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Handcuffed suspect shoots himself while in the back of a police cruiser

A "gap" during the actual shooting huh? Rather convenient.
I don't think JPD said that there's a gap in their data, but merely a gap in what has been released.
I agree that this deserves some serious scrutiny, as should every death in custody--at the very least to see if there's anything to be done to prevent another one--but I just don't think there was wrong doing on the officers' part.
Though, I am of course open to changing my mind if something comes to light.

The angle of the wound may tell us a little more that might be worth knowing. I think that if the angle shows the gun was significantly below his head, it would indicate that he was trying to stash the gun and had an accidental discharge.
 
I know some folks have most than a fair share of suspicion when it comes to Law Enforcement.

But they have belly buttons too. They make mistakes, dumb thoughtless ones. Unless something more than the very vague and contradictory reports claim I doubt anyone gets fired.

You can only make something idiot resistant, because no matter how you try some idiot will come along and prove you can't proof it.

If you have a friend in LE have them show you some videos on the NTOA website. You would be amazed at what some handcuffed people can do, and how they can hide stuff, and how ineffective a patdown really is. Is why jailers end up with a naked prisoner somewhere is the process of booking.

There is a good video in a interview room where a suspect is lead in by a detective, this guy has been searched several times. The detective leaves to get a cuppa joe, and the suspect calmly takes a sip of water, twisted the top back on properly, pulls a 1911 45 from under his gut and shoots himself in a calm fluid motion.

full sized auto 45 missed twice, very hefty fellow, not on his A game interviewer equals an amazing amount of blood to clean-up.

It appears this Carter young man had quite the drug sheet, his autopsy has multiple drugs listed. However he wasn't a big time guy the cops would have a beef with. He wasn't resisting or making the cops angry. It was routine. It maybe when he was put in the cruiser UNcuffed the first time, he stashed his pistol so only the first search had any chance of finding the pistol. Later, he was pulled back out, cuffed and searched and returned to the same vehicle.

Mistakes for sure but not career enders. Unless they can show the dead guy was slipping the sausage to one of the cop's significant other...

Just a mess...
 
I see these cops will be out of a job and sentenced to prison. Every episodes of COPS I seen they always frisk the person,so the idea that they just slapped cuffs on someone and put in the back of the squad car without frisking him sounds extremely suspicious.

I would imagine that securing the suspect and assuring safety of the suspect and themselves would be their FIRST priority. If you fail that, you have totally ****ed up the job.
 
I would imagine that securing the suspect and assuring safety of the suspect and themselves would be their FIRST priority. If you fail that, you have totally ****ed up the job.

Based on this alone they are fired. Whether they killed him or not. The question is if they are going to be behind bars for life or not. If the suspect could have shot himself in the head he could have just as easily shot the cops with an ambush when they went to remove him from the car. Instinct tells me assassination or hobby murderist.
 

A slight downward trajectory? So, he raised his hands up higher than his head while handcuffed?

Is that even possible?
 
A slight downward trajectory? So, he raised his hands up higher than his head while handcuffed?
Is that even possible?
Or he turned / tilted his head. We don't know that his head was completely upright when the bullet entered.
 
Or he turned / tilted his head. We don't know that his head was completely upright when the bullet entered.

Try putting your hands behind you and reaching the top of your head. If you can do it, you're a lot more flexible than I am.
 
Try putting your hands behind you and reaching the top of your head. If you can do it, you're a lot more flexible than I am.
Don't need to reach it. Only need to be able to draw a straight line from my hand to an upper part of my head.

All this guy has to do is tilt his head a little and the shot would go slightly from top toward the bottom of the skull



082112_al_court_640.jpg
 
Based on this alone they are fired. Whether they killed him or not. The question is if they are going to be behind bars for life or not. If the suspect could have shot himself in the head he could have just as easily shot the cops with an ambush when they went to remove him from the car. Instinct tells me assassination or hobby murderist.

Guilty until PROVEN innocent. Guilt by allegation. I have lot's of trouble with these.

Just because I said the above does not mean that (as Billy Shakespeare said - I "Hamlet" I believe) "something's rotten in Denmark". I do think there's plenty rotten in Jonesboro.

The street thugs get the rights guarenteed by the Constitution ... these officers should as well. If, as I suspect, they are guilty, then like the potential juror in "My Cousin Vinney" said, "Fry 'em".

A L
 
Don't need to reach it. Only need to be able to draw a straight line from my hand to an upper part of my head.

All this guy has to do is tilt his head a little and the shot would go slightly from top toward the bottom of the skull



082112_al_court_640.jpg

How does that produce a downward trajectory?
 
Guilty until PROVEN innocent. Guilt by allegation. I have lot's of trouble with these.

Just because I said the above does not mean that (as Billy Shakespeare said - I "Hamlet" I believe) "something's rotten in Denmark". I do think there's plenty rotten in Jonesboro.

The street thugs get the rights guarenteed by the Constitution ... these officers should as well. If, as I suspect, they are guilty, then like the potential juror in "My Cousin Vinney" said, "Fry 'em".

A L
I never said they were guilty. (although I think they probably are) I said they are fired.
 
I think some cop's career is over.

Damn sure better be...thats just beyond incompetence... Seriously I dont know if mistakes like this were always made...but I never remember wild crap like this...could be the media reports it more now...but ill tell ya there was never any of these kinds of incompetent idiot events happening when i was still working....
 
With the history that police brutality has in the US, he'll probably be given some weak ass 6 months without pay sanction and worse yet he'll then rejoin police ranks in another town elsewhere. I've been telling you people for nearly 3 years that police brutality is a problem in the US and nobody seems to get it until it's too late.
 
How does that produce a downward trajectory?
Not sure how to explain it other than saying he turned / tilted / rotated his head. The trajectory is downward relative to the top and bottom of the skull, not relative to the ground.

If the top of the head is lowered and a bullet enters there, then it's headed toward the bottom of the head. The downward trajectory is not relative to the Earth, it's relative to the top and bottom of the skull.
When the skull is completely upright, the top of his skull is above the bottom. If the head is turned / tilted, then the top of the skull gets lower.

EG if you were hung upside down and a bullet was shot straight up vertically, the bullet would travel from the ground up, but it would enter on the top of the skull and exit at the bottom. Was the gun above the skull? No. It was below it. Is the trajectory relative to the skull top to bottom? Yes.
Now imagine that instead of being hung upside down, the skull is just rotated so that the top of the skull is more horizontal than upright. A shot with a more or less horizontal trajectory relative to the ground would not enter at the side of the head because the head is rotated / tilted. The bullet from a more or less horizontal gun would enter more toward the top of the rotated skull and proceed toward the bottom of the skull, EVEN THOUGH the bullet is not travelling at the same angle relative the vertical of the ground.
 
With the history that police brutality has in the US, he'll probably be given some weak ass 6 months without pay sanction and worse yet he'll then rejoin police ranks in another town elsewhere. I've been telling you people for nearly 3 years that police brutality is a problem in the US and nobody seems to get it until it's too late.

bah ........
 
Police Release Reenactment Video Demonstrating How Handcuffed Man Supposedly Shot Himself in the Head
Police Release Reenactment Video Demonstrating How Handcuffed Man Supposedly Shot Himself in the Head


For some reason this stinks to high heavens..............




We saw how someone could shoot themselves in the head...yes it can be done, Ive seen people cuffed behind their back within seconds bring their hands over their head and be cuffed in the front...Ive seen two men actually break cuffs...one a huge samoan broke two sets back to back and had the biggest grin on his face...having said all that...obviously none of that applies here....

What does apply, if he had the gun on him, the cops should be fired for cuffing him and not frisking him or not frisking him properly...all patrolmen know to SEARCH the back seat of their vehicles each an everytime they place someone back under arrest and they exit the vehicle...you do that automatically.....these are just standard procedures...no matter what really occurred here they screwed up at the minimum
 
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We saw how someone could shoot themselves in the head...yes it can be done, Ive seen people cuffed behind their back within seconds bring their hands over their head and be cuffed in the front...Ive seen two men actually break cuffs...one a huge samoan broke two sets back to back and had the biggest grin on his face...having said all that...obviously none of that applies here....

What does apply, if he had the gun on him, the cops should be fired for not cuffing him and not frisking him...all patrolmen know to SEARCH the back seat of their vehicles each an everytime they place someone back under arrest and they exit the vehicle...you do that automatically.....these are just standard procedures...no matter what really occurred here they screwed up at the minimum

I agree. There is no excuse for sloppy police work!!!
 
I agree. There is no excuse for sloppy police work!!!

This wasnt even sloppy it was worse...frisking someone your placing under arrest and frisking them properly is paramount to the safety of everyone involved and its what cops do....My partner and I daily decided who was driving...the non driver frisked the car...REALLY FRISKED THE CAR before we got in it and we frisked it again everytime we exited the car and it was out of our sight and everytime we took someone out of it....I understand cops today mostly work alone with no partner...the same applies...
 
Not sure how to explain it other than saying he turned / tilted / rotated his head. The trajectory is downward relative to the top and bottom of the skull, not relative to the ground.

If the top of the head is lowered and a bullet enters there, then it's headed toward the bottom of the head. The downward trajectory is not relative to the Earth, it's relative to the top and bottom of the skull.
When the skull is completely upright, the top of his skull is above the bottom. If the head is turned / tilted, then the top of the skull gets lower.

EG if you were hung upside down and a bullet was shot straight up vertically, the bullet would travel from the ground up, but it would enter on the top of the skull and exit at the bottom. Was the gun above the skull? No. It was below it. Is the trajectory relative to the skull top to bottom? Yes.
Now imagine that instead of being hung upside down, the skull is just rotated so that the top of the skull is more horizontal than upright. A shot with a more or less horizontal trajectory relative to the ground would not enter at the side of the head because the head is rotated / tilted. The bullet from a more or less horizontal gun would enter more toward the top of the rotated skull and proceed toward the bottom of the skull, EVEN THOUGH the bullet is not travelling at the same angle relative the vertical of the ground.

I get that, but the picture (post 35) shows a bullet that would have an upward trajectory, from near the top of the jaw to the top of the head.
 
While I often question police actions, I think this is likely truth is stranger than fiction and the guy did shoot himself. Cops who want to kill someone can come up with better ways than some bizarre claim like that.
 
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