Thursday’s incident started when Harris did not pull over as Saunders turned on his blue lights on Interstate 485 near Charlotte about 6:15 p.m. and ended after Harris drove down several miles of surface streets to his home.
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Daniel Harris, an unarmed and hearing impaired father of a four-year-old boy was shot dead after he disobeyed verbal commands he couldn’t hear. Sam Harris is also deaf – as are his parents – and communicated his thoughts to mourners using sign language. The troopers’ manual cautions them that such interactions can sometimes lead to tragic misunderstandings.
Friends and family hold a vigil in North Carolina for a 29-year-old unarmed man with a hearing impairment who was shot and killed by police on August 18. Harris then exited his vehicle, which was followed by an encounter with State Trooper Jermaine Saunders which turned fatal.
That is when an “encounter took place between the driver and the trooper causing a shot to be fired”, the highway patrol said in a news release.
Saunders is now on administrative paid leave, which is routine following an officer-involved shooting.
In an apparent case of road rage, a North Carolina state trooper shot and killed an unarmed deaf man for disobeying commands he could not hear.
According to CNN, officials are gathering dashcam video and body-camera video relating to the incident from the Highway Patrol and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, whose officers were dispatched to the scene after the shooting.
Bystanders claim Harris wasn’t armed. Family members told the crowd at the vigil that they want answers. The SBI has said it is seeking witnesses to the chase as part of its investigation.
Neighbour Mark Barringer said he saw the patrol vehicle come through and then heard one gunshot 10 seconds later.
The National Association of the Deaf works with law enforcement agencies to improve existing training manuals but doesn’t have one of its own, CEO Howard Rosenblum said in an email.
Harris continued to drive into a residential area toward his home before stopping.
“I saw him out in the neighborhood signing with his family”, Ryan Russell said. “It seemed like a very peaceful family”, Russell told WBTV. A vigil was held in Monday night. Flowers and written messages lined a sidewalk.
Harris’ family hopes Daniel’s death will prompt authorities to find a way to notify police officers that a citizen is deaf.
The family is raising money to educate officers about interacting with deaf people..
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Harris’ brother, Sam Harris, said his brother was a family man with a big heart. “It’s a really nice feeling knowing you’ve got a community like this that supports you”.
