FICER KILLED 21-YEAR-OLD DURING PURSUIT LAST WEEK
Community questions police handling of shooting
Organization seeking independent inquiry
CLEVE R. WOOTSON JR.
cwootson@charlotteobserver.com
Aaron Quentin Winchester
Hours after Aaron Winchester was buried Tuesday, a Charlotte community demanded answers about why a police officer shot the 21-year-old in the back last week.
Also Tuesday, the National Action Network led by civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton, asked to meet with outgoing police Chief Darrel Stephens. The organization wants to conduct its own investigation into the shooting, and a law firm for the family has already interviewed some eyewitnesses.
At 6:30 p.m., more than 50 residents of the Lockwood Community directed questions, frustration and, at times, rage at 20 police officers gathered at a meeting just north of uptown.
One woman used the word "assassinate" in referring to the May 20 shooting. Several people wondered aloud whether Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers could objectively investigate one of their own.
Another said he felt misled by an official police statement that didn't reflect what some neighbors said they saw.
Sandy Hoagland, who held a copy of the police statement in the air as he talked, said he felt it was written by "someone trying to paint a picture and give people a way out."
An Observer article reported last week that some eyewitness accounts conflicted with what police said happened. The department has said it stands by its original statement.
At Tuesday's neighborhood meeting, police didn't release more information on the shooting, saying they didn't want to jeopardize the ongoing investigation. At first, officers' responses to the Lockwood community's questions didn't stray from basic talking points. They said a shooting-review board would determine whether Officer David Jester remains a Police Department employee. They said witnesses of the shooting should call Crime Stoppers.
But as the meeting stretched to two hours, residents continued pointing accusatory fingers, and officers' emotions began to show.
"There is sadness on both sides," said homicide Detective Gary McFadden, who is helping to investigate the case. "We do not want to take anybody's life, as much as you may not want to believe that. ... It frustrates me because we go through this, and when we walk through those doors tonight, our phone will not ring. When we are at the next homicide, you will not be there."
The meeting showed the raw nerves of a community that has seen two police shootings this month. And last week's shooting was the second time since November that a young, black man was shot in the back by a pursuing police officer, a point not lost on Lockwood residents.
Winchester's family has asked the State Bureau of Investigation to independently investigate the shooting, an option afforded them by state law.
Winchester, who lived off Beatties Ford Road, ended up in the Lockwood neighborhood May 20 during an argument with the mother of his son.
The car they were riding in hit a pole on Dalton Avenue, near North Graham Street. Someone called 911, and at some point Winchester ran into the neighborhood.
Officer Jester stopped his patrol car and approached Winchester on foot to question him about the wreck and the argument.
Two witnesses say that after a brief conversation, the officer attempted to search Winchester. That's when Winchester hitched up his baggy blue jeans, they said, and ran west on Sylvania Avenue toward Graham Street.
Police say Jester yelled commands at Winchester, then fired four shots after Winchester pulled a gun from his back pocket and began to turn. Police say they found a silver pistol next to Winchester.
All five witnesses interviewed by the Observer last week recounted a brief chase before Jester fired multiple shots. None of them recalled seeing Winchester pull a gun or turn toward the officer.
If you ask me, This fool should of never ran if he had nothing to hide! Now I Aint saying no police should ever shoot folk in the back if they life aint in danger, But again why did this fool run? I hope this teach folk a good lesson, Don't run from the police if you got nothin to hide. It better to say you inoccent after you do what the police ask of you rather then try to explain you inoccent after your butt got shot for running from the police is what I say.
Now I'm not sure I get exactly what is going on with these oil and gas prices? I watched that evening News today and they say Bush went to them Arabs and asked for more oil Production and they said no cus they already did last week by 3%. Now Bush gonna stop filling them reserves we got to drop the price of fuel at the pump. How is that gonna help? Now If them fuel prices at the pump is high due to not enough refinery of the oil like them experts are saying, Why in the world Don't the Government or big oil just go ahead and build more refineries? Them Arabs say they have no demand from any countries for more oil other then that 3% last week and have no shortage in supply of that crued oil. Only shortage is supply of refined oil cuz there aint enough refineries that turn that oil into gas for the pump. So build more then? We did it with President Hover When we needed more energy and they built that Hover Dam back in the day and created a whole mess of work and A big city to boot now call Vegas. If the government can't do it today cus they broke, Then Why don't some real rich folk build a refinery or two and make money in doing so if thats all we need. Sounds to me like whoever builds another refinery or two would sure be making a sure thing investment and return on their money, not to mention the creation of jobs to build and run them refineries with a result in lower fuel prices at the pump since Shortness of refined oil is what they say causing this mess.
Bill Clinton says Obama campaign played 'race card' on him
From Times Wire Services
April 23, 2008
PITTSBURGH -- Former President Clinton's stumbles on the campaign trail have sometimes put the focus more on himself than on his wife.
On Monday, he accused the Barack Obama campaign of playing "the race card" on him after the South Carolina primary, a charge that drew a rebuke from Obama.
Clinton told a Philadelphia radio station that his comments were "twisted" after he likened Obama's primary victory in the state to Jesse Jackson's.
Clinton was asked if he regretted the comparison after a Pennsylvania official said she thought he was marginalizing Obama as "the black candidate."
"No, I think that they played the race card on me," he said. "We now know from memos from the campaign and everything that they planned to do it all along."
Obama scoffed at Clinton's remarks.
"Hold on a second: So former President Clinton dismissed my victory in South Carolina as being similar to Jesse Jackson, and he's suggesting that somehow I had something to do with it?" Obama asked reporters at a Pittsburgh diner Monday. "OK, well, you better ask him what he meant by that."
On Tuesday, the former president brushed off a reporter's questions about his race comment. "I said what I said," Clinton said. "You always follow me around and play these little games, and I'm not going to play your games today. This is a day about election day."
Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that she had no comment on the matter, saying she wanted to focus on "what voters are focused on."
