Posted on 08/22/2016 10:56:55 AM PDT by No One Special
Charlotte, NC — A community and family is mourning the loss of Daniel Kevin Harris, whose life was taken this week by a State Trooper who apparently fears sign language. Harris, who is deaf and mute, was gunned down in front of his house.
According to police, trooper Jermaine Saunders attempted to pull Harris over around 6:14 p.m. on Thursday. For an unknown reason, Harris did not stop and, instead, drove to his home.
During the pursuit, both cars became damaged and eventually came to a stop near Harris’ home.
“I was here in my driveway and I saw the highway patrol car come through and it was smoking really bad,” said neighbor Mark Barringer. “About 10 seconds later, I heard one gunshot.”
According to WCNC, Barringer says when he went to take a closer look, he saw Harris in the middle of the street. He died just a few feet from his front door. Several neighbors have put flowers near where Harris took his final breaths.
“It was surreal, you just don’t expect to see something like that,” said Barringer. “When the gunshot went off, it was scary.”
According to police, detectives say Saunders and Harris got into “an encounter” before the officer killed him. However, according to neighbors, as soon as Harris got out of his vehicle, Saunders fired.
“While on Seven Oaks Drive, the driver exited his vehicle and an encounter took place between the driver and the trooper causing a shot to be fired,” according to a statement from the State Highway Patrol.
Detectives say Harris was trying to communicate with the trooper using sign language before he was killed.
Harris died on the scene. He was 28-years-old.
• Ad-div-empty: id contentad130998 • Ad-div: id div-gpt-ad-1470255094958-0 “They should’ve deescalated and been trained to realize that this is an entirely different situation, you’re pulling someone over who is deaf, they are handicapped,” said Barringer. “To me, what happened is totally unacceptable.”
Neighbor Ryan Russell said he’d see the man out in the neighborhood speaking in sign language with his family. “It seemed like a very peaceful family,” Russell told WBTV. “These things are always heartbreaking.”
Audria Bridges, special agent in charge of the SBI office that covers the Charlotte region, said Saunders has been placed on administrative leave and an investigation is underway.
“The SBI is in the process of obtaining all available dash cam or body camera video present on the scene from the State Highway Patrol as well as Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, as CMPD responded to the scene immediately after the shooting,” Bridges said.
According to the Charlotte Observer, public records show an interpreter provided sign language for Harris at a court hearing in Florida in 2010. At the hearing, he was found not guilty of misdemeanor larceny and had a charge of misdemeanor resisting property recovery dismissed, records show.
Harris was found guilty of resisting an officer in 2010 when he lived in Connecticut, according to public records. However, this resisting charge was likely due to the fact that Harris could not hear the officer’s commands.
In the land of the free, a deaf man suspected of driving too fast can be killed in cold blood. Unfortunately, as we’ve shown time and again, this type of mistreatment and attacks on the deaf by police are all too common.
Because in North Carolina shooting them is easier than arresting them for resisting?
I would think that if I was a deaf mute I would carry a card that said that along with a note book and pencil for communication with those who don’t understand sign language but that is Monday morning quarterbacking.
I work with two gentlemen who were born deaf. They both drive.
I would think that if I was a deaf mute I would carry a card that said that along with a note book and pencil for communication with those who don’t understand sign language but that is Monday morning quarterbacking.
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Most deaf people today socialize almost exclusively with other deaf people or friends who sign.
Years ago, deaf people learned to read lips and even speak, once signing became available deaf people didn’t see the necessity of reading lips or even speaking, signing is dramatically easier and is many cases faster.
About 50 years ago while in college I befriended a deaf/dumb kid. He could speak a little and could read lips pretty good because his parents put him in a deaf school. He didn’t know know about signing until one day he met someone in school who signed. That was it, he no longer wanted anything to do with the school and was very angry with his parents for hiding this means of communicating from him. He refused to communicate with his parents unless it was signing. He and I communicated mostly by writing notes. Watching him with his deaf friends was amazing, they communicate very easily and fast with each other. They have many universal slang signs that basically substitute for a whole sentence. The problem is that when signers only are away from signers they are like a fish out of water, nearly helpless.
Most of the deaf I have associated with have a horrible handwriting (scribble).
According to police, trooper Jermaine Saunders attempted to pull Harris over around 6:14 p.m. on Thursday. For an unknown reason, Harris did not stop and, instead, drove to his home.
During the pursuit, both cars became damaged and eventually came to a stop near Harris’ home.
“I was here in my driveway and I saw the highway patrol car come through and it was smoking really bad,” said neighbor Mark Barringer. “About 10 seconds later, I heard one gunshot.”
This part of the article interests me the most. I can understand the first part where Harris did not notice an officer was in pursuit. The part where "both cars became damaged" is where all innocence of Harris goes out the window. Something more was going on for both cars to get damaged and smoking. I wonder if Harris was on something?
Non-verbal deaf (as opposed to the term "deaf mute") often do that.
In many places deaf people are allowed to drive. But for at least 26 countries, deaf citizens are not allowed to have a license (“Living With Deafness”). Also in many of the states, deaf drivers are required to have a special license to be able to identify themselves as deaf.Nov 22, 2008
Deaf Driving - Lifeprint
www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/driving_and_the_deaf.htm
http://www.wfdeaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/WFD-Statement-on-Deaf-Peoples-right-to-drive-a-car-or-other-vehicles-updated-31-March-20091.pdf
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I googled it...that’s what I got.
The ability to read lips depends on how well the individual can be assisted with hearing aids (there is a large and varied spectrum of decibel loss in deafness, as well as the type of deafness. Some levels of deafness cannot be helped with even the most powerful hearing aids).
Lip reading often provides less than 40% of what is communicated; throw in a mustache or someone who speaks fast and it gets even worse! Deaf individuals supplant the ability to read lips with their hearing aid(s).
My wife has enough hearing in one ear to be able, with her digital hearing aid, to discern just enough to carry on a conversation with most hearing people without signing. Again, it depends: mustache, crowded room, fast talker, and things go downhill fast.
“Are emergency vehicles now going to eliminate sirens and klaxons because they are no longer necessary?”
Please!! He was deaf NOT blind! Could he not see the blue light special in his rear view mirror? Now if the cop was not flashing that I’d see there was a problem OR if it was one of those undercover models that did not have the blue lights on top (as they should! I’m against the undercover ones pulling you over) then yes...he may not have seen the blue lights flashing because he did not hear the sirens.
Just speculating, but I think his deafness, while a contributing factor, had less to do with this final altercation with the police than his emotional state. It sounds to me like he was an emotionally challenged person (perhaps brought on by his hearing impairment).
He had prior incidents with law enforcement. Strike one. Did being deaf/being emotionally challenged have anything to do with that? Maybe. May have contributed to both cars getting damaged. Was he trying to get home so someone could assist with communication? Perhaps. Adrenaline was likely a factor by that time.
Getting out of the car at the final destination instead of keeping his hands at 10:00/2:00 (sign language notwithstanding)? Yep, to a LEO, big no-no. I’ve been involved with LEOs, and you keep you hands on the steering wheel. Maybe he didn’t know any better - sad if so.
At any rate, I hope an investigation yields a satisfactory result. JMHO.
Thanks for clearing that up. I appreciate it. It just doesn’t seem as if they are giving the full story.
BFD, is that an excuse to shoot him?
BTW Today is the 24th anniversary of the cops shooting unarmed Vicki Weaver dead as she held her baby.
Did she have it coming too?
Lets assume he was on Everything, is that a excuse to kill him?
Just connect the dots. It’s easy as ABC.
“Are hearing impaired permitted to drive?
I am asking. I legitimately don’t know.”
That would be discrimination against the hearing-impared, doncha know. PC killed his guy who should not have been behind the wheels and be a danger to others on the road. But let us all crucify the cop.
“BTW Today is the 24th anniversary of the cops shooting unarmed Vicki Weaver dead as she held her baby.”
Cops? No, FBI agents killed some Weavers. And the Weavers killed some FBI agents.
Sammy Weaver shot a US Marshal in self defense, the jury agreed.
So, what's your point?
I was responding to your mistake that “cops” shot Vicki Weaver.
Sorry
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