Read the stories of recent victims of lethal police confrontation
Is there a better way?
April 9, 2020, Brandon, Colo.: Zachary Gifford, 39, was shot after a traffic stop in sparsely populated Kiowa County, Colo. He was a passenger in the pickup truck, and he fled after police pulled over the unnamed driver. “At some point during Gifford's attempted escape, a struggle ensued between two deputies and shots were fired, according to CBI,” stated KRDO.
May 19, 2020, Chattanooga, Tenn.: Tyler Hays was shot and killed after a traffic stop. Police said he fled. His father said there was no need for lethal force.
This is the only death in this series by an ex cop and not a current police officer. Brunswick, Georgia, Feb. 23, 2020: Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was shot by an ex-cop’s son after the two were chasing him down suspecting him of robbery.
Fort Worth, Texas, October 12, 2019: Atatiana Jefferson, 28, A neighbor called police after noticing Atatiana’s door was open. When she heard officers approach, Atatiana (a pre-med graduate) allegedly pulled a gun from her purse and pointed it out a bedroom window. Fort Worth Police Chief said she was justified in doing so. Tarrant County DA asked a grand jury to hand down an indictment for murder, saying the officer violated protocol.
October 5, 2017: Paulding County, Ga.: Brandon Lee Bohanon, 35, was in his room at a probable drug house with a woman when police busted in after looking to serve an arrest warrant on another woman. He allegedly went toward police and they shot him. “They killed him. They just cold-blooded murdered my baby,” Bonahan's mother, Renee Taylor, told Channel 2 Action News.
March 13, 2020, Louisville, Ky.: EMT Breonna Taylor, 26, was shot after police broke down the door of the home she shared with her boyfriend. The police were at the wrong house and admitted that it was as case of mistaken identity.
October 15, 2019, Santa Barbara, Calif. - Cameron Ely, 30, the son of 1960s Tarzan actor Ron Ely was shot 24 times by police after he allegedly claimed he had a weapon in pitch dark, encountering him at the home he lived in with his mother and father. He had allegedly stabbed his mother and tried to blame the murder on his infirm father.
March 3, 2020, Manila, Ark. (Memphis area): Christopher Palmer, 37, was schizophrenic and had good days and bad days. Police shot him in his living room with his mother and stepdad looking on, after they claimed he didn’t respond to commands and questions. “He said, ‘Stop or I’m going to tase you,” says Paul Cravens, Christopher Palmer’s stepfather. “He didn’t tase him, he grabbed his gun, his side piece and shot six fires, six shots in his direction.”
October 14, 2019, Feliciana Parish, La.: Christopher Whitfield, 31, had mental issues and was apprehended at a local gas station with employees claiming he was stealing food. He was shot in the back, according to his family. Three days later the sheriff’s office admitted that Whitfield’s death was accidental.
March 6, 2020, Fresno: Kenneth Mullins, 32, who was homeless, broke into an auto detailing shop and was sleeping or passed out. Police sent a robot in to see what he was doing. Mullins threw the robot out of the room. He then fled and at some point police shot him.
April 24, 2020, Austin, Texas: Michael Ramos, 42, was suspected of burglary and stopped by police in the parking lot of an apartment complex. “The man initially got out of the vehicle and put his hands in the air, but he got back into his car when an officer fired a round from a beanbag gun at him. The man closed the door and started to pull out of the parking lot when a different officer fired his rifle. Ramos crashed into a parked vehicle and died on the way to the hospital.