Friends and family of Daniel Harris gather around a heart drawn onto Seven Oaks Drive during a candlelight vigil to remember Harris, a deaf motorist who was shot and killed by a state trooper, Monday, Aug. 22, 2016 in Charlotte, N.C. Harris, a deaf man who was shot and killed by a North Carolina state trooper after he didn’t stop for the officer’s blue lights was unarmed and likely did not understand the officer’s commands, the slain man’s family says.
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Authorities have released few details about the shooting, including why Trooper Jermaine Saunders fired at the end of the 10-mile chase that started about 6:15 p.m. August 18 when Harris did not pull over as Saunders, with blue lights on, tried to stop him for speeding on Interstate 485 near Charlotte. But family members said on the page that they have set a $30,000 fundraising goal because they want to create a foundation to train law enforcement officers on how to recognize deaf people and properly confront them.
Trooper Saunders has been placed on administrative leave.
The State Bureau of Investigation, a separate agency, is conducting a criminal investigation into the shooting of motorist Daniel Harris, 29, but the agency has been reluctant to release details, including whether or not Harris was armed or threatened the trooper in some way.
Harris’ brother posted on social media, saying he doesn’t understand why this happened and that his brother was scared of police because officers have killed so many people who were unarmed, black or innocent. Harris died at the scene.
The Basic Law Enforcement Training manual has a section on dealing with deaf people.
Morganton Public Safety officials said they also have officers who are highly trained in sign language where more communication is needed.
“You don’t see deafness the way that you see the difference in race”.
The State Bureau of Investigations is now conducting a criminal investigation into the shooting death. 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. But those charges in 2010 in Florida and 2008 in Denver were dropped.
And in December of that same year, he pleaded guilty to interfering with or resisting police in Watertown, Connecticut.
“We do have a lot of officers who go to special classes who learn sign language that is very specific to our line of work”, Devinny said.
The North Carolina training manual includes clues to alert troopers that they may be dealing with a deaf person, such as they seem alert but don’t respond to noise or sounds. According to CNN, authorities did not elaborate on the encounter to indicate what, if anything, Harris and the trooper communicated to one another, or if the trooper even knew that Harris was deaf.
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Harris was white, and authorities haven’t revealed Saunders’ race.
