Mentally Disabled Ernest Vassell Fatally Shot by Police for Walking Around No. Miami Neighborhood with a Fake Gun

Ernest Vassell, a mentally disabled North Miami man, was shot and killed by an officer because he was reportedly prowling through a neighborhood carrying a toy gun and pointing it at a dog, CBS4 Miami reported.

Police said they shouted orders at Vassell - which neighbors heard - but when he turned toward the cops, an officer shot him. Meanwhile, cops discovered that the gun was a realistic-looking fake. 

Family members told CBS 4 that Vassell, 56, was mentally disabled from a fall he suffered as a child. His sisters said he didn't own a toy gun and had never been violent before. "They murdered him in cold blood for a toy gun!" Vassell's older sister Claire Harding told the station. "That's no reason for you to kill somebody!" North Miami police maintained that the gun appeared to be real. The department followed standard procedure and placed the officer who pulled the trigger on paid leave while they investigated the shooting, police spokeswoman Maj. Kathy Katerman told the Miami Herald. Source

I feel the family's pain, but police officers aren't taking any chances with getting killed, particularly since we have had a rash of cop killings in recent years. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Ernest Vassell. Does anyone know if he or his family are Jamaican expatriates?

Mentally Disabled Ed Wynn Rivera Spends Night in Freezing School Bus after Matron Linda Hockaday Deliberately Left Him, Says She was Late for Church

The mentally challenged continue to receive the worst treatment in many circles. Ed Wynn Rivera, a severely disabled man spent 17 hours trapped alone on a dark and frigid school bus when he was left in a parking lot on what has been determined to be one of the coldest nights of the year. Bus matron Linda Hockaday has been charged by the police with reckless endangerment. Hockaday told police that she left him sleeping in his seat because she was late for church. She was late to see Dino, the "Christian Liberace." This is totally reprehensible and there is no justification for what she did to this man.

Rivera,who is 22 but has the mental capacity of a toddler, might have been rescued sooner, but cops missed him in a search of the bus depot. Cops searched the wrong lot while Rivera sat strapped helplessly in his seat in a lot hidden behind a corrugated steel fence, sources said. He sat there all night long on New Year's Eve as the mercury plunged to 15 degrees. "How do you miss a whole person?" asked his sister, Khristine Rivera, 23."He was sitting behind the driver's seat. How do you miss that?"

The bus driver, who was not identified, had not been charged. Sources said it was Hockaday's job alone to get the passengers off the bus and account for each one. The outraged family demanded answers from the bus company, his school and the NYPD about blunders that could have killed the gentle young man. "I'm furious," said the fuming sister. "Something needs to happen. This is sheer stupidity."

Rivera has cerebral palsy and is mentally disabled. He can speak but needs help doing even basic tasks. He attends a daily program in SoHo run by FEGS, a social services provider, and travels back and forth from the family's East home by bus. On Wednesday, Rivera was due home about 4 p.m. When he didn't arrive by 5 p.m., Rivera's family called the school and the Brooklyn-based bus company, Outstanding Transport, but got no answers. Family members went to their police precinct to report Rivera missing about 9p.m., and cops searched the school. Source: NY Daily News

Doctors at Brookdale University Hospital said Rivera suffered from hypothermia and will have to stay there for at least 48 hours. He should make a full recovery. Once again, a mentally disabled person has been treated in a deplorable way. This brings to mind the case involving Esmin Green, who died at Kings County Hospital while the staff walked around and ignored her. Ms. Hockaway didn't follow God's word about the treatment of the sick and the children. She deserves to be left on a bush in the middle of Siberia, without a winter coat and gloves.

Mentally Disabled Ed Wynn Rivera Spends Night in Freezing School Bus after Matron Linda Hockaday Deliberately Left Him, Says She was Late for Church

The mentally challenged continue to receive the worst treatment in many circles. Ed Wynn Rivera, a severely disabled man spent 17 hours trapped alone on a dark and frigid school bus when he was left in a parking lot on what has been determined to be one of the coldest nights of the year. Bus matron Linda Hockaday has been charged by the police with reckless endangerment. Hockaday told police that she left him sleeping in his seat because she was late for church. She was late to see Dino, the "Christian Liberace." This is totally reprehensible and there is no justification for what she did to this man.

Rivera,who is 22 but has the mental capacity of a toddler, might have been rescued sooner, but cops missed him in a search of the bus depot. Cops searched the wrong lot while Rivera sat strapped helplessly in his seat in a lot hidden behind a corrugated steel fence, sources said. He sat there all night long on New Year's Eve as the mercury plunged to 15 degrees. "How do you miss a whole person?" asked his sister, Khristine Rivera, 23."He was sitting behind the driver's seat. How do you miss that?"

The bus driver, who was not identified, had not been charged. Sources said it was Hockaday's job alone to get the passengers off the bus and account for each one. The outraged family demanded answers from the bus company, his school and the NYPD about blunders that could have killed the gentle young man. "I'm furious," said the fuming sister. "Something needs to happen. This is sheer stupidity."

Rivera has cerebral palsy and is mentally disabled. He can speak but needs help doing even basic tasks. He attends a daily program in SoHo run by FEGS, a social services provider, and travels back and forth from the family's East home by bus. On Wednesday, Rivera was due home about 4 p.m. When he didn't arrive by 5 p.m., Rivera's family called the school and the Brooklyn-based bus company, Outstanding Transport, but got no answers. Family members went to their police precinct to report Rivera missing about 9p.m., and cops searched the school. Source: NY Daily News

Doctors at Brookdale University Hospital said Rivera suffered from hypothermia and will have to stay there for at least 48 hours. He should make a full recovery. Once again, a mentally disabled person has been treated in a deplorable way. This brings to mind the case involving Esmin Green, who died at Kings County Hospital while the staff walked around and ignored her. Ms. Hockaway didn't follow God's word about the treatment of the sick and the children. She deserves to be left on a bush in the middle of Siberia, without a winter coat and gloves.