BART Police Shooting – Video Evidence (updated)
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Written By: Mayor Concord California
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...It’s all over the news. Over New Years there was a man fatally shot at the Fruitvale BART station. No one is debating why the BART Police responded to the station. There were many reports of a fight on the train and the BART Police responded to assess the situation and separate the groups involved.
What BART didn’t count on was that in the age of technology there would be video taken of the entire incident as it unfolded.
OAKLAND — A BART police officer struggling to handcuff a 22-year-old man, stood up over the facedown Hayward resident and fired a single shot into his back while a handful of officers watched, a video taken by a train passenger apparently shows. – Mercury News
Channel 2 News has released the video that was obtained by the people still on the BART train as they watched in horror as a man was being subdued by BART Police and then shot in the back. New Years day the story was that BART video cameras were unable to record the shooting but those weren’t the only camera rolling.
When I first heard the news on New Years day that there was an officer involved shooting at BART, I leaned toward the belief that the BART Police officer must have been in the right. Police shootings are never a good thing but for the most part I believe that police officers aren’t running around shooting people like terrorists. If a man was shot, the officer must have been threatened in some way. Even being shot in the back can be justified in some cases. Maybe the victim was attacking the officer and turned just before the shot was fired. There are a number of scenarios that could have been played out but not in this case.
After I saw the video of the shooting, my thoughts changed. The man was on his stomach and there were other officers assisting in handcuffing the victim. The video clearly shows the officer standing up, drawing his weapon and moments later shooting Oscar Grant in the back.
What the hell?!? You can see the officer bring his hands to his face after shooting Oscar and I can only imagine he’s thinking ‘What the F did I just do?’. That’s what I’d be thinking. No weapons were found on the victim so there can’t be something I misssed on the video where all of a sudden Oscar had a knife or gun. It looks based on the video that the officer shot an unarmed man in the back as he was laying on the BART platform.
**UPDATE: After watching the videos (The 3 that I know of) and seeing the other BART police officers on the track, it’s obvious that some are carrying night sticks and a couple have Tasers out. If you look at a police officers duty belt, the Taser is usually on the opposite side of their firearm. Was the BART officer going to stun the victim and accidentally pulled his actual weapon? A Taser is shaped like a handgun and in the chaos of the moment, it would have felt similar in the officers hand.
As much as I would like to think I am the only one that thought this, I guess I’m not that original.
Among other things, BART police are looking into the possibility that the officer who shot Grant thought he was pulling the trigger of a Taser stun gun, according to a person familiar with the investigation.
BART officials declined to say whether the officer was carrying a Taser – a device that sends out two electrical probes and can incapacitate its target – when he shot Grant. The agency uses Tasers but does not have enough of the expensive devices to give one to every officer. – Source
BART is cooperating but has not claimed any liability in the fatal shooting. The family and their attorney, Civil rights attorney John Burris is determined to make the BART Police pay. The initial figure is that a 25 Million dollar lawsuit is going to be filed against the BART Police and the officer involved.
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January 5th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Interesting. It would make sense that he was going for his Taser but wouldn’t he have known before he fired? Using a stun gun on the guy may have been justified but shooting him in the back is just murder.
January 5th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
I can’t believe that the BART Police Dept. hasn’t come out with a statement yet.
January 5th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Just as troubling is Karina Vargas’s report that an officer tried to “confiscate” her videocamera. The shooting could be an accident; trying to “confiscate” a piece of evidence is not — it’s an abuse of authority. An officer who does something like that should not be trusted with a badge and a gun.
January 5th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Rookie cop just commited murder, point blank
January 5th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
The cop should lose his badge and be put in prison.
January 5th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
It’s an obvious accident. But, a man is dead. The officer should lose his job for sure. At thispoint Idon’t believe the officer knew he was pulling his firearm.
January 6th, 2009 at 8:34 am
Stupid cop. This is why BART Police are spit on. He couldn’t get a job as a real police officer so he went to work for BART and now he and his family are going to be paying for this forever.
January 6th, 2009 at 11:38 am
The officer is going to lose his badge and is going to be ruined for life. Financially and professionally. Bad decisions cost money and in this case a life was lost too.
January 6th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Has anyone taken a moment to think that the guy got shot for a reason. really, another gang banger off the streets. That’s what I think.
January 6th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Maybe the kid was a thug and the news is making him sound like a saint. Either way, he was shot in the back by a police officer and there is no excuse for that.
January 6th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
It may be a tragedy that this happened but as far as the lawsuit goes, forcing the police (and thereby the public) to pay 25 million to the family of the man that was killed does not help society one bit.
January 6th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
If you want to be compensated for the loss of a family member, that is understandable. You should ask for enough to cover any hospital/funeral expenses, set up a trust fund for other siblings and possibly enough to pay off bills. Anything other than that is profiting off of the death of someone you “loved”. If it was really about restitution then you would ask for only whats necessary and a little extra to help cope during the grieving process. $25 million is ridiculous. Unless you plan to donate most of that to charities or to your community. How about more funding for police training? Or donating to a local community center to help keep kids out of trouble? Or even to other families that have lost children (wether its due to violence or disease)?
January 6th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Like a trained police officer doesn’t know the difference between his 40 cal pistol and a taser, please. this was a straight up murder!
January 6th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
To add to my previous comment. Grant may have had his hands up, but he was struggling when they tried to cuff him. This does not mean he deserved this. But, if you watch the video taken by the passenger with the cell phone, when the officer had him down, Grant was struggling. The officer first reached across his waist with his right hand to get his taser gun. Grant resisted and other officers had to help control him at the same time as this officer. Then you see the other officers clear back as he gets ready to aim. This is standard procedure for taser usage as voltage can pass from one person to the next. I believe in the moment, the officer thought he was reaching for his taser gun. I think he should be disciplined and charged. But, murder in any degree has to have the PREMEDITATED factor. I think the charge should be manslaughter.
January 6th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
And this is BART police. They do NOT have the same standard of training as a city or county police officer. Even so, cops are people too and make mistakes. Why is everyone so quick to think this was done for any reason? Accidents (no matter how tragic and sad) are that; accidents. You can see on the tape he was in shock after he fired.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
fyrflifromhell – BART police have to graduate from the same police academy as the city police. I don’t know what the annual training requirements are but you may be right. I agree that $25 Million is a lot to ask for and I think some of it is shock value. I feel for the victims family and I also am sad for the police officers family. The officer may have just made the worst mistake of his life and ruined two families in the process.
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January 7th, 2009 at 12:12 am
accidents like this don’t happen. the argument of mistaking a gun for a tazer is offensive. People shouldn’t have to fear police. Only good cop is a dead cop that’s what I’m sayin’.
January 8th, 2009 at 11:32 am
[...] BART Police shoot an unarmed man on New Years and the public is pissed. Yesterday the body of Oscar Grant was layed to rest and hundreds of people from the Oakland community attended to pay their respects. The shooting has been all over the news and the people of Oakland and surrounding cities are demanding action by the Alameda County District Attorney. The BART Police Officer that shot Oscar Grant has turned in his formal resignation and he and his family are under police guard due to the death threats and public outcry. [...]
January 11th, 2009 at 5:23 am
Think about this…a TASER like the one shown above weighs about 7oz. Its very light like a kid’s plastic toy. A police beretta 9mm for example – we don’t know yet what weapon was used – weighs about 34oz/950g, nearly 1Kg or FIVE times as heavy. Maybe it was a light weapon you say – well the glock-19 a short-barrelled backup weapon made from a high-tech polymer frame, and used by police weighs 850g or about 28oz, FOUR times heavier.
Do you still think the officer did not know that he was holding a lethal handgun? Try this at home with two similar sized objects and imagine even in the heat of the moment wether you would know the difference – I think it was highly unlikely to have been an accident of that nature.
January 11th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
I’m not going to disagree. I have held a Taser and it is much lighter than a firearm. It’s really the only logical explanation I could come up with. I really do not believe that he killed this man in cold blood.
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January 11th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
K Hallberg, no denying that a Taser is easily distinguished from a handgun. But would it have made sense for a cop to deliberately shoot a prone man in the back, with a whole trainload of witnesses looking on? He’d have to hate young black men far more than he loved his career. I’m not saying there are no racist cops, I’m not even saying this cop isn’t a racist — but a racist cop would have no trouble engineering a more private and more “justifiable” situation to shoot somebody in.
Put me down as another person waiting impatiently to hear from ex-officer Mehserle. Until then, my bet is that in the heat of the situation he got distracted and mistook his gun for his Taser. I admit it’s unlikely, but it seems less unlikely than deliberate murder in front of a hundred witnesses.
January 30th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Yes, there is still the possibility that such an accident with the tazer occurred – obviously if a court case ensues this is no doubt one of the questions he will have to face should he go with “mistaken for tazer” defence.
It will be interesting to see, but sad for the family no less.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
[...] Jan. 5th I explained that a Taser is very similar to a hand gun. I couldn’t imagine how a police officer could knowingly pull a fire arm and shoot an unarmed [...]
March 21st, 2009 at 12:26 am
God Bless Oscar Grants son. 25 million couldn’t replace either one of my parents anyday. His kid will be set for life but he is still going to have emotional problems not knowing his father. God bless you little man!
April 5th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
so sorry to his family, I hope that officer gets the death penalty.
April 5th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
[...] I was posting the email of the news story regarding the OSHA fine for BART and was looking for the BART logo. This is what I found, a revised version of the logo that is being put on shirts for sale. Money from the shirt sales are going to the family of Oscar Grant, the man who was shot by a BART police officer on New Years. [...]
June 7th, 2009 at 6:44 am
really interesting. but i really hope that the police personnel will pay for it.. at least a few years in jail
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October 1st, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Lets look at facts. The victim was handcuffed and on the ground as the video shows. He was not kicking or struggling as the video shows. The officer pulls out his gun then shoots him while there is not threat or danger to him. The office says he thought he was reaching for his Taser. He’s lying. Do you Taser someone laying on the ground who is handcuffed and not a treat to you (That’s against the law)? Regardless of whatever he says that’s criminal also to Taser a handcuff individual who’s not kicking or struggling in any matter. He kills this young BLACK MALE (Common among white police officers), then everyone (non-black except for a few) want to make it seem like because this young male was not white he deserved to die.
October 17th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
i believe the police was half drunk and he left the secene of the crime to sober upand think of a defense.no one shots someone in the back like that unless he was on some type of drug and he was celebrating the new year and go high or before he came to work.everyone assumes this cops was sober.the big question that should be raised was he high.