Thursday, March 28, 2024

Investigation Launched After Maryland Officer Fatally Shoots Black Man Handcuffed Inside Cop Car

African American behind bars

*Officials in Prince George’s County are investigating why a police officer fatally shot a handcuffed a Black male inside a police cruiser on Monday night in the Temple Hills area.

According to reports, two witnesses saw or heard “a struggle of some sort” inside the car and “heard loud bangs,” a police spokesperson said, buzzfeednews.com reports. 

The shooting occurred after Maryland police responded to the scene in Temple Hills, south of Washington, DC, over reports that a driver had hit several vehicles.

Police said they smelled PCP on the driver and he appeared to be under the influence of the drug. The driver was then cuffed and placed inside the cruiser, which Prince George’s county police spokesperson Christina Cotterman said is standard arrest protocol. The suspect was seatbelted into the front passenger seat, and the officer got into the driver’s seat. That’s when “a struggle of some sort” ensured inside the car an witnesses “heard loud bangs,” Cotterman said.

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Police have not yet identified the victim, but according to the Washington Post, Ronald Green said Tuesday that his brother William Green was the man shot and killed.

“I can’t understand why you had him in the car seat, seatbelt down, handcuffed, and then they shoot him? For what reason? What could he possibly do?” his mother, Brenda Green, told Fox 5 DC.

The incident was not caught on a body camera and investigators are looking for any other cameras in the area.
State Sen. Obie Patterson (D-Prince George’s), said he was “sort of shocked” to learn the officer was not wearing a body camera when the incident took place.

“It’s a red flag,” said Patterson.

The officer’s identity has not yet been made public, though Cotterman said he is expected to be named soon, as he has been placed on administrative leave. 

“We are at the very beginning of what is going to be a very complex investigation into exactly what happened inside of that cruiser,” Cotterman said.

“We want to know why our loved one was brutally shot in a police car — handcuffed, seat belt, and in the front seat,” said Green’s fiancée, Sandra Mathis, in an interview with ABC 7. “What harm could this individual do to this police officer?”

“His life matters,” Mathis said. “Damn. Come on, y’all.”

 

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