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[GK86]

Oh, and body cams didn't come on until after they shot him.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday that an officer involved in the deadly shooting of a motorcyclist on Sunday morning was wearing a body camera, but did not turn the camera on to record video footage until after the shooting took place.

D.C. police said Terrence Sterling of Fort Washington, Maryland was seen riding his bike erratically near 17th and U Streets in Adams Morgan at around 4:30 a.m. Sunday. About ten minutes later, Sterling wound up at 3rd and M Streets where he was shot and killed.

According to police, Sterling struck the police car as he was attempting to flee and was then shot by one of two officers in the cruiser.

However, a witness to the shooting told FOX 5 about a different account of the incident. Kandace Simms said she had just picked up a friend and was sitting in the right-hand lane waiting at the traffic light at 3rd and M Streets.

"So I pulled up to the light and I was there by myself for some time and some cars were coming behind me, but then I saw a motorcycle come on the left of me and then the police car blocked the motorcycle, so they kind of came at the same exact time,” said Simms. “The motorcycle was trying to speed off and drive away, but he couldn't because he was kind of caught in between the sidewalk at the curb and the police car. So the police were trying to open the passenger side door and he couldn't because the motorcycle was right there, and I guess when he couldn't open the door, he rolled down his window and shot twice.”

Simms said her windows were rolled down and she heard no commands coming from the officer in the cruiser. She said she saw the motorcycle strike the cruiser once.

“It did, but that is because they blocked him,” she said. “The police car wasn't right there when I pulled up."

According to Simms, she believes the collision looked unavoidable.

On Sunday morning, D.C. Police Assistant Chief Peter Newsham gave this account to reporters.

"Officers found the vehicle over here at the intersection of 3rd and M Streets, Northwest, which is about a block north of New York Avenue,” he said. “They were able to stop the vehicle. The person who was riding the motorcycle attempted to flee and ended up striking the police car. At that point, shots were fired. The victim was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.”

According to a D.C. Fire and EMS radio broadcast FOX 5 has been able to hear, Sterling was shot in the neck.

At a Monday afternoon news conference, Mayor Bowser said she called the victim’s family to offer her condolences and revealed only the aftermath of the shooting was captured on a police body camera.

"Our preliminary review does not show any camera footage prior to the shooting incident,” Bowser said.

Officers wearing body cameras are under strict orders to turn them on as soon as they begin an encounter with a member of the public.

D.C. police said the officer involved in the shooting did not suffer serious injuries and was placed on administrative leave.

Sterling, 31, had worked for more than a decade as an HVAC technician at a contracting firm. Sterling's mother confirmed to FOX 5 Mayor Bowser had called the family to extend her condolences. She would not say if their family had retained an attorney.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Oh, and body cams didn't come on until after they shot him.

Shocking.

 

[DpadD]

Fucking travesty

 

[Banana Aeon]

Oh, and body cams didn't come on until after they shot him.

Wow, what a coincidence.

 

[-COOLIO-]

Oh, and body cams didn't come on until after they shot him.

this should be enough to signify wrong doing.

body cams should switch on automatically the moment a gun is unholstered.

 

[LookAtMeGo]

Just felt like killing somebody I guess.

 

[Binabik15]

Think of of the cops please, if they hadn't killed him they would have risked their very own

Spoiler

jobs

!

 

[Violence Jack]

Officers wearing body cameras are under strict orders to turn them on as soon as they begin an encounter with a member of the public.

Shock me, and at least fire him for this as well as murder instead of the "paid vacation" he'll likely receive.

Yet please continue to bitch and moan about what Kaep and the NFL players are silently protesting.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

Cop is a shitbag.

 

[televator]

Probably just had the car polished a day ago... So of coure he had to blast him. /S

 

[tkscz]

but did not turn the camera on to record video footage until after the shooting took place.

Why do they even have off buttons? Just because of this I believe the witness more that they just felt like shooting they guy.

 

[Newlove]

Even if it is as the officer recalls that he attempted to flee from what sounds like a routine traffic stop, I don't quite know how a crash of the bike could escalate to shot dead.

 

[Nappuccino]

Why do they even have off buttons? Just because of this I believe the witness more that they just felt like shooting they guy.

It's a storage issue, mostly. They should have tech to keep the last 10 (or 15 . . . of 30) min of footage, but it is expensive.

One of those sad, pragmatic reasons that results in situations like this, where anything could happen and there's no proof of it.

 

[LookAtMeGo]

If you want to fight somebody without getting in any kind of trouble, join MMA. If you want to kill somebody without getting into any trouble, join the PD.

 

[shira]

Oh, and body cams didn't come on until after they shot him.

What's the point of these things if you can turn them off

 

[WedgeX]

3rd and M? Shit. For the past three years I parked my car basically right there and walked to my office.

There are tons of cameras right around there.

 

[NeOak]

Why do they even have off buttons? Just because of this I believe the witness more that they just felt like shooting they guy.

Because the body cams use Vita memory cards as storage.

Gotta milk the government!

-.-

 

[Rockandrollclown]

It seems to me that body cameras are worthless if the police are able to turn them off.

 

[NIN90]

How does a minor car crash even escalate into shooting someone dead?

 

[Trojan X]

And the cops will be on paid leave, next week the police hq will say that the cops did nothing wrong and then the cops will be back at work doing the same crap, then they will get prosecuted followed by the court not indicting the cops because they will believe the cops words over witnesses. Same old shit, nothing changed. Fucking insane that this sort of crap and worse continues in the states after all the madness that has been going on and been exposed for years. There is no justice, only equilibrium clerics and their units, and the worse thing of all is that everyone is beginning to feel that it was just another monday in the US of A. Another dead person dead on the ground just like in judge dredd, but don't worry, shopping will resume in 2 hours. "Down on your knees down on your knees shoot'はim shoot'im shoot'im", all in a space of 2 secs just like in equilibrium. "The video is on, sweatheart" the cop said before tasering the black boy in his back as informed in the article just YESTERDAY!!! Absolutely maddening. Absolutely sick. Its horrendous that nothing is being done and im getting very tired of hearing the same old bad song.

 

[mnannola]

It seems to me that body cameras are worthless if the police are able to turn them off.

WARNING: Failure to turn on body camera before a shooting may result in getting away with murder.

 

[Ahasverus]

Because the body cams use Vita memory cards as storage.

Gotta milk the government!

-.-

Is this for real?

 

[BinaryPork2737]

3rd and M? Shit. For the past three years I parked my car basically right there and walked to my office.

There are tons of cameras right around there.

Hopefully one of those cameras caught everything happened. The murderer will still probably get away with it, but it could at least bring some semblance of closure to the victim's family.

Terrence Sterling is yet another person who didn't deserve to die, regardless of what happened prior to the shooting.

 

[n00bsauce87]

DC police doesn't want this on their hands.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

How does a minor car crash even escalate into shooting someone dead?

The first 2 words of the title basically answer your question

 

[Absinthe]

Was the rider wearing a helmet?

 

[ghostofsparta]

Oh, and body cams didn't come on until after they shot him.[/URL]

Came in for this. Left disappointed as usual. American cops truly are the biggest gang. Someone hits your car so you have to kill him. Sounds just like a gang to me

 

[Vital Tundra]

Wait so the lady said he just rolled down his window and shot???? The FUCK?

 

[Takuan]

If it happened the way the witness describes it, I'm not surprised the body cams weren't turned on. It sounds as though things escalated immediately and the cops reacted in the worst way possible.

Guy hits the cruiser with his bike and then rolls up directly to the side; I can see how and why the cops' reaction was to shoot.

Edit: Nope, sounds like they were giving chase and trying to prevent him from escaping before the witness saw the incident. Cams should've been on during pursuit, no excuses. The way I was envisioning it in my head, he hit the stopped cruiser then rolled up to the side. Definitely not the case.

 

[Shadybiz]

Jesus Christ...can't go a week.

3rd and M? Shit. For the past three years I parked my car basically right there and walked to my office.

There are tons of cameras right around there.

Good, then let's hope that they show something.

 

[hydragonwarrior]

Cop had to shoot first or he would've made a bigger dent in his car.

Or alternatively, the car's life was in danger.

 

[Hubbl3]

Fucking killing someone for allegedly fleeing from hitting their car? Really? Piece of shit cops.

 

[Skilletor]

Seems like they should always be on. When you've got murder on your mind, ain't nobody got time to think about turning on your body cam.

 

[Verelios]

Wait so the lady said he just rolled down his window and shot???? The FUCK?

Yes, this is insane. Cops are acting just like two bit gangsters and I know this won't be the last time.

 

[Sai-kun]

haha what @ the camera not being on

i have no other words aside from RIP and fuck the police

 

[TheLaughingStock]

It's a huge hassle to turn a camera on when I have someone I need to take care of quickly. Awful.

 

[Cyan]

tbf if they hadn't shot him they'd probably be fired.

 

[supermarioworldE]

D.C. police said Terrence Sterling....

Makes sense.

Fuck these pieces of shit.

 

[Goldrush]

My guess, cops inside thinking he's either using the motorcycle as a weapon from the cops' story or rolling up to the windows to blast the cops from the eyewitness account. Going by the eyewitness account, the officers might not know the cyclist was stuck and question why he's trapping them in the car.

 

[Infinite]

What's the point of these things if you can turn them off

Basically lip service. "Hey look! We're putting body cams on our officers problem solved" meanwhile states like NY and North Carolina make it very hard it impossibe for civilians to get the footage.

 

[TheOMan]

3rd and M? Shit. For the past three years I parked my car basically right there and walked to my office.

There are tons of cameras right around there.

Don't worry - the cops will likely go and delete that footage asap if they haven't already.

 

[hateradio]

tbf if they hadn't shot him they'd probably be fired.

:/

 

[Brashnir]

3rd and M? Shit. For the past three years I parked my car basically right there and walked to my office.

There are tons of cameras right around there.

Which 3rd and M? There are no fewer than three 3rd and M intersections in DC. (3rd St. SE does not intersect M St. SE, or there would be four.)

It's amazing that a local DC news source would omit which of these intersections this occured at. You'd think they would know better. Given that he started in Adams Morgan, it was probably NW, but it's only 5 blocks to 3rd and M NE from there.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

I tried to find a gif of someone stepping on the wrong person's new shoes but I'm not skilled in hunting for such a specific thing.

 

[egruntz]

tbf if they hadn't shot him they'd probably be fired.

Oh man... I was just getting over my depression from that article.

 

[rjinaz]

Black lives are so worthless to these officers. Not even going to try and take them in peacefully. Easier just to take them out, and let the unions clean up your mess after. Ain't dying for no ni..
thug.

 

[Pinko Marx]

tbf if they hadn't shot him they'd probably be fired.

Just doing his community a service by eliminating threats.

 

[Malvolio]

Please let some other surveillance camera footage appear. This is exactly why I'm looking into a dashcam. If the cops can't work their own equipment we need to record it for them.

 

[Captin Quacker]

Cop life so stressful ain't nobody got time for cameras

 

[F0rneus]

Black lives are so worthless to these officers. Not even going to try and take them in peacefully. Easier just to take them out, and let the unions clean up your mess after. Ain't dying for no ni..
thug.

New parlance for blacks in America is "thug" now. I love it. Nigger makes you look too obvious, so you can now refer to blacks as "thugs" and get off scot free. Plus you get a nice swig of crystal clear and fresh Diet Racism soda.

"Look at all these goddamn Black Lives Matter thugs!" See? So much better. All they need to do after that, is to post a "I support law enforcement" meme on their Facebook page!