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Mentally Ill Man Waves Broom, Cops Shoot Him Dead And Cuff Him
A mother in Miami Gardens called police, asking them to help her calm her mentally disturbed son. But when the cops showed up, the man, 25, waved a broom at them so they shot him multiple times, killing him.
The mother, Catherine Daniels Brown told reporters that she called the police at 5am, Sunday, saying “‘My son has got a mental problem. Please send somebody here to help him.’”
According to reports, when the police arrived at the scene, Lavall Hall, who was schizophrenic, refused to comply with police orders and ran off. The cops followed, attempting to use tasers to stop Hall.
A police statement notes that Hall was holding “an object” that he used against them as a weapon.
While the statement did not give any detail on what the object was, witnesses say it was a broom.
“You tell them that the child is mentally challenged, and then all of a sudden you run out to him…You know he doesn’t have a gun. He had a broom, a red broom with straws. Old, red broom.” said the man’s mother.
“If I (knew) they (were) going to kill my child, I would have never, ever called them,” she added. “He [has] a mental problem and when I went around the corner to help my child all [the police] had to do was take my child because he got a mental problem…they killed my child, took my child away from me.”
Witness statements indicate that Hall was shot five times, and that after he was dead, the cops placed his lifeless body in handcuffs. The Police statement, however, differs. Miami Gardens Police Chief Stephen Johnson told a press conference Tuesday that Hall was still alive and “struggling” when the officers handcuffed him and placed him faced down on the street. “He continued to be combative,” said Johnson, adding that the officers “did the best they could.”
When Hall’s mother attempted to intervene, police turned their guns on her.
“He [drew] his gun and told us to get back or he’ll shoot us…my hands went up.” she said.
As the local news report details, police have had previous run ins with Hall and knew that he was mentally ill.
“When they left (here) they went home to their family,” Hall’s cousin, Walter Pinkins, said of the police responsible for the shooting. “They (are) probably home eating, drinking (and) having a good time. But we (are) back here grieving. That’s not fair.”
The officer who shot Hall is said to be on paid leave pending an investigation.
Unfortunately this is not an isolated case. There are regular accounts of police resorting to deadly force when encountering mentally disturbed or challenging individuals. Experts have expressed concern that cops are simply not trained to deal with such situations.
http://www.infowars.com/mentally-ill-man-waves-broom-cops-shoot-him-dead-and-cuff-him/
