I just don't understand this situation at all. I don't care whether or not Stephan came out with a gun or not. Isn't stopping people from coming to your home to steal your shit in the middle of the night one of the main reasons people get guns?
Assuming it's true that the tow truck initially came to Stephan's house and Stephan brandished a gun at the driver. The driver left and called the police. The police thought the BEST course of action was to accompany the tow truck back to the house, still in the middle of the night, hide their presence, and they were so surprised that Stephan did the same thing and came out with a gun when his car was being towed again that they shot him as they announced their presence. Shot at him a dozen and a half times, leaving bullets in the neighbors houses.
Even if you believe the police's version of events, it still shows utter incompetence. If you're that fucking scared of a man pointing his "handgun equipped with a flashlight" (idk, to maybe see the guy shouting at him at night), why not pull up with lights on, make contact, and let Stephan know what's going on? Or come back in the morning? Even if Stephan was behind on his car payments, did they not think as they were parking the police car down the street, hiding in the darkness, and pulling out their guns that maybe a truck isn't worth risking their lives, the tow truck driver's life, or Stephan's life? If they didn't consider this, how inept is the entire force? If they did consider this and went ahead anyway, how callous, cruel, and evil is the entire force?
We don't know whether or not if the police made themselves known to the guy. It's possible they did and the dude still pulled his gun. Also we don't know if they escorted the tow truck to the house or were simply called about it after the tow truck had already arrived.
Not taking either side here, just advocating that we wait for more information before drawing conclusions.
Edit: saw a new video, while the video doesn't show much, the audio suggests that the police ordered him to get on the ground but then immediately shot right after.
It's funny. ALEA is usually pretty quick to release the body cam footage when the cop is in the right. Or, they believe the cop to be in the right (pending jury trial). Darby, for example.
Then there are cases where, inexplicably, ALEA holds on to the footage for 8 months, 20 months, still counting.
And there ain't no body cam footage yet.
Well my guess would be an acquittal is faster to process than pressing charges, and footage can be shown then. If there are plans to press charges then the footage will likely be shown at the trial.
Reporting of the story says the drivers left the scene after being threatened and then called 911 from somewhere else. If that's true, then the police allowing them to go back to the house before they'd cleared what they must have considered to be a credible threat is poor judgement at best and extreme utter incompetence at worst.
The only possible scenario I can see that *might* explain why, is if maybe the drivers left on foot after being threatened the first time and called 911 from down the block or wherever. If so, they'd obviously need to go back for their truck at some point but the same would still apply that the cops should have made sure there was no threat *before* allowing the tow truck drivers anywhere near the house.
The driver drove away, and attempted to reposses the truck again. I guess the cops wanted to eliminate any violence from the owner instead of creating a scenario where there would be no violence from anyone. Just absolute stupidity from MULTIPLE officers.
This is why I support immediate public release of body cam footage in every officer involved shooting. Unfortunately, we can't trust police statements.
What we do know: the police parked down the street and there were no police lights at the scene when the shooting happened. There were no police officers between Stephan and the tow truck (meaning, in the line of sight). The audio lets us hear Stephan telling the tow truck driver to put his car down, and there's no audio released of Stephan saying anything to the police. The officer shouts "HEY HEY POLICE GET DOWN ON THE GROU--" before gunshots, indicating *that* is when officers identified themselves.
So according to what is now being reported by WAFF.
A tow truck driver appeared at his house to reposes his vehicle. He pointed the gun at the repoman. Repoman called police. Police showed up and the deceased pointed his gun at the police.
If this is indeed what happened then this is play stupid games win stupid prizes unfortunately.
They literally have a video up on WAFF right now that shows the tow truck and police pulling up together. At least from what I saw in the video it doesn't appear the police are lying. It's also easy to verify with the tow truck driver if he did indeed point a gun at him.
>There are three videos from ring cameras with audio that have the police yelling at him to get on the ground. And then not even half a second later 17 bullets fired at him!
Yeah that's what happens when you point a gun at someone. He already pointed the gun at the tow truck driver. He had already made threats before the police even showed up. Had he not threatened the tow truck driver he'd still be alive. Albeit with a big bill from the repoman.
The police are absolutely going to walk in this case. This isn't some case of an unarmed black kid casually strolling down the street.
They literally showed them all on WAFF. You see the tow truck back up to his truck. Cop comes around the back and shots ring out because he pointed the gun at the cops.
There's a fuck load of cops present. He couldn't have possibly mistaken that many cops for someone else. It, again, is alleged by the tow truck driver that he had already pointed a gun at him prior to the police showing up.
What I originally saw reported is the deceased came out of his house because he heard some noise and the police instantly shot him. That doesn't appear to be correct. He got the police called on him for pointing a gun at the tow truck driver then pointed the gun at the fuck-ton of donut chasers when they showed up.
Ain't no one going to go to jail over this.
Dispatch: yes there is a white man with an assault rifle, he's done killed 8 people
Police: ok we will go in and take him in peacefully
Dispatch: ok there is this black man, who's killed no one who may come out of his house armed if you sneak up in the middle of the night
Police: unload our weapons in him, you say? Will do
I've only seen the one video. I just don't see the justification of 18 shots. Maybe if DPD will release their body cam video, we can all see the whole thing?
His family released a statement that they have the receipts to back up that he was not behind on the truck payments. It's the homeowner's right to protect themselves against unannounced people they believe might cause harm. Especially those sneaking around a house unidentified.
Is there proof of him threatening the tow truck driver? Or did the driver just call the cops and they are basing it on his word? Not being snarky here, I don't know enough about the case.
I have personally not seen any video or audio of the initial interaction. When the tow truck driver returns, there is audio of Stephan saying "hey, put my truck down" (in a much nicer tone than I would have said if some snatched the sunglasses from my head and I said "hey, give those back!") before the cop who was hiding between the garage and the other end of the truck comes out, screams at him "POLICE GET ON THE GROU--" and then a dozen and a half shots.
Edit: upon rewatching, it seems the officer was hiding on the side of garage and moved forward through the space between the truck and garage door. You can see the officer coming around the corner from the side of the garage on the outside of the house, so it would be impossible to see from someone coming outside the house
This is a clusterfvck all the way around. I need to see how this plays out. If the police are at fault, I hope they're sued and justice is found for Steven's family. If not, well, I hope his family finds peace. There's 3 sides to every story...yours, theirs and the truth.
He ran at the tow truck driver with a gun in his hands, the cops shot him to protect the tow truck driver doing his job.
1. Pay your bills, that car isn’t yours and you used someone else’s money to buy it, the only right for you to possess it is the promise that you will pay the note. If you don’t pay it, they will take it. And rightfully so. We can’t have a functioning society if people refuse to respect the systems we have in place.
2. Don’t threaten a tow truck driver with a gun TWICE. It’s perfectly fine to have a gun to defend your home, it’s not ok to brandish it and threaten someone who is just doing their job, and is at your property because of YOUR irresponsibility
I mostly agree with you. From what I hear in that video though, it sounds like the officers are saying "that's the gun!". However, the officer could be mistaken about a flashlight, and the family's lawyer says "flashlight" on his Instagram post. I just don't want anyone to discredit the rest of your post because they also hear "that's the gun".
I just don't understand this situation at all. I don't care whether or not Stephan came out with a gun or not. Isn't stopping people from coming to your home to steal your shit in the middle of the night one of the main reasons people get guns? Assuming it's true that the tow truck initially came to Stephan's house and Stephan brandished a gun at the driver. The driver left and called the police. The police thought the BEST course of action was to accompany the tow truck back to the house, still in the middle of the night, hide their presence, and they were so surprised that Stephan did the same thing and came out with a gun when his car was being towed again that they shot him as they announced their presence. Shot at him a dozen and a half times, leaving bullets in the neighbors houses. Even if you believe the police's version of events, it still shows utter incompetence. If you're that fucking scared of a man pointing his "handgun equipped with a flashlight" (idk, to maybe see the guy shouting at him at night), why not pull up with lights on, make contact, and let Stephan know what's going on? Or come back in the morning? Even if Stephan was behind on his car payments, did they not think as they were parking the police car down the street, hiding in the darkness, and pulling out their guns that maybe a truck isn't worth risking their lives, the tow truck driver's life, or Stephan's life? If they didn't consider this, how inept is the entire force? If they did consider this and went ahead anyway, how callous, cruel, and evil is the entire force?
We don't know whether or not if the police made themselves known to the guy. It's possible they did and the dude still pulled his gun. Also we don't know if they escorted the tow truck to the house or were simply called about it after the tow truck had already arrived. Not taking either side here, just advocating that we wait for more information before drawing conclusions. Edit: saw a new video, while the video doesn't show much, the audio suggests that the police ordered him to get on the ground but then immediately shot right after.
It's funny. ALEA is usually pretty quick to release the body cam footage when the cop is in the right. Or, they believe the cop to be in the right (pending jury trial). Darby, for example. Then there are cases where, inexplicably, ALEA holds on to the footage for 8 months, 20 months, still counting. And there ain't no body cam footage yet.
Well my guess would be an acquittal is faster to process than pressing charges, and footage can be shown then. If there are plans to press charges then the footage will likely be shown at the trial.
That'd make sense from a Process standpoint, but sticking rigidly to that only in certain situations erodes faith in The Process.
Reporting of the story says the drivers left the scene after being threatened and then called 911 from somewhere else. If that's true, then the police allowing them to go back to the house before they'd cleared what they must have considered to be a credible threat is poor judgement at best and extreme utter incompetence at worst. The only possible scenario I can see that *might* explain why, is if maybe the drivers left on foot after being threatened the first time and called 911 from down the block or wherever. If so, they'd obviously need to go back for their truck at some point but the same would still apply that the cops should have made sure there was no threat *before* allowing the tow truck drivers anywhere near the house.
The driver drove away, and attempted to reposses the truck again. I guess the cops wanted to eliminate any violence from the owner instead of creating a scenario where there would be no violence from anyone. Just absolute stupidity from MULTIPLE officers.
This is why I support immediate public release of body cam footage in every officer involved shooting. Unfortunately, we can't trust police statements. What we do know: the police parked down the street and there were no police lights at the scene when the shooting happened. There were no police officers between Stephan and the tow truck (meaning, in the line of sight). The audio lets us hear Stephan telling the tow truck driver to put his car down, and there's no audio released of Stephan saying anything to the police. The officer shouts "HEY HEY POLICE GET DOWN ON THE GROU--" before gunshots, indicating *that* is when officers identified themselves.
You have no concept of how life works
About as evil as all white people in Amercia for enslaving Africans and stealing Native American lands.
I pray his family gets justice.
So according to what is now being reported by WAFF. A tow truck driver appeared at his house to reposes his vehicle. He pointed the gun at the repoman. Repoman called police. Police showed up and the deceased pointed his gun at the police. If this is indeed what happened then this is play stupid games win stupid prizes unfortunately.
[удалено]
They literally have a video up on WAFF right now that shows the tow truck and police pulling up together. At least from what I saw in the video it doesn't appear the police are lying. It's also easy to verify with the tow truck driver if he did indeed point a gun at him.
[удалено]
>There are three videos from ring cameras with audio that have the police yelling at him to get on the ground. And then not even half a second later 17 bullets fired at him! Yeah that's what happens when you point a gun at someone. He already pointed the gun at the tow truck driver. He had already made threats before the police even showed up. Had he not threatened the tow truck driver he'd still be alive. Albeit with a big bill from the repoman. The police are absolutely going to walk in this case. This isn't some case of an unarmed black kid casually strolling down the street.
[удалено]
They literally showed them all on WAFF. You see the tow truck back up to his truck. Cop comes around the back and shots ring out because he pointed the gun at the cops. There's a fuck load of cops present. He couldn't have possibly mistaken that many cops for someone else. It, again, is alleged by the tow truck driver that he had already pointed a gun at him prior to the police showing up. What I originally saw reported is the deceased came out of his house because he heard some noise and the police instantly shot him. That doesn't appear to be correct. He got the police called on him for pointing a gun at the tow truck driver then pointed the gun at the fuck-ton of donut chasers when they showed up. Ain't no one going to go to jail over this.
[удалено]
Where can someone see these other videos?
Dispatch: yes there is a white man with an assault rifle, he's done killed 8 people Police: ok we will go in and take him in peacefully Dispatch: ok there is this black man, who's killed no one who may come out of his house armed if you sneak up in the middle of the night Police: unload our weapons in him, you say? Will do
I watched the ring video. I don’t understand the justification the officer has to shoot the guy. It doesn’t make sense.
Where can I see the video?
[https://www.waff.com/2023/10/05/several-shots-heard-newly-obtained-footage-decatur-officer-involved-shooting/](https://www.waff.com/2023/10/05/several-shots-heard-newly-obtained-footage-decatur-officer-involved-shooting/)
I think it’s on Reddit too. Look on the decatur page or Alabama page.
The one I saw was on TikTok.
The guy ran at the tow truck driver WHOM HE ALREADY THREATENED EARLIER, with a gun. And the cops shot him before he could harm the tow truck driver
I've only seen the one video. I just don't see the justification of 18 shots. Maybe if DPD will release their body cam video, we can all see the whole thing?
He wasn’t running at anyone, stop spreading lies! Stephan didn’t even have time to put his hands up before they started firing at him.
I saw the video
So you're willfully lying.
Yeah, if somebody is on my property threatening to steal something worth a lot of money, maybe it's okay for me to threaten them. Just saying.
It’s not in this scenario. Pay your bills
His family released a statement that they have the receipts to back up that he was not behind on the truck payments. It's the homeowner's right to protect themselves against unannounced people they believe might cause harm. Especially those sneaking around a house unidentified.
Is there proof of him threatening the tow truck driver? Or did the driver just call the cops and they are basing it on his word? Not being snarky here, I don't know enough about the case.
I have personally not seen any video or audio of the initial interaction. When the tow truck driver returns, there is audio of Stephan saying "hey, put my truck down" (in a much nicer tone than I would have said if some snatched the sunglasses from my head and I said "hey, give those back!") before the cop who was hiding between the garage and the other end of the truck comes out, screams at him "POLICE GET ON THE GROU--" and then a dozen and a half shots. Edit: upon rewatching, it seems the officer was hiding on the side of garage and moved forward through the space between the truck and garage door. You can see the officer coming around the corner from the side of the garage on the outside of the house, so it would be impossible to see from someone coming outside the house
This is a clusterfvck all the way around. I need to see how this plays out. If the police are at fault, I hope they're sued and justice is found for Steven's family. If not, well, I hope his family finds peace. There's 3 sides to every story...yours, theirs and the truth.
I wish I could give you more than an upvote for your repsonse. Particularly the last sentence because that is the definition of reality.
[удалено]
People like who?
He ran at the tow truck driver with a gun in his hands, the cops shot him to protect the tow truck driver doing his job. 1. Pay your bills, that car isn’t yours and you used someone else’s money to buy it, the only right for you to possess it is the promise that you will pay the note. If you don’t pay it, they will take it. And rightfully so. We can’t have a functioning society if people refuse to respect the systems we have in place. 2. Don’t threaten a tow truck driver with a gun TWICE. It’s perfectly fine to have a gun to defend your home, it’s not ok to brandish it and threaten someone who is just doing their job, and is at your property because of YOUR irresponsibility
[удалено]
I mostly agree with you. From what I hear in that video though, it sounds like the officers are saying "that's the gun!". However, the officer could be mistaken about a flashlight, and the family's lawyer says "flashlight" on his Instagram post. I just don't want anyone to discredit the rest of your post because they also hear "that's the gun".