Maryland cop charged with murder after shooting handcuffed man, police chief says

[ZiprHead]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/01/28/maryland-police-officer-fatally-shoots-man-handcuffed-cruiser/4595519002/

A Maryland police officer is facing a second-degree murder charge after allegedly shooting a man who was handcuffed behind his back and sitting in the front seat of a police car Monday.

Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski announced murder, manslaughter, assault and weapons charges at a Tuesday press conference. Cpl. Michael Owen Jr., a 10-year force veteran, allegedly shot the man, William Green , 43, of Washington, D.C., seven times.

“I have concluded that what happened last night is a crime,” Stawinski said. There was no "reasonable explanation" for the events, he said.

The incident occurred in Temple Hills, a suburb of Washington, about 8 p.m. after police received a 911 call about a driver who struck multiple cars, said Christina Cotterman, a spokeswoman for Prince George's County Police Department.

Cpl. Michael Owen Jr.
Officers believed Green was under the influence of a substance and removed him from his car, according to a Tuesday police statement. While Owen and another officer waited for a drug recognition expert, they handcuffed Green and placed him in the front seat of Owen's police car.

"A short time later, for reasons that are now at the center of the investigation, Green was shot seven times by the officer’s duty weapon," the statement says.

 

[Patooka]

A Law Enforcement Officer with ten years of experience shoots a restrained prisoner? If there isn't more to the story that says a lot about both the training and screening process for Maryland cops.

 

[Derec]

The police chief should not be throwing his officer under the bus like this. There should be a more through investigation before charging a police officer with murder.

In this case, the perp (Green) was possibly high on PCP. PCP can make people violent and relatively impervious to pain. The latter can increase the effective strength because the pain feedback loop is disrupted.
So I can definitely imagine that Green was a threat to Owen regardless of being handcuffed. The police chief should not have announced charges prematurely.

 

[Patooka]

The police chief should not be throwing his officer under the bus like this. There should be a more through investigation before charging a police officer with murder.

In this case, the perp (Green) was high on PCP. PCP can make people violent and relatively impervious to pain. The latter can increase the effective strength because the pain feedback loop is disrupted.
So I can definitely imagine that Green was a threat to Owen regardless of being handcuffed. The police chief should not have announced charges prematurely.

1) Where does it say the "perp" was high on PCP? And yet he was so dangerous they were able to restrain him and put bracelets on him in the first fucking place?
2) I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there is no justification to empty half a fucking magazine into a citizen in handcuffs. That is completely inexcusable.

 

[Derec]

1) Where does it say the "perp" was high on PCP?

Here it says they suspected it. Would fit with his erratic behavior before the arrest. Obviously it's not going to be confirmed or disconfirmed until the tox screen is back. But why jump the gun and charge the cop while not all facts are known?

And yet he was so dangerous they were able to restrain him and put bracelets on him in the first fucking place?
2) I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there is no justification to empty half a fucking magazine into a citizen in handcuffs. That is completely inexcusable.

I am not saying Owen is innocent. I am saying police should do their fucking jobs and investigate before throwing one of their own to the wolves. I bet this police chief just wants to avoid rioting like what happened in 2015 when #BLM thugs wrecked Baltimore ...

 

[southernhybrid]

Let's just be honest. Too many American police officers are totally out of control. They act like they are in a combat zone and the citizens are their enemies. To protect and serve is a joke. If the man who was handcuffed became combative, all the officer had to do is pull over and try to calm him down, or ask for back up help. He did commit murder or manslaughter when he shot the man several times. If he was on drugs, then he needed help. He didn't need to be killed by a cop.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

What was a handcuffed man doing in the front seat of the cop car? Shouldn't he have been in the backseat behind the usual barrier between the front seat and back? I see sloppiness here that escalated to a tragedy. I see failure of training and judgment.

 

[Harry Bosch]

1) Where does it say the "perp" was high on PCP?

Here it says they suspected it. Would fit with his erratic behavior before the arrest. Obviously it's not going to be confirmed or disconfirmed until the tox screen is back. But why jump the gun and charge the cop while not all facts are known?

And yet he was so dangerous they were able to restrain him and put bracelets on him in the first fucking place?
2) I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there is no justification to empty half a fucking magazine into a citizen in handcuffs. That is completely inexcusable.

I am not saying Owen is innocent. I am saying police should do their fucking jobs and investigate before throwing one of their own to the wolves. I bet this police chief just wants to avoid rioting like what happened in 2015 when #BLM thugs wrecked Baltimore ...

The vast majority of cops are honest and do their job well. I'm grateful for them. Let the knives come out!

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

A Law Enforcement Officer with ten years of experience shoots a restrained prisoner? If there isn't more to the story that says a lot about both the training and screening process for Maryland cops.

There is no single training ans screening process for Maryland cops. Each county/city has its own. The force in PG county, where this occurred, used to have a bad reputation, but they've done a lot of cleanup.

What was a handcuffed man doing in the front seat of the cop car? Shouldn't he have been in the backseat behind the usual barrier between the front seat and back? I see sloppiness here that escalated to a tragedy. I see failure of training and judgment.

Not all cars are equipped with a barrier; in those cases, the front passenger seat is often used.

So I can definitely imagine that Green was a threat to Owen regardless of being handcuffed.

At this point, I'd be disappointed if you couldn't imagine that.

 

[laughing dog]

1) Where does it say the "perp" was high on PCP?

Here it says they suspected it. Would fit with his erratic behavior before the arrest. Obviously it's not going to be confirmed or disconfirmed until the tox screen is back. But why jump the gun and charge the cop while not all facts are known?

A suspect is handcuffed, presumably with his hands behind his back, and sitting in a police car. It is pretty hard to make a case that this person could be a deadly threat to anyone in the front seat. Add in that the shooter is an alleged trained and experienced officer, and that there police around, and that even the preliminary examination of the body would show the angle of the shots, and it quite easy to imagine there is enough evidence to support the charge. And, of course, there was the option for the shooter to just exit the vehicle. If the suspect was somehow preventing that, there would easy visible evidence to that effect.

Interestingly, in cases where the roles are reversed (civilian injures/shoots a police officer), you advocate for the police to do their job by quickly charging the alleged assailant.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Here it says they suspected it. Would fit with his erratic behavior before the arrest. Obviously it's not going to be confirmed or disconfirmed until the tox screen is back. But why jump the gun and charge the cop while not all facts are known?



I am not saying Owen is innocent. I am saying police should do their fucking jobs and investigate before throwing one of their own to the wolves. I bet this police chief just wants to avoid rioting like what happened in 2015 when #BLM thugs wrecked Baltimore ...

The vast majority of cops are honest and do their job well. I'm grateful for them. Let the knives come out!

The vast majority of cops are DISHONEST. Dishonesty is learned on the job in terms of protecting their own, lying during interrogation, and ends justify means mentality. We could do better by promoting a different culture to make cops less aggressive and more honest. I am grateful that we allocate funds to our protection and that most of the time the police are acting in our intetest, but people need to open their eyes at how dangerous police can be to individuals in the way and segments of the populace.

 

[TSwizzle]

Does Derec know officer Owen is black ?

 

[Politesse]

Here it says they suspected it. Would fit with his erratic behavior before the arrest. Obviously it's not going to be confirmed or disconfirmed until the tox screen is back. But why jump the gun and charge the cop while not all facts are known?



I am not saying Owen is innocent. I am saying police should do their fucking jobs and investigate before throwing one of their own to the wolves. I bet this police chief just wants to avoid rioting like what happened in 2015 when #BLM thugs wrecked Baltimore ...

The vast majority of cops are honest and do their job well. I'm grateful for them. Let the knives come out!

If they aren't willing to police their own, it doesn't matter how many of them are "good". Stawinsky is doing the right thing for once; and of course the Thin Blue Line crowd is turning on him as a traitor. Surprised? I'm not.

 

[Derec]

Does Derec know officer Owen is black ?

I do. Does it matter?

 

[Toni]

I think it is interesting that some people are always certain that the police/prosecutors never ever arrest or bring charges against someone unless they are guilty


But cannot conceive of a police officer being guilty of charges brought against him by the same police/prosecutors.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

So handcuffed, behind his back, and buckled into his seat? What could the guy possibly have done that would have made pulling out a weapon in the car a protective maneuver? It would seem getting out of the car could have been quicker and safer.

Does Derec know officer Owen is black ?

Oh goody... haters of "identity politics" bringing identity into a conversation.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Does Derec know officer Owen is black ?

I do. Does it matter?

Aren't you guys members of the same club or something?

 

[TSwizzle]

Does Derec know officer Owen is black ?

I do. Does it matter?

Nah, just joshing with you. You know where it goes once it gets 10 posts in.

 

[TSwizzle]

So handcuffed, behind his back, and buckled into his seat? What could the guy possibly have done that would have made pulling out a weapon in the car a protective maneuver? It would seem getting out of the car could have been quicker and safer.

Does Derec know officer Owen is black ?

Oh goody... haters of "identity politics" bringing identity into a conversation.

WTF are you on about, I identity politics.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

So handcuffed, behind his back, and buckled into his seat? What could the guy possibly have done that would have made pulling out a weapon in the car a protective maneuver? It would seem getting out of the car could have been quicker and safer.

Does Derec know officer Owen is black ?

Oh goody... haters of "identity politics" bringing identity into a conversation.

WTF are you on about, I identity politics.

You misspelled trolling.