Bad boys, bad boys...watcha gonna do?

[GMDino]

As I often point out, the police have an incredibly difficult job.  One that I would not want to do.  But they also have the power to take away your freedom and your life.  Which is why they need to be held to a HIGHER standard for what they do.

These kind of mistakes are simply unacceptable.  Wrong side of the street.  Innocent man dead.

The investigation will try to sort it out, but the officers have already released their version so I'm sure the closing of ranks has begun.  The city will pay something for their misdeed and nothing will change.

http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/35967817/officers-kill-man-with-no-active-warrants-at-wrong-house?utm_content=buffer43649&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Quote:SOUTHAVEN, MS (WMC) -

Documents show that Southaven officers went to the wrong house to serve a warrant on Monday, which resulted in the shooting death of a man who did not have any active warrants out for his arrest.
Additional Links

A warrant out of Tate County shows Samuel Pearman was wanted for domestic assault. But, when Southaven officers arrived on Surrey Lane to arrest Pearman, they did not show up to the correct house.

Instead, officers missed their target by 36 feet. Those 36 feet made all the difference to Ismael Lopez and his wife.

"Someone didn't take the time to analyze the address," attorney Murray Wells, who represents the family, said. "This is incredibly tragic and embarrassing to this police department that they can't read house numbers."

Wells pointed out that the house officers should have gone to, the one where Pearman was located, had a large 'P' on the door. While officials sort out what happened, the man they were looking for took to social media.

Pearson even posted on Facebook Live on Tuesday afternoon claiming he didn't do anything wrong. 

"They made me out to be something I'm not," he said. "I haven't hurt her. She's the one who slapped me."

Ismael Lopez and his wife, Claudia Linares, were asleep inside their house across the street from Pearson when officers arrived.

Linares said her husband went to the door to see what was happening outside. That's when she heard gunshots and by the time she reached her husband, he was already dead.

"Bullet holes suggest they shot through the door," Wells said. 

Officers said Lopez came to the door pointing a gun at them. Those officers claim to have asked Lopez multiple times to drop the gun before they started shooting.

But, neighbors said they didn't hear anything like that.

"I didn't hear yelling," neighbor Nicholas Tramel said.

Tramel's room is right next to the Lopez home. He said he never heard police tell Lopez to put his rifle down. 

Wells implied that officers had reasons not to tell the truth in their account of what happened. Namely, because they could face consequences for shooting Lopez. He also said that Claudia, who was the only one on the property who could not be held responsible for shooting Lopez, did not hear any commands or instructions being given. In addition, Wells said Lopez never pointed a gun at the officers.

"There was a gun on the premises, but the man did not have the gun with him when police shot him," he said. 

Wells said Claudia Lopez wants justice and for the world to know that her husband was a good man.

"When they came to my office, it wasn't money they sought. They wanted the story to come out," he said. "What they want everyone to know is who he was and what happened."

Wells described Lopez as a hardworking employee who, up until about four years ago, worked for City of Bartlett as a mechanic.

"They've been in that home for 13 years. The only time the police had ever been there was when they had been robbed," Wells said. "No criminal history whatsoever. A long-standing employee of the city of Bartlett, mechanic. Loved in the neighborhood."

He continued, "This could have happened to anyone. Her [Claudia's] sense of justice doesn't really come from a place of anger, but of confusion."

http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/35995039/attorneys-for-man-shot-by-southaven-pd-say-case-is-even-more-disturbing-and-outrageous?utm_content=buffer65477&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Quote:SOUTHAVEN, MS (WMC) -

The man killed by Southaven police officers was shot in the back of the head through his front door, according to his family's attorney.
Additional Links
Friday night friends, family, and community members gathered to hold a vigil for Ismael Lopez.
With prayer, music, and candles, family and friends paid their respects and asked for justice. The candlelight vigil took place just feet away from where Lopez was killed inside his Southaven home.



"Injustice against anyone is injustice against all," activist Nabeil Bayakly said.


The vigil brought many in the faith-based community together who said they are standing in solidarity with the Hispanic community.


"Whatever they are going through, whatever the suffering, whatever the hurt is the same suffering and same hurting the Muslim community is going through," Bayakly said.


The Lopez family released the following statement to the public:

Quote:Our family would like to thank the community for the support and love shown to us through this nightmare. We are saddened and in shock for the tragic loss of our beloved Ismael. He was a loving husband, guiding father, mentor to the youth in this community and a hard worker. There is no reasonable explanation about why or how this happened to our Ismael but we believe his memory demands answers, accountability, and justice. We will not rest until we know the truth. Thank you again for all the thoughts and prayers for our family during the most difficult time.

Ismael Lopez was shot and killed Sunday, July 23. Southaven Police Department said officers were serving a warrant for Samuel Pearman, who lives across the street.


Officers arrived at the wrong house where they ended up shooting Lopez, who, they said, came to the door pointing a gun at them.


However, the family's attorney, Murray Wells, said Southaven Police Department's version of events does not add up.


Lopez's wife, Claudia Linares, said her husband did not have a gun with him when he went to see what was happening outside their home.


"Mr. Lopez was shot through the door," Wells said. "Mr. Lopez died from a single bullet to the back of the head. Process that with the statements made from members of the Southaven Police Department, process that with statements made from elected officials in the City of Southaven, and see how you can arrive at a conclusion of anything other than a cover up."


Wells questioned if officers were even in the neighborhood to serve a warrant, as they said they were. Wells defended his accusation by pointing to the fact that officers questioned Pearman at the scene but never arrested him; Wells also said the warrant for Pearman was not active until July 24.


"There was not an active warrant in effect on July 23. They were not, in fact, executing a warrant," he said.


A complaint was made about Pearman on July 23, but the warrant was not issued until July 24 - one day after Lopez was shot.


"What they told us, what they told everyone is they were serving a warrant, so if they want to argue the technicality of whether or not they had a lawful purpose to be there, they didn't," Wells stated. "And whether or not there was a warrant or whether they were doing a 24-hour knock and announce, it shouldn't have been there. So, we're sort of jumping all over the place with their explanations, but at the end of the day, none of them make any sense."


Wells called for the resignation of the Southaven police chief, any officers involved in the shooting, and any elected officials who knowingly made false statements regarding Lopez's death.


Wells said he visited with the family on Thursday and that's when Lopez's son expressed troubling concerns.


"The son brought to me his concern that his father had been shot in the back. As he brought it to me while we stood in the house and I began to look at where the body came to rest, which is still marked by flowers, it made sense. He said, 'I wonder about this. It looks to me like he was running away.' And I said, 'It's a fair question. We're going to go, we're going to get the answer with your permission to examine the body. We'll tell you what we find.' Two hours later, I made one of the most difficult phone calls I've made to call and tell the son what happened."


An autopsy report and official cause of death have not yet been released by the coroner's office.


"It is so graphic and so obvious and so clear that anybody will recognize it. If the autopsy report done by the State of Mississippi says anything else, then that will be a perpetuation of this outrage because there is no other conclusion, because it is so glaringly graphic, grotesque, and brutal."


Wells said he will also ask that the Department of Justice investigate.


"We need the Department of Justice to come down to Mississippi. We are asking the Department of Justice to get involved immediately so this can stop, so my clients don't have any fear of retribution or retaliation," Wells said.After the shooting, Wells said Southaven police officers ordered Linares out of her own house, forced her to stand outside in her sleeping garments with her hands above her head, then put her in handcuffs and left her by a tree for an hour. She was eventually taken to the police station where she made a statement, which Wells said he has yet to see.


Wells urges Southaven Police Department to contact him so they can discuss what really happened the night Ismael Lopez died.


"We've made our call today. We want the City of Southaven to respond by taking responsibility by relieving everyone who has made any misstatement. We think they've lost the right to represent citizens in that community, perpetuating untruths. Our next step is we're going to wait a very short period of time to hear from them. We're going to give the family a period of time to grieve. Then, having not heard form the City of Southaven, we'll file a lawsuit, sooner rather than later."
Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite released the following statement via Twitter on Friday:


[*]View image on Twitter

Quote:[/url]

[url=https://twitter.com/darrenmuss/status/890965331790966784]
Darren Musselwhite@darrenmuss

SURREY LANE PRESS RELEASE...
This purpose of this tweet is to update my citizens in the City of Southaven. No other comments will follow.
11:01 AM - Jul 28, 2017

[*]


Wells said he has not spoken to Pearman yet. Pearman was arrested Wednesday, days after investigators talked to him in person.


"We haven't talked to Mr. Pearman. We have been fortunate enough to let the press do some of that for us. So, we've been able to see his position. From what we understand, he's terrified himself. He believes that he was the target of a coordinated effort to execute him," Wells explained. "I don't know the truth of that statement, but they sure came in guns a-blazing, I guess believing that Mr. Pearman was in there without an active warrant."


Wells believes the officers who shot Lopez should absolutely face charges.


"At the very least, there should be a manslaughter charge. If you shoot a man through a door in the back of the head when he is clearly away, not a threat, yes, that is a criminal action," he said. "They didn't have any right to be on the property in the first place. That's criminal. Just because you have a badge doesn't give you the opportunity to trespass on someone else's land with absolutely no reason. So, we think it was an execution."


About Ismael Lopez


Murray Wells said Ismael Lopez was an auto mechanic who moved to the United States 20 years ago with his wife and son. He has three more children in Mexico. 


Wells said Lopez has never been arrested, nor has he even been in trouble.


"Everyone tells stories about how he tried to talk to young people in his community about doing the right thing," Well said. "Everyone loved him. Everything we've ever heard was that he took it upon himself to make sure that young people in a depressed community with a lack of good educational foundation and, sometimes, a lack of parenting, he wanted to bring people up to do the right thing. We hear that story over and over again. Not just from his wife, not just from his son, but from many members in the community, which is one of the reasons people were protesting. Because everybody knew who he was based on his involvement with the community."

[*]


http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/35991074/police-questioned-released-actual-suspect-after-they-killed-wrong-man

Quote:Police questioned, released actual suspect after they killed wrong man
Thursday, July 27th 2017, 6:37 pm ESTFriday, July 28th 2017, 10:16 am EST


Southaven police officers shot and killed Ismael Lopez at his home Monday. The officers were supposed to go to the neighborhood and arrest Samuel Pearman, but they ended up at the wrong house.


The wrong house belonged to Lopez. His wife and attorney said Lopez came to the door unarmed, and officers opened fire, shooting through the front door, and killing Lopez. Officers said Lopez had a gun and they told him multiple times to put it down.


After the fatal shooting, Pearman came out of his home--like many other neighbors--to see what happened. 


Neighbors and Tate County deputies said Southaven officers questioned several neighbors that night, including Pearman. They said officers identified Pearman, asked him questions, and then let him go.


Days later, police arrested Pearman on the original charges--the ones they were in Lopez's neighborhood for in the first place.


Pearman appeared in court Thursday. His bond was set at $10,000. His next court date is August 10.


Pearman faces charges of domestic violence. According to the Tate County Sheriff's Deputies and neighbors, Pearman was home the night of the deadly shooting. 



He allegedly walked across the street to see what the commotion was about following the gun shots. 


Neighbors said they also saw police ID Pearman and ask him questions that night. Pearman even took to Facebook Live before his arrest.


"I wound up talking to the police that night too. They wanted to know what I heard. They said they were responding to a shots fired call," Pearman said on Facebook Live.