-officers on the scene, the Durham officer did not accurately
assess the threat or properly interpret the behavior of Mr. Ocampo.”
Holmes noted that Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez’s public
statement of July 30 did not include the information from the eyewitnesses at
the scene.
“In his statement, Chief Lopez apparently relied only
upon the statements provided by the officers involved in the shooting. It is
disappointing that Chief Lopez would release an incomplete version of events
before the finalization of the investigation being conducted by the State
Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the internal affairs investigation that he
said was being conducted by his own department.”
Jose Adan Cruz Ocampo was the youngest of three
brothers. His wife and young son live in a small town in Honduras. He was
working in the United States to send money to support them.
“He was an honest and loving man,” Holmes said.
If witness accounts are correct, Ocampo was killed
without just cause. The Durham community
should be outraged by his death.
With all due respect it's not the responsibility of the police officers to learn Spanish, it's the responsibility of people coming to this country to learn English.
ReplyDeleteHow incredibly naive (and egotistical) would it be for me as an American to travel to India, or China, or any other country, and expect everyone to speak English?
I'm not defending the officers. There can be no defending the gunning down of a helpless man. But don't lay the blame for the language barrier on them. It rests solely on the shoulders of the man who is residing in a country whose language he can't understand