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?
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