A kid in the park had binoculars and lost his life for them here.

I understand that the police need to protect themselves and others but too many mistakes are made and at least this one lived through it many do not.

The mentally challenged kid here who had a knife and the cops shot him five times and killed him.

It goes on and on.

Where is the line for this type of thing?

We had the same thing here with a boy off his meds, however he had the knife to someones throat, so deadly force was not such an extreme reaction, although I feel for the mother.

this type of thing goes on in the inner cities almost weekly and then the cops wonder why so many of them are getting shot at. The sad thing is these cops will be slapped on the wrist and will return to work with even more venom in their hearts, but if a regular citizen beat someone like that they'd spend 5 to 10 in prison.....I have a kid in my youth program that has been cuffed and stuffed in the back of a police car at least ten times waiting to be identified by someone who claims they got robbed, no why he is always picked up....only because he wears a white tee shirt....The child has never committed a crime in his life. cops for the most part in the inner cities are ignorant a.s.sholes and they continue to run amuck with their shoot first ask questions later and unfortunately they'll keep having the police commisioners attend policeman's funerals.....and the beat goes on....

Sure it is, and who knows how many more details are presented forthcoming by the media. I have no plans to fly to Pittsburgh and interview the boy's mother or the Chief of Police, so the media will have to do. And this story has many details, not sketchy, like so many other crime stories I've seen on the news. It seems pretty clear to me, the Pitt PD screwed the pooch and beat up an innocent kid. And jumping to conclusions is what police do best, I've seen it and lived it. And that is why I'm not very fond of the "Blue" these days. Too many acts of misconduct and abuse of power.

"Police Kill Man in Bed"
"Suspect's uncle slain after cop apparently mistakes soda can for gun
By Sean Kelly
George Merritt and Howard Pankratz
Denver Post Staff Writers


Tuesday, July 13, 2004 -

A Denver police officer likely mistook a soda can for a weapon before shooting and killing a 63-year-old man in his bed, Police Chief Gerry Whitman said Monday.

Frank Lobato was shot once in the chest Sunday night during a police search for a domestic-violence suspect. Lobato, a career criminal and formerly homeless man whom neighbors said was disabled, was not involved in the domestic dispute.

Instead, officers were searching the home at 1234 W. 10th Ave. for Lobato's nephew Vincent Martinez, who was wanted on suspicion of domestic violence, assault and false imprisonment. Martinez, 42, was captured Monday evening.

Some neighbors and community members called the shooting questionable - and worse.

"I think it is disgraceful," neighbor Rose Salaz said. "I don't see how they can just go into people's houses shooting people. ... They are supposed to protect us."

The shooting comes weeks after the city and police announced reforms to the department's use-of-force policy in the wake of controversy surrounding police shootings.

Whitman and District Attorney Bill Ritter took the unusual step of calling a news conference to lay out some of the facts about the incident, the third fatal police shooting this year. But they answered few questions.

"It has now been determined that the party who was shot was not armed at the time of the shooting," a subdued Whitman said, reading from a prepared statement. "The officer stated that after he fired the shot, he heard an object fall to the floor on the other side of the bed. A beverage can was recovered from the floor in the area of the bedroom."

Ritter, standing next to Whitman, promised a full investigation to determine whether Officer Ranjan Ford Jr. broke any laws when he fired the fatal shot. No criminal charges have been filed against a Denver police officer for an on-the-job shooting during Ritter's 11-year tenure.

Ford, 33, came to the department in 2001. He has no prior shootings and no discipline problems, police said.

Before his hiring in Denver, Ford had been an officer in Jasper, Texas. Jasper Police Chief Stanley Christopher said Ford was a model officer there.

"I wish I had a dozen like him," Christopher said. "I'm telling you, he was a great officer. We really hated to see him go."

Ford was born in Boulder and attended Fairview High School, according to the application he submitted to become an officer in Denver. He speaks Singhalese, the native language of Sri Lanka. According to his application, he worked as a police officer and corrections officer in Texas beginning in 1993. Ford works in District 6 downtown.

"Knowing him as well as I do, if something happened, he was in fear for his life," Christopher said. "He's not a hot-dog. He's not a John Wayne-type."

Police were called to the home in the South Lincoln housing project by Martinez's wife, Cathy Sandoval, who said Martinez beat her and held her against her will for 17 hours on Sunday.

Now Sandoval said she is saddened and worried by the outcome. A relative is dead, and her angry husband is in jail.

"I'm worried he will think this is my fault," she said before her husband's capture Monday night.

The situation began when Sandoval and her husband of two months returned from an evening of drinking around 2 a.m.

Martinez was jealous because Sandoval had talked to people at the bar, Sandoval said. Once home, he became violent and he hit, choked and threw plates at Sandoval until about 10 a.m., she said.

For the rest of Sunday, Martinez refused to let Sandoval leave. She did not get out until about 6:45 p.m., when her mother arrived to return Sandoval's two children.

Once out of the house, Sandoval called police and agreed to meet them at a nearby McDonald's. She said she gave police permission to enter her home, and told them that her husband and his uncle Lobato were in the apartment.

Salaz said she watched police officers use a ladder to enter the apartment. They were in the apartment about a minute before she heard a shot, she said.

"People were out running around, grabbing their kids" when the shot went off, Salaz said. "Then, you could hear the officers inside yelling 'Put your hands up!"'

Salaz and other neighbors knew that Martinez had already jumped out a window and run away before three officers, including Ford, entered through the same window. Police had surrounded the building, but an officer walked around to the front, allowing Martinez an opportunity to flee, neighbors said. It was at least 25 minutes after Martinez ran away before the officers went in, Salaz said.

Sandoval said Lobato was in the room during the day as Martinez held her captive.

Lobato had a lengthy criminal record dating back to 1959, including arrests for drugs, assault and burglary. He had been in prison several times. His most recent arrest came in May on shoplifting charges.

On Monday night, Lobato's niece and grandniece said Lobato needed daily medication to keep his mind clear enough "to where he could cope."

Lobato was probably confused by the officers if he was aware of them at all, his niece Denise Cogil said, adding that the family has contacted an attorney in preparation for a lawsuit.

The shooting stirred echoes of the infamous 1999 shooting of Mexican immigrant Ismael Mena, who was killed during a no- knock drug raid at the wrong address. The city of Denver paid a $400,000 settlement to the family of Mena, who shot at police officers before he was killed and was discovered to have killed a man in Mexico.

Mayor John Hickenlooper, who has championed police reform, issued a statement Monday commending Whitman for being forthcoming about the shooting and promising continued investment in resources and training for police officers.

"This situation involves two tragedies: a brutal case of domestic violence and a loss of life," Hickenlooper said.

City Councilman Rick Garcia, chairman of the public safety committee, said his committee is planning to review further police reforms next month.

"For this action to happen does not bode well for the Police Department or the city," Garcia said. "I'm terribly distraught about it."


The City of Denver was furious when this happened. How many more mistakes must we the citizens put up with? The cops have all the power and the community is at their disposal, this is the sad truth.

Sorry, can't say as I blame the cops here. It's not the cops problem that he's off his meds. They aren't mind readers to know what's going on, or whether the gun was real, loaded, or whatever. Self-defense is legit, and considering they are trained for kill shots, they did what they felt they had to.

Heck, my dad taught us both kill-shots, and that was in case of self-defense. Any other shot is torture, and that includes animals.

hmm, alot of vets families glad to have their TORTURED loved ones still alive though.

I dont agree with intentional killing unless injuring is not an option. I do think police have a difficult job and should be given better training to handle it.

If ethics and making smarter decisions is part of the training, then I'm all for it.

How's more training going to work, when basic training didn't the first time? Heck, our school systems show that!

The kid was clearly guilty of WWB.

/sarcasm

1000 words!!

Whatever he was doing.. his face wasnt holding a gun.

Thank you, 3, this pic says it all. And if I was a juror, I'd know what I would do. This is an infuriating story and I hope it gets picked up on A/C 360 or Larry King. These cops CANNOT get away with what they did to Jordan Miles.

It happens all the time... The police used to be called Peace Officers, now their Law Enforcement..
Their just another gang, they just think their on the right side of the law.

I don't even think they enforce the law anymore either, Ladylid. Do they even know what the law is, the consequences of interpreting the law, and finding real credible evidence and real probable cause? Not this made up fictional paranoid trigger-happy delusional thinking? It's like Judge Dredd may have some grain of truth to it after all.

This is so sad,,,police will say they are fighting for their lives, but many kids in these urban and impoverished areas are too and noone gives them any excuse for their actions. I could never be a policeman because of the potential for things like this happening(out of fear or ignorance.) I respect those in uniform but I do hope this young man and his family are offered at the very least an apology for this result.

Oh, I'd want so much more than an apology. I would demand justice. I'd want them fired, pensions revoked, criminal charges brought up, and a civil suit of adequate monetary value to be levvied against these dirty cops. This cannot go unpunished. Notice, I said "these" and not "all." Those law enforcement who act out of line need to be brought before the courts, just as any accused suspect would be. Enforcing the law does not mean you are above the law.

QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
If the families were so loving and caring why was the poor bastard home less and off his meds . I don't like seeing veterans homeless and I am not related to any of them . When the government turns there back on them it makes me very mad . Because I know the money they save by screwing the vets just goes to people who hasn't done any thing for the benefit of the country .

Several years ago I read in a magazine that eight out of nine murders in the United State are committed by black men. This is what’s on the police officer’s mind when they go into action.

I understand in the first hearing the police officers didn’t show, I wonder if beach warrants were issued?

so my question is what did the pigs...ooops cops look like after all this i'm sure not like the photo above

Well, lets hope they teach the cops to read more than one source.
From FBI...
www.fbi.gov for 2005

Concerning known murder offenders, 89.9 percent were males; 52.6 percent were black.

and

In single victim/single offender incidents where the age of the offender was known, 94.2 percent of the victims were slain by adults (individuals 18 years of age or older


These two tidbits should have consoled three GROWN police when they were approaching a teenager.

In any case though, whatever preconceived notion lead to this, some type of restoration is in order for this young man.