15 Shots at Unarmed Black Man Were OK, Says Fla. Sheriff

[QueEx]

15 Shots at Unarmed Black Man Were OK,
Says Fla. Sheriff​

The two Escambia County, Fla., deputies who fired 15 shots at 60-year-old Roy Middleton as he retrieved cigarettes from a car in his mother’s driveway were following standard procedure according to the county sheriff.

Middleton, who is black, was shot in the leg a little before 2:45 Saturday morning, the Pensacola News Journal reports. Police were called to the home by a neighbor reporting possible car theft. Police said they saw a metal object in Middleton’s hand and claimed that he lunged toward them.

But Middleton, who was unarmed, told the News Journal that he backed out of the car with his hands up and police began shooting: “It was like a firing squad. Bullets were flying everywhere.”

In an interview with CNN, Escambia County County Sheriff David Morgan said the shooting was warranted.

“Right now we are comfortable from a training perspective that our officers did follow standard protocols,” he said in a Thursday interivew. “I believe the standard we use and train to is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case which is a reasonable test.”

According to ThinkProgress, the officers are on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.
​

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[QueEx]

Florida Cops Shoot Unarmed Black Man
In His Mother’s Driveway​

Roy Middleton​

By Rebecca Leber
July 29, 2013


This weekend, deputies from Escambia County, Florida shot an unarmed man who went to grab cigarettes from the car parked in the driveway of his mother’s home. A neighbor called police at 2 a.m. because he suspected 60-year-old Roy Middleton was stealing the car. Things quickly escalated when two deputies arrived and ordered Middleton to “get your hands where I can see them,” the Pensacola News Journal reports:

[Middleton] said he initially thought it was a neighbor joking with him, but when he turned his head he saw deputies standing halfway down his driveway.

He said he backed out of the vehicle with his hands raised, but when he turned to face the deputies, they immediately opened fire.

“It was like a firing squad,” he said. “Bullets were flying everywhere.”

The deputies reportedly fired about seven shots at the unarmed man; Middleton was shot in the leg, and another five bullet holes hit the car and the side of house.

With the Trayvon Martin case still a fresh memory for another Florida county, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorney’s office are now investigating the incident. For now, the involved officers are on paid administrative leave.
​

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[olly1969]

sad when this will end