Mentally Ill
In many cases, police were called for assistance in an emergency by neighbors, family members or sometimes the mentally ill themselves, and they ended up killing the person they were supposed to help. - Mike Tolson, Houston Chronicle 9/26/99
2007
10/27/07 - John David Perdue, w/m, 46 and known to be mentally ill, found hanged in a holding cell at the Houston city jail. Although police noted on Perdue's booking information that he had multiple personality disorder and suffered from depression, they failed to place him in a separate cell to be closely watched. Police are claiming suicide. (media reports)
8/27/07 - R. Patton, 24 and known to be mentally ill, shot by Precinct 3 deputy constable C. Kerr when responding to a domestic disturbance call. Patton had allegedly threatened his grandparents with a knife. Kerr claims he told Patton 10-15 times to drop the knife, then shot him, grazing Patton's chest. (media reports)
†7/21/07 - Steven Guillory
b/m, 39 and mentally ill, killed when shot by Houston PD officers T.K. Richardson and R.B. Wieners. Police say Guillory had threatened his mother with a knife, and she called 911 for help, telling them that her son was mentally ill. When officers arrived they said Guillory had a large pipe and appeared agitated. After about 20 minutes the officers moved away and called for backup; Guillory then began smashing the patrol car's windows and headlights. When the second officers arrived Guillory's mother told them her son was schizophrenic and bipolar, begging them not to shoot him. But they allege that Guillory threw the pipe at them, and Richardson and Wieners then shot him at least once. Once again, the Crisis Intervention Team either was not summoned or failed to respond to this call. Guillory is the 7th person known to have been shot to death this year by a Harris County police officer. (media reports)
† 5/6/07 - Marnell Villarreal
b/f, 42 and mentally ill, killed when shot once at Houston PD headquarters by HPD officer A.B. Clay, a 17-yr vet. Villarreal had first requested to speak to an investigator about a case involving her, but was refused entry because her name was flagged as someone who had previously tried to bring weapons into the building. Officers then saw her "wandering" on the street in front of headquarters, and again refused her entry when she asked to use the bathroom. She later rushed into the building, allegedly with a knife in her hand, crying out, "Shoot me, kill me. I want to end this." As she focused her attention on Clay, officer E.D. Smith (5-yr vet), shot her with a Taser, which apparently failed to make contact. Clay then shot her in the chest. Villarreal was convicted in November of unlawfully carrying a weapon, and was ordered at that time to have a psychiatric examination; it is not known if the examination was arranged by the court or any other authority. Once again, no CIT officer was summoned, despite her unusual behavior for several hours before she was killed. Villarreal is the 4th person known to have been shot to death this year by a Harris County police officer. (See media reports)
†2/10/07 - Michael Gene Meloy, w/m, 38 and apparently mentally ill, killed when Houston PD officer Scott C. Dalton (14-yr vet, NE Patrol Div.), shoots him in the torso with a shotgun. Meloy had robbed a liquor store then tried to hide behind the store. When the police found him, he began walking away, and officers followed him for several blocks, offering to take him to a hospital. According to a witness, who said he seemed "crazy but calm," Meloy responded, "You can't help me, just shoot me." Officers claim he lunged at them with a knife, and Dalton shot him. Despite his strange behavior, no CIT officer was reported to have been called. Meloy is the 3rd person known to have been shot to death this year by a Harris County police officer. (media reports)
†
2006
10/5/06
- Herman Carroll, b/m, 31, mentally ill and unarmed, dies after he
is tasered multiple times by unidentified Harris County sheriff's deputies.
Officers saw Carroll standing by some mailboxes and asked him if he lived
around there. Carroll, who had a key to his mailbox, ran into a nearby house
where he lived, and the deputies followed. Neighbors heard Carroll plead with
the deputies to just go away, saying, "Sir, can you please just get out of
my house?" Instead, they entered the house and shut the door behind them.
Officers claim Carroll was out of control, and they were forced to use a Taser
and a baton to subdue him. His mother and sister dispute that, saying the
house was in a chaotic mess when they arrived; they are convinced that Carroll
was beaten by the deputies.
2005
2/18/05 - Joel Casey - w/m, 52 and known to be mentally ill, dies
after being shot at least 4 times with a Taser by two unidentified Pct.
1 deputy constables and hog-tied. The deputies were supposed to serve
a mental health warrant on Casey; instead, claiming he resisted, began
tasering him as he protested, "I'm your friend." He was dragged outside,
shoved against a brick wall and hog-tied. As he lay in the street, an
officer leaned over him with his knee pressing on his back. His disabled
mother says that's when she heard a cracking sound; an autopsy revealed
a broken hyoid bone. His mother says he never resisted, and watched helplessly
as he stopped breathing, saying to the deputies, "You've killed my
son." The deputies failed to request help from a CIT officer.
2004
1/26/04
- Tairon Anthony
Gray, 23 and mentally ill, shot
to death by Precinct 1 deputy constables Andy Reyna Jr., 33, and Chris Jaris,
35 (Mental Health Unit), who were attempting to take him to a psychiatric
center. Claiming Gray pulled a butcher knife when he saw them, the deputies
tackled him and fired 10 or 11 shots during the ensuing struggle.
2003
11/18/03
- Charlie Everett Brown, 47, mentally ill, shot in the chest with
a shotgun and killed by Sgt. William L. Gray, an 18-yr veteran with the
Harris County sheriff's office. Police claim Brown was threatening to kill
himself and his wife, and was shot when he removed the gun from his pocket.
Although police said, "Our biggest fear was that he would shoot his wife
and kids," no such threat was made against his children, who were asleep.
Brown was a welding instructor at San Jacinto College. Just a week earlier
deputies had gone to Brown's home in response to a relative's call that
he was a suicide risk, but they failed to place him in a psychiatric facility
at that time.
11/11/03 - Louis Medlow, 45, threatening suicide, wounded when shot in the legs and buttocks by Houston PD officer Curtis Hampton during SWAT standoff. Although the standoff lasted several hours, no CIT officer was reported to have been called.
9/8/03 Gralynn Keith Guillory, b/m,
20, shot multiple times and killed by Houston PD patrol officers J.D. Terry,
a 2-year veteran, and C.L. Nichols, on the force just 3 months, both of
the Westside division. At approximately 11 pm a deputy constable responded
to a report of a "suspicious man with a knife." The deputy said Guillory
began following him around his squad car, at one point grabbing the nozzle
of a gas pump. His "irrational behavior" continued until twenty minutes
later, when Terry and Nichols arrived. They claim Guillory approached Nichols
in a threatening manner and they shot him.
Although Guillory exhibited signs of mental illness during this entire incident, again, HPD’s CIT failed to respond; he is the 11th person known to have been shot to death this year by Harris County police officers.
9/2/03 - Mary J. Beasley
(female), reportedly suicidal, killed when shot twice by Houston police
SWAT officer Patrick J. Straker and once by Houston patrol officer R.V.
Pinkerton. The woman was a health care provider who lived with her patient.
They had argued over sleeping arrangements, and the patient called police
saying she had barricaded herself in his bedroom with his gun and was threatening
suicide. After a lengthy confrontation, police claim she waved the gun at
them in a threatening way, and the two officers shot and killed her.
(See also 8/13/01 - Straker kills McLoren Anthony Jones; and 6/10/99 – Straker kills Demetrio Martine Hernandez.)
Although approximately 25% of HPD’s 5700 police officers have now been trained by its CIT (Critical Incident Team) program to respond to calls involving the mentally ill, apparently not one was either dispatched or willing to respond to this threatened suicide.
8/7/03 - Kevin Dynelle
McFadden, b/m, 39, dies after being restrained by Houston police officer
J.D. Despain (North Division), and additional unnamed HPD officers and a wrecker
driver. As Despain sat in his patrol car at the scene of an accident, McFadden
allegedly began banging on the window, yelling, "Why are you trying to kill
me?" When efforts to subdue McFadden failed, other officers were called and
he was restrained with handcuffs and leg restraints. He was pronounced dead
at the hospital.
3/31/03 - Juan Lozano
Jr., 31, h/m, mentally ill, shot twice in the chest and killed by Ronald
L. Plotner, a 5-yr veteran of HPD, who claims he chased Lozano because he
was driving through a residential area with his lights off. Lozano soon crashed
and his car turned on its side in a ditch. Plotner then claims Lozano "grabbed
an object from his vehicle and pointed it" at him; a witness disputes that,
saying Lozano was "on the ground" when he was shot. No weapon was found. He
was only a short distance from his sister’s house, where he had been staying
since splitting up with his wife. Plotner was no-billed.
* 2/28/03 - Aaron Agee, suffering from depression, shot and injured by Harris County Precinct 4 deputy constable James Randall Brown. Agee was reportedly attacking his wife and son; he began walking toward Brown with a knife in his hand when Brown shot him. Brown was no-billed.
* 2/23/03 - Jake McClain Driver, w/m, 19 and mentally ill, shot in the stomach by Houston police officer B. C. Oxspring, a 4-year veteran with Southwest Patrol. Oxspring and his partner were responding to an "overdose/suicide in progress" call. They said Driver "charged at Oxspring while raising the screwdriver in a stabbing motion." No explanation was given for the failure of HPD’s CIT team to respond to this call.
2002
11/23/02 - Rachell Michelle
Taylor, w/f, 28, shot once in the abdomen and killed by Houston police
officer Robert Ray Lara, on the force just 11 months at the northeast patrol
division. Police claim she pointed a gun at them and threatened to shoot,
but her mother said Rachel never pointed the gun or verbally threatened them
and that she repeatedly told the officers she was trying to make them shoot
her. Despite knowing that the call involved a mentally ill person, no officer
trained to handle such critical incidents was dispatched. Rachel shouted,
"Shoot me, shoot me" at the officers; Lara granted her death wish. She is
the 20th person known to have been shot to death this year by Harris County
police officers.
* 8/3/02 - John Milton Forderson Jr., 55, critically injured after being shot by Houston PD officer Eric F. Westrup, who said the homeless Forderson was lying in the middle of a residential street, and that as he approached him, Forderson began swinging a piece of lumber at him while shouting, "Somebody is going to die and it won’t be me." Suspecting Forderson of being mentally ill, Westrup says he called for a CIT unit and began backing away, but claimed he was then forced to shoot Forderson. The bullet went through his elbow and into his chest. This apparently mentally ill man was then charged with aggravated assault.
* 5/17/02 - Jessie Maciel Jr., 37, h/m, mentally ill, shot in the abdomen by Houston PD officer O. R. Cisneros, 34, a 5-yr veteran with South Central Patrol Division. Police say they were called by Maciel’s mother after he threatened to kill her if she did not leave the house they shared. Cisneros found Maciel nearby and claimed he shot him after Maciel threatened him with a machete. Once more, no member of HPD’s Critical Incident Team was asked to respond to this call, even though Maciel reportedly has a long history of mental illness.
2/9/02 - Jack Alton
Stuart, w/m, 42, mentally ill, shot once in the chest and killed by
Houston police officer Jesus L. Gutierrez, h/m, who found Stuart watering
a parking lot with a garden hose when checking on a report of someone looking
into car windows. Gutierrez says Stuart acted erratically and claimed Stuart
twice tried to steal his patrol car and, after running behind a building,
Stuart returned and “lunged” at him with his hand in his pocket. Gutierrez
claimed he feared Stuart might have a weapon. Although Stuart exhibited aberrant
behavior, Gutierrez failed to notify a member of HPD’s Crisis Intervention
Team, who are trained to de-escalate encounters with the mentally ill. Stuart
had no weapon..
2001
9/7/01
- Mark Dawson, b/m, 22, obviously mentally ill or under the influence
of drugs, dies after a 14-minute struggle with Houston police officers S.A.
Murphy and J.K. Rose, other unnamed police officers and Houston fireman Reginald
Stewart. The incident began after he was seen, naked and covered with blood,
in the middle of the street. A police spokesman said officers were trying
to handcuff Dawson when he stopped breathing. Although an autopsy found no
trauma that would have been fatal and that Dawson died of a drug overdose,
a witness commented that he would have survived if police had let him sit
up. Another witness said that she saw police handcuff and hit Dawson with
nightsticks and that after he got real still the police just stood there watching
him. She said the officers checked for a pulse several times before administering
CPR. Another witness said, “everything they did to him wasn’t necessary. He
was on his stomach and he was naked on the concrete.”
2000
10/23/00 - Jimmy Ross Whitehead,
70, shot and killed by unidentified Harris County sheriff’s deputy. Whitehead,
probably delusional, had confronted neighbors, thinking they were dealing
drugs. The neighbors called police and deputy J.C. Risley responded. After
20 minutes Risley called for backup and was then shot and killed by Whitehead.
The second deputy shot and killed Whitehead when Whitehead allegedly raised
his shotgun toward him.
10/2/00 - Rundy Glen Stephens Jr.,
19, shoots himself in the head when Harris County sheriff’s deputies
chase him through subdivision on foot. Police say he had "threatened
several people and himself with a gun."
9/29/00 – Kevin Douglas Rue,
25, mentally ill, shot in the neck and abdomen and killed by Houston police
when he allegedly ran toward them with a knife in each hand.
6/2/00 – Victoria Rivera, 36,
distraught and threatening suicide with a pistol, is shot in the chest and
killed by Pasadena police officer after she allegedly points the gun at him.
4/23/00 – Richard Leon Keohane,
"wandering" on the street with a pellet gun (probably mentally ill),
is shot twice and killed by Harris County sheriff’s deputy Sean Russell
Conrad, who claims he raised the gun.
* 3/24/00 – Unidentified 42-year-old man, sitting in the middle of his burned living room with what police believe to be a rifle, refuses to respond to Houston SWAT officers. After 7 hours, police use a Taser gun to force him from his home. The "rifle" was a piece of rebar.
4/12/00 – Graduate of HPD CIT training program says it’s her job to go home every night after her shift. (Breaking Point, 48 Hours)
3/22/00 - Edwin Diaz, 34, shot and
killed by two unnamed Pasadena police officers when he walked toward one of
the officers in a "threatening manner" with a hatchet outside his
home. Police claim he had assaulted a woman - no details were reported.
* 3/5/00 - Victor Zachary Duke, 38, mentally ill and threatening suicide, is subdued by beanbag shotgun. He suffers only bruises.
* 1/31/00 - Jeffery Lynn Pruitt, w/m, 37, mentally ill and threatening suicide, shot from behind in the ankle and buttocks by Houston PD officer Jimmy H. Higgins, 44. Police claim he lunged at Higgins with a knife - no description of the knife is given.
Also see 1998 - Higgins is involved in another shooting when Paul Uwandu led several police cars in a high-speed chase. Higgins fired 6 shots at Uwandu, hitting him in the arms and leg.
1/26/00 – 19-year-old man crashes
his pickup when chased by Harris County sheriff’s deputy and state trooper.
His mother had called police and said he was suicidal.
1999
Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves. - Ronald Reagan
8/24/99 – Colleen Beverly Kelly,
w/f, 37, unarmed and mentally ill, is shot once in the abdomen and killed
by HPD officer Joseph H. Shackett. Although reportedly suicidal and having
committed no offense, Shackett nevertheless hunted for and found her walking
on a city street, wearing a fanny pack. Colleen told him she didn't want to
talk to him, and continued walking as Shackett "kept an eye on her." Claiming
he thought she had a gun, despite having been told by Colleen's mother less
that 15 minutes earlier that she was unarmed and had no access to guns, Shackett
calls for backup and 5 HPD cars, with lights flashing, quickly surround her.
Shackett and other officers bombard Colleen with orders to drop her fanny
pack. Shackett then claims that Colleen approached his car with her hand inside
her fanny pack, saying she was holding it as if it were a gun. After having
thus provoked her, Shackett shot her when she was just inches away. Despite
an HPD general order that requires officers to "detain all witnesses," Shackett
nevertheless ignores the numerous civilian witnesses to this murder and allows
all traffic to proceed, thus ensuring that no witnesses other than police
officers and city employees remain. And despite the severity of her injury,
he fails to call for Life Flight, which likely would have saved her life since
she died after arriving at the hospital 45 minutes later. Colleen bled to
death. Shackett was no-billed. (See also 2/12/99
- Shackett kills two others.)
Six months earlier on 2/12/99, Shackett shot and killed 2 men he alleged planned to rob a store where he was visiting with the owner. While engaged in a struggle for the gun of one of the men, he managed to pull his gun and shoot them both dead. Neither of the alleged robbers fired a shot. After Shackett killed Colleen, Chief of Police C.O. Bradford recommended him for Officer of the Year. 9/26/99 - "When we went out to interview a possible threat to presidential security, the approach was different from the current standard police procedures. My experience was that the mental case, although outwardly calm and restrained, may well be seething inside. So it was imperative to be wary, but at the same time to do or say nothing that would trigger an outbreak…we would never approach a subject with uniformed and obviously armed officers…I know this is radical thinking to law enforcement people who tend to think with their weapons, but it worked for us in the Secret Service, and it works in England and other civilized countries. There is a proper time for the use of weapons, but I disagree that it should be the first police tool used. ...
"A problem with police department procedures is that, when dealing with a person known to be mentally ill, a marked vehicle with a uniformed street officer is the first to arrive. Bingo – the subject feels threatened, and so we have the hand in the pocket, etc., pretending a weapon is there…These people are scared in most cases, that’s why they are lashing out."
Relating how he handled a woman he perceived as a threat to the president, "I just went over and hugged her…In today’s environment, a lady like that could be shot." (Anonymous former Secret Service Agent 10/7/99)
9/26/99 – Journalist Mike Tolson wrote:
This year alone in Houston, police have killed three people with mental problems, including two who had called 911 for medical help but met with police instead… These bloody conclusions have led advocates for the mentally ill to call for a new and specially trained type of police officer…a gulf of misunderstanding that dooms police and the noncriminal mentally ill to endless replays of this deadly dance…they were killed because officers saw no other way of dealing with them. Paranoid or belligerent, depressed or perhaps delusional, they were killed because officers saw no other way of dealing with them. ...
These fatal encounters speak loudly to a lack of police preparedness for interacting with mentally ill citizens…
Because of the wide latitude given police on the use of deadly force, grand juries or district attorneys who review shootings of the mentally ill almost always rule them justified… typical of relatives who never had a bad thought about law enforcement before. ...
Encounters with police will rise as the mentally ill population does…Methods useful in controlling a situation with a criminal suspect often result in tragedy with a mentally ill person in crisis…One has to wonder whether any other identifiable group is victimized so regularly and so anonymously. ...
In many cases, police were called for assistance in an emergency by neighbors, family members or sometimes the mentally ill themselves, and they ended up killing the person they were supposed to help. ...
Richard Danford, patient advocate for mentally ill in San Diego, fed up with police treatment of mentally ill in 1995, sends letter to newspaper titled Stop Killing My Clients, complaining that many deaths were avoidable, if the mentally ill could be seen as something other than mad dogs that have to be put down when they go out of control…there’s another way to intervene in this situation that does not involve a death.
Police response was vociferous. They insisted their colleagues had done nothing wrong, even when one of the victims was armed only with a garden trowel. Police said all of the shootings were found justifiable and all of the officers involved had followed standard procedure. "There was a real closed-mindedness…You have to find a way to get past the traditional mind-set of law enforcement. That is the first major stumbling block. You have to get them to go look at other places where it is happening, to see there is another way, that they don’t have to kill people." (Danford 1995)
"My greatest hope is that there will be a slow wellspring of commitment to improve. I have yet to see any evidence of that." (Jerry Huhn, Houston Chapter, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill)
"If there’s a window of just a few seconds…then this (Critical Incident) training can make all the difference in the world." (Cpt. Dwayne Ready)
10/5/99 - Psychotic people may disturb the peace. This behavior can be exacerbated when a phalanx of police descends on a mentally ill person as though he or she were a violent criminal. (Editorial)
With $46 million in federal grants between 1994 and 2000, HPD used most of it to buy laptop computers for its 5,429 officers (9/24/00). In 1999, HPD purchased only 162 Taser guns for its entire police force, and in late 1999 allotted a mere $109,000 to purchase 121 beanbag shotguns (10/7/99). In the 10-year period between 1989 and 1999, HPD increased its force 233%, from 2,333 to 5,438. In the early 1970's Houston had the second highest rate of police shootings in the US. After dropping to #30 in 1986, Houston regained its #2 status in 1999. Of the 15 persons shot and killed by HPD officers in 1999, three were killed by Joseph Shackett, the officer who shot and killed Colleen Kelly on 8/24/99. No other police officer is known to have killed so many in so short a time.
At least three of the 15 persons killed by HPD officers in 1999 were known to be mentally ill before the police were dispatched, yet no officer trained in such situations was asked to respond.
In 1998, at least four mentally ill persons were shot by HPD officers within a 7 ˝ month period.
Again in 1999, at least four were shot within 7 months.
And despite availability of less- and non-lethal weapons, police continue to use lethal weapons in 2000 to shoot mentally ill persons.
* 7/31/99 – Joseph E. Bunn, 40, shot with beanbag by Houston SWAT officer after assaulting his wife and her grandmother. Police thought he had a gun; he is not injured.
* 6/21/99 – 39-year-old man, threatening to ignite cans of gasoline taped to his chest, is subdued by beanbag shotgun. He suffers only minor bruising.
5/19/99 – David Lee Johnson,
31, mentally ill, is shot and killed by two Houston police officers (one is
a field training officer). The officers watched and failed to prevent Johnson
from rummaging in his gym bag, then shot him when he removed a gun. Johnson
had recently been discharged from the parole department’s mentally ill
caseload. He is the 2nd of 3 known mentally ill persons killed by HPD
in 1999.
June 1999 - After 3 years of study, HPD finally begins training its officers how to respond to the mentally ill. (Betsy Schwartz) 6/16/99 – "Simple thing like knowing when not to yell might make the difference between life and death when a police officer is dealing with a mentally ill person." (Thom Marshall) "Under current training procedures, Houston police officers are taught to take charge of situations by using verbal commands." (C. O. Bradford) Review Group says that loud commands in some instances will elevate the level of frustration in situations involving mental illness, recommends HPD examine its training practices and make some adjustments in teaching de-escalation tactics. "…some important recommendations in the Review Group’s report involve communications. First, when calls come in, they should be screened in such a way as to determine whether a situation involves mental illness. And then that information must be passed along to all officers responding to the call." (C. O. Bradford) Recommendations involved field training processes so that the de-escalation tactics for use in mental-illness situations can be taught throughout the department as quickly as possible. "We have to respond differently when we know up front that a person is mentally ill." (C. O. Bradford)
4/25/99 - Three HPD SWAT teams surround residence of 39-year-old "emotionally upset man" threatening suicide. Resolved after 28 hours when police put gas in the apartment and the man surrendered.
4/6/99 - Eulogio Perez Delgado, h/m, 31, mentally
ill, shot once in the abdomen, twice in the back, and killed by a Houston
police officer as he walked down the street less than a block from his home.
Police said he “fit the description” of a robbery suspect and fired on their
car when they tried to stop him. Perez was not the robber, and forensics tests
detected no gunpowder residue on his hands. The officer was no-billed.
1/20/99 - Cheryl Sue Seymour, w/f, 40, shot
once in the shoulder and killed by Houston police officer after calling for
ambulance to take her to hospital. She is the 1st of 3 known mentally ill
persons killed by HPD in 1999.
"The citizens of this community ought to be able to expect that if you call 911 the cops aren't going to come out and shoot you...She needed help, not to be shot." (John T. McDowell, attorney for parents of Cheryl Seymour)
1/22/99 - "Could anything have been done differently in the minutes or seconds before the gun was fired that might have prevented (Cheryl Seymour’s killing)?… Would…changes in training possibly make a difference next time? ...
"Changes are long overdue. For quite some time before (Cheryl Seymour’s killing) local law enforcement authorities and mental health officials have known that changes are needed in how police handle people with mental health problems." (Thom Marshall, journalist)
"Mental health workers knew a couple of years ago that something needed fixing… Knowing how to deal with people who suffer from mental disorders is important to police." (Betsy Schwartz, executive director, Mental Health Assn. of Houston)
1/27/99 - "We need to ask whether anything might have been done differently before the shooting that might have prevented it. …Do we need to expand a training program? Do we need to provide officers with more or better equipment?" (Thom Marshall)
1/29/99 - "...some questions should be asked and answered before the next such crisis involving mental illness arises. ... We should learn from this shooting everything we can that might help prevent the next one. Everything that could help protect the mentally ill…" (Thom Marshall)
2/2/99 – HPD forms Critical Incident Review Group to study past shootings and recommend training changes to improve the department’s response to similar calls.
"…officers must understand that for each round they discharge, there is accountability required...
"We have to do something differently when we get information up front that a person may be suffering from psychological problems...
"A traditional police response to a psychologically ill person with a weapon may not be the best way to handle such an instance...
"We have to train officers differently and not put ourselves in a position where we have to use deadly force." (C.O. Bradford, Chief of Police)
2/3/99 - "A lot of people say they are very concerned about police shootings. They say too many people are being killed, and they blame police for too often being too quick on the trigger." (Thom Marshall)
2/26/99 - "I will not allow those we hire to protect us become those from which we cower." (Lee P. Brown, Mayor)
3/5/99 - "The big picture is how police are deploying deadly force in America, and a piece of that puzzle is what are we doing as police officers when we're confronted with people we know are mentally ill or they are distressed. I believe police officers are going to have to remember that our job is to protect and preserve life." (C.O. Bradford)
Critical Incident Review Group to make recommendations for policy, training or philosophy changes by early April.
1998
10/3/98 - Stephanie P. Ryne, 35, threatening
suicide, shot once in the stomach and killed by Houston police officer after
allegedly pointing gun at officer.
* 8/31/98 – John Huffman, 30, after taking drug overdose in suicide attempt, shot in the wrist by deputy constable when he grabbed a knife and "lunged" at EMS worker.
* 7/29/98 - Jeffrey Thompson, 31, threatening suicide, shot in stomach by HPD officer when he approached officers with knives.
* 6/2/98 - Elsa Jimenez, 37, threatening suicide, shot once in the stomach and critically wounded by Houston police officer who claimed she pointed her pistol at him.
5/5/98 – Richard Young,
72, despondent and threatening suicide, shot in the chest and killed by Baytown
police officer, who said he pointed a shotgun at officers when they rushed
his apartment after a 4-hour stand-off.
* 2/22/98 - Gabriel Tremayne Goffrey, 17 and mentally ill, called 911 for help. Harris County sheriff's deputies T.E. Kizer, Gary G. Parker, Dennis L. Barker, John L. Morrison, T.J. Carr and David W. Hennessy responded. Said to be acting in an irrational manner, the officers claim they "negotiated" with him about 30 minutes, then shot and critically wounded him in the stomach, leg and arm when he allegedly charged at them with two knives.
2 ˝ years later, when it becomes known Goffrey plans to file suit, he is charged with aggravated assault for the 1998 incident. Suit is filed on 9/6/00, saying the Sheriff’s Department failed to properly train its deputies in the use of violence against a mentally ill person.
1997
HPD and other law enforcement agencies form workshop with Mental Health Assn. to study police and mental illness situation and determine how to improve HPD’s response to critical situations and adopts 16-hour mandatory training course on mental illness, trains 450 patrol sergeants.
10/30/97 - Rose Marie Treadway,
43, mentally ill, shot at least two times and killed by two HPD officers.
Treadway had stolen a police car and crashed it. Police say she charged officers
with a knife.
2/10/98 - "Patrol officers need special training in communicating with the mentally ill...and how to respond effectively to a mental health crisis...those with mental illness are rarely violent..." (HPD Officer Frank Webb)
Webb's committee works to establish special mental health unit in which a police officer and a mental health worker would respond to mental health disturbances.
1996
12/14/96 - Lawrence Sherman,
45, unarmed and mentally ill, sleeping beside a freeway service road, is prodded
awake, shot once in the chest and killed by Harris County deputy constable
Matt Davidson, who claimed Sherman attacked him with a nail-studded board.
1995
8/15/95 - Matthew Morgan, 29, mentally
ill, is shot once in the abdomen and killed by Houston SWAT officer after
parents call 911 for help to get him to hospital.
Police perceived him as a threat to public safety, even if the public in this case was them…The periodic arrival of more men in bulletproof vests was not helping…He did not bellow threats or dare anyone to shoot or move erratically. He simply walked. (Mike Tolson, journalist)
1/11/95 – Erma Yvonne
Taylor, 34, mentally ill, shot three times and killed by two HPD
officers. Police say they ordered her to drop the knife, and she charged at
them.
1994
12/27/94 – Duc Loi Thanh Truong,
19, mentally ill, shot once and killed by Port Arthur police officer after
allegedly threatening restaurant patrons with a knife and throwing hot cooking
oil at officers.
11/8/94 – Milton R. Frazier
Jr., 41, mentally ill, shot once in the chest and killed by HPD officer
who said Frazier tried to get his gun.
10/12/94 – Derrick Barnes,
20, shot several times and killed by Houston SWAT officers after 10-hour
standoff. Barnes, who had a gun that he fired into the air, exhibited mental
illness or drug-induced behavior during the standoff when he sometimes danced
wildly on a balcony, and removed all his clothes. Police claim Barnes pointed
his gun at them after they fired tear gas into his apartment.
* 4/25/94 – Michael Lee Metheny, 40, mentally ill and threatening suicide, wounded when shot in the right forearm by HPD officer who said Metheny aimed a gun at police officers.
1993
11/15/93
– Freddy Perry, 45, mentally ill, shot several times
and killed by HPD officer who claimed Perry fired a gun at his brother.
6/25/93
- Jose Luis Montoya, 38, mentally ill, shot once in the chest
and killed by HPD officer after cutting his throat in a suicide attempt. The
officer claimed Montoya lunged at him with a knife.
1/1/93 – Amos
Perry, 15, mentally ill, shot three times in the chest and
killed by HPD officer who claimed Perry lunged at him with a machete.
Police also claim Perry "asked the officers to go ahead and kill him."
Several non-police witnesses dispute police claims, saying Perry never threatened
police, told them to leave him alone and was walking away when he was shot.
= killed by police
* = wounded by police