Shooting a few blocks from our house

[CountDeMoney]

Asians Against Domestic Abuse

Not. Hott.

[merithyn]

Not to derail your thorough derailment, but... 

CHAMPAIGN -- Several hundred people sang, wept and prayed outside a north Champaign home on a drizzly Wednesday night at a candlelight vigil for Kiwane Carrington, the 15-year-old boy who died of a gunshot wound last week.

"Let's not let Kiwane's death be in vain," said the Rev. Charles Nash. "When one hurts, we all hurt. Let Champaign-Urbana know we are coming together, we're going to make a difference and justice will be done."
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Mr. Carrington's father, Albert Carrington, thanked the people for taking part.

"Kiwane, you know I told you I love you, and I still love you," he said. "I know you are in a better place." Here's where I point out that after the boy's mother died last year, Daddy couldn't be arsed to take care of his son, so the boy moved in with his 22-year-old sister who was trying to raise him.

After the vigil, ceremonies continued at a Champaign church.

Mr. Carrington died from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the Champaign County coroner, as the result of a burglary call to police at 906 W. Vine St., C, on Friday afternoon. Mr. Carrington was killed and another teen arrested in a scuffle with police, including Chief R.T. Finney, who responded to the burglary call.

Mr. Carrington's computer teacher, Keisha Burke, remembered Mr. Carrington as a teen who aspired to become an astronaut.

"He always made sure he brightened the other students' day at the school," Burke said. "He was a very dedicated student and a good kid." Not to speak ill of the dead, but this "dedicated student and good kid" was expelled from high school and was attending an alternative school at the time of his death.

One of Mr. Carrington's classmates, April Collier, said it was important for her to take part in the vigil.

"I wanted to show support for Kiwane and his family," Collier said.

One of Mr. Carrington's friends, Trey Fonville, said he would miss "chilling out with him."

"It's hard to believe he is gone," Fonville said. "This is crazy."

Several participants created a shrine under a tree outside the house. There they placed photos, notes and more than a dozen teddy bears.

On Friday, a neighbor reporting a burglary in progress at 906 W. Vine St., C., at 1:20 p.m.

Finney and Officer Daniel Norbits responded to the call and found two boys there. Police said the officers identified themselves as police and both boys disobeyed the officers' commands to get on the ground.

A city news release said Finney and Norbits "confronted two subjects at the house, and during a physical confrontation, an officer-involved shooting occurred."

Police earlier this week identified Norbits as the officer involved in the shooting.

Mr. Carrington was taken to Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana, where he was pronounced dead at 2:15 p.m. Friday.

A second 15-year-old boy at the scene was accused of injuring Finney in a struggle. He was charged on Tuesday with a juvenile Class 4 felony charge of aggravated resisting a peace officer and was released to the custody of his mother. The struggle was such that the 15-year-old boy dislocated the shoulder of the police officer. Oh, and the officer was the Police Chief, by the by.

Norbits, a 14-year veteran of the Champaign Police Department, has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by a team of officers led by the state police and an internal investigation by the Champaign department.

This week, the occupant of the Vine Street home said Mr. Carrington was welcome at the home and had previously lived there.

[Ed Anger]

Meri is so cynical nowadays. 

[CountDeMoney]

Meri hates black kids.
She needs to adopt a few.

[Grey Fox]

Red? We're not school kids.

[Jaron]

This thread should be renamed:

Shooting a few blacks near my house!

[merithyn]

I simply wanted to be sure you had all of the facts.

Someone took out a 1/4 page ad in today's newspaper calling for the dismissal of the Police Chief. It said that the public had lost all faith in the police force under his leadership.

[merithyn]

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2009/10/16/friends_remember_15-year-old_slain_in_scuffle

The comments below the article are the real story. And apparently, the "mourners" were so distraught they destroyed a bus and other public property.

[DontSayBanana]

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2009/10/16/friends_remember_15-year-old_slain_in_scuffle

The comments below the article are the real story. And apparently, the "mourners" were so distraught they destroyed a bus and other public property.

Looks like they've already disabled comments for the story...

[merithyn]

State's Attorney's report on the shooting

Looks like the kid resisted arrest, the gun went off, and the kid was shot. Who's surprised?

[HisMajestyBOB]

State's Attorney's report on the shooting

Looks like the kid resisted arrest, the gun went off, and the kid was shot. Who's surprised?

I am - why wasn't he shot before resisting arrest? Could've been the officer that was shot instead.

[merithyn]

Raciss!! 

Seriously, though, the "community" is calling for the removal of the State's Attorney from the case, saying it's impossible for her to be objective since she's laid charges against the other kid. They're also calling for a rewrite in how the police handle resisting arrest (deadly force is allowed at the moment) and banning Tasers... which Champaign police do not and have never used. In fact, if they HAD used Tasers, Carrington would still be alive, probably.

What it seems to come down to is the mistaken belief that there were three suspects at the house, not just two. So, while the cops are wrestling with the two they see, they're constantly keeping their eyes out for the third. Given that we had two cops shot by a crazy guy two years ago, they don't mess around when they think there's a hint that someone else may be in the area.

These kids were stupid, but rather than use it was a teaching experience for other youths, the parents of said youths are turning this around and saying, "See! You can't trust those policemen! They just want to kill our kids!"

[Caliga]

We really need to police black neighborhoods exclusively with black officers.... but I guess that would never happen due to it being RACIDISTIC. 

[merithyn]

What's really fucked up is that originally, the "community" thought the officer involved in the shooting was one of the SROs, a large, black man. They were pissed at him, issuing death threats, etc. Then, when word came back that it wasn't him, they said that he should have been called because he was "one of them" and would have understood better.