At least eight people were killed by police December 21st, 2015, according to the KilledByPolice database. They include a naked and bleeding man man tasered to death, a man having a breakdown, a death triggered by a fight over cab fare, and a man seemingly determined to commit suicide. None of the stories, as far as I am aware, have videos and none went viral.
As Shaun King tweeted, these seven eight deaths (he hadn't seen the most recent one) in a single day are more than the tally of most countries' killings by police in an entire year.
These are the stories of their deaths as provided (mostly) by police and then conveyed through reporters’ newspaper accounts. Given what we know about the veracity of what police say when they shoot someone (Cf. Walter Scott, Laquan McDonald, and countless others), we can make our own assessments about how many of these eight deaths were the result of immoral, if not illegal, and unneeded police actions.
Afredo Barrientos
A patient at a local hospital died Monday after he allegedly caused a disturbance and was tased by a police officer. At about 6:40 a.m., Laredo Medical Center emergency room staff called police, requesting assistance with a "combative patient who had disconnected himself from his IV and catheter and was trying to leave the hospital," police said. "The patient was naked and bleeding at the time of the call."
The Laredo police response and situation assessment required the use of a Taser by the police officer. Soon after he was returned to LMC’s care, the 47-year-old man died, LPD said.
Guadalupe Quiroz
Guadalupe Quiroz, 34, died about 3 a.m. Monday At the Santa Rosa Mobile Home Park in the 1400 block of South State Street, according to the Riverside County Coroner's Bureau. Officers responded to the Mobile Home Park after receiving reports of a man "waving a gun around trying to get into neighbors' residences," said Hemet Police Department spokesman Lt. Dean Evans. Other callers said the man was yelling in Spanish...
Upon arrival at the scene, the officers located the man, who still had the gun drawn. When the officers confronted the man, he brandished his gun. That's when the officer-involved shooting occurred... Evans didn't say if the man shot at officers.
Bobby Daniels
A security guard called 911 at 8:16 p.m. Monday and said he had been kidnapped. According to Sheriff Phil Miller, when Douglas County deputies arrived, they encountered three male suspects, one of which had a gun.
One of the deputies took the gun, Miller said, and placed it on the hood of a car. One of the suspects, identified by a family member as 48 year-old Bobby Daniels, then grabbed the gun and pointed it at deputies. Another deputy shot and killed Daniels, Miller said. The gun used to kill him was an AR-15.
Miller said non-lethal force was used at some point. CBS46 talked with the family of Daniels. They say he worked as a security guard and he would never point a weapon in the direction of a deputy. One of the family members who witnessed the shooting says they never saw Daniels pick up a weapon...
"The first officer deployed his stun gun at the first guy and he had on a big coat and the prongs of the gun didn't go through so it wasn't effective," said Miller. "The officer used his stun gun on the first guy and then his actual gun on the second man."
Michael Noel
One man is dead after a deputy involved shooting Monday in St. Martin Parish...
Family members are identifying the victim as Michael Noel. They say Noel was in his early thirties, a father, and had special needs. They say his mother had called an agency earlier Monday, because Noel was having a "Breakdown," and they wanted him to go to a hospital. When time passed, and no one arrived, that's when they called the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office. They say they wanted help from deputies to "calm him down," restrain him, and take him to the hospital. They say they've called the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office before, and deputies have responded, and were familiar with their situation.
Noel's aunt, who was in the house and present during the shooting, says deputies put a handcuff on Noel, but had difficulty putting the other one on his wrist. She says Noel was resisting the deputies, because he didn't want to go to the hospital. She says Noel was tased twice, and then was shot in the chest by a deputy.
Derek DeGroat
Troopers responded to 911 reports of a man with gun threatening to kill himself and threatening to kill police if they came to the home... Authorities said Derek DeGroat, 21, was shot and killed by troopers. He was declared dead at the scene by the coroner just before midnight Monday.
Troopers responded after investigators say someone inside the home called 911 saying Derek DeGroat was threatening to take his own life and had guns. The Wayne County district attorney says troopers shot and killed DeGroat, but it's not clear what caused troopers to use deadly force.
"He didn't deserve anything, he didn't deserve to go," said neighbor Allison Miller. Neighbors were in shock after a night that included several gun shots and lots of questions.
Investigators say DeGroat was heard saying he'd shoot and kill police if they showed up, but the opposite ended up happening.
Robert Teter
A dispute over cab fare turned deadly Monday night in Deltona after a responding deputy fatally shot the 39-year-old passenger... Robert L. Teter of Sanford died after being airlifted to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.
The incident erupted in gunfire when Teter, a passenger in the taxi, pulled a firearm on deputies whom the taxi driver had called for help, Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson said... Teter tried to pay with a credit card, which was declined, and then offered to pay by a check. A dispute ensued, and the taxi driver called law enforcement for help, Johnson said.
Teter went into the home and would not come out. Deputies went to the door and saw Teter with a gun pointed at them. "He was challenged and told to put the gun down but he refused," Johnson said. "So our deputy opened fire." Teter was shot three times, twice in the chest and once in the arm, he said...
Anonymous
According to Deputy Chief Paul O'Keefe, Aurora Police had tried to stop a stolen Denver vehicle multiple times over the past few days. O'Keefe said... that the driver of the stolen vehicle had tried multiple times to bait officers into pursuing him previously. However, officers did not engage.
However, someone spotted the stolen Jeep pull into the 7-Eleven parking lot late Monday night. An officer pulled in behind the stolen vehicle in an attempt to pin in the vehicle.
After Aurora officers asked the driver to turn off the car and put his hands up, the driver intentionally drove back and forth into patrol cars and the 7-Eleven in an attempt to escape the scene. Despite multiple requests to stop, the driver did not. At that point, two officers fired at the vehicle, striking the driver multiple times.
They performed CPR on the driver until an ambulance arrived on the scene to take the driver to a nearby hospital. The man later died from his injuries.
Brandon Barsnick
A man who was reportedly disabled and may have used a wheelchair was shot and killed officers Monday night after what officials called a standoff at the man's home... Yuba County Undersheriff Jerry Read said Brandon E. Barsnick, 30, was killed... after pointing a rifle at SWAT team members.
In a prepared statement, the Yuba County Sheriff's Department said that the shooting occurred after the Yuba County Regional SWAT - including sheriff's deputies and Marysville police officers - responded... to assist Nevada County sheriff's detectives serve a search warrant and an arrest warrant.
"Upon arrival, the team encountered the suspect outside on the porch of the residence. The man was armed with an assault rifle. A short standoff ensued," Read said. He said Barsnick did not comply with SWAT members' orders. "(He) pointed the rifle at team members and was fatally wounded by team members responding to the imminent, life-threatening situation,"
The prepared statement did not mention whether Barsnick was in a wheelchair during the incident...
There is all but certain to be very close to 1200 people killed by police this year. That’s very close to 1200 people too many.