Police shoot into disabled car 377 times killing 2 suspects

[Alan C.]

Miami police kill 2 unarmed suspects by shooting disabled car 377 times

 

Witnesses emphatically said that the vehicle’s 2 occupants were trying to surrender, but that did not stop a total of 23 police officers from firing at least 377 shots at the vehicle.  The officers’ wild volleys of bullets struck not only the suspects, but also neighboring houses, businesses, vehicles — even fellow police officers.. . .As the blue Volvo remained stationary, officers aimed their rifles towards it from every angle. For nearly 2 minutes, officers tensely waited with weapons aimed.Suddenly, one of the officers opened fire.  The gunshots caused other officers to join in.  Roughly 50 shots were fired at once.. . .A witness, Anthony Vandiver, whose house had already been shot by police in the initial blasts, ran to an upstairs window and had a perfect view down at the blue Volvo disabled in front of his house.“They said, ‘put your hands up!’  And the guys were still moving after they shot, like maybe 50-60 times,” recalled Mr. Vandiver to CBS-4 Miami.  “And the guys tried to put their hands up, and as soon as they put their hands up, it erupted again.”As the suspects raised their hands following officers’ commends, another intense volley of gunfire was launched.  This time, much greater than before.  The frenzied gunfire continued rapidly for 25 full seconds as dozens of officers emptied their magazines.In all, a total of at least 377 rounds had been fired, from 23 separate officers.The attack was so poorly executed that 2 different officers were struck by friendly fire. One cop was shot in the leg and another was grazed in the head.  There was so much gunfire that the noise ruptured the eardrums of two other officers.. . .After months of speculation, it has finally been confirmed that neither man in the car was armed at the time of their death.  One of the biggest questions that remains is how the police justified their use of deadly force as the vehicle was immobilized.Even if the initial officer fired because he “saw a gun,” there is no plausible way that 23 separate officers each individually identified a threat before discharging their weapons.  In short, they were firing because officers next to them were firing — a phenomenon known as “contagious fire” or “sympathetic fire.”  It is a dangerous response and leads to excessive and irresponsible uses of force. Some of the more professional departments train to avoid it.. . .Disturbingly, this has happened before — right in Miami.  In 2011, twelve Miami Police shot a vehicle stopped at a street light 116 times.