They say Harris was likely trying to communicate with the trooper using sign language before he was killed.
Advertisement
Officials said that’s when the driver got out of his auto and an encounter took place between the driver and the trooper.
The cop said he was in fear for his life because Harris was advancing towards him, refusing orders to not advance. Neighbors who were present at the scene told local station WCNC that Harris’ auto reportedly “spun out of control” and that Harris “was shot nearly immediately after exiting the vehicle”.
Some accounts say Harris may have been gesturing in sign language when he “jumped” out of the vehicle, fueling suspicions Saunders was either taken off guard by the gestures or was simply not trained in dealing with deaf motorists. Officials at the chair and tabletop manufacturer said Harris “got very mad and stormed out” after being fired, hitting an employer’s vehicle with his own auto causing light damage, according to a police report. It remains unclear if Harris, whose hearing and speech are impaired, could understand what was going on.
“Being shot by the police is just not acceptable”, Sam Harris said, who is Daniel’s brother.
“He was unarmed – and he is a deaf individual, and I think that he was just afraid”, he said. He could not hear their commands to stop or to stay away from them’. Then the driver, later identified by another agency as Harris, got out of his auto.
He said: “You’re pulling someone over who is deaf, they are handicapped”.
Also in 2014, a Florida police officer fatally shot a deaf man after the man brandished a gun.
Police said they attempted to pull Harris for allegedly speeding on the Interstate 485.
Trooper Saunders has been placed on administrative leave.
The director of the state Department of Public Safety, which oversees the highway patrol, called the deadly shooting “tragic” but urged the public not to rush to judgment before investigations are finished.
A crowdfunding page set up by Harris’s family is raising money for his memorial and cremation expenses.
Harris’ killing comes amid a national debate in the United States over police brutality and the use of force against unarmed people, especially those who are Black or Latino.
‘What threat did Harris pose? Could the officer truly not subdue Harris on his own?
“I (was) pulled over and within a few seconds, the officer is at my window with his weapon drawn and in my face”.
They hoped to change drivers’ registration systems so that a “deaf” alert will show up when police look up a car’s licence plate.
Advertisement
“You don’t see deafness the way you see race, and what we need to change is the system”, Sam Harris said.
