No. You may not have noticed, but emergency vehicles now come equipped with flashing lights!
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.
No. You don’t.
“How does a deaf person get a driver’s license? “
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Interesting point.
Are emergency vehicles now going to eliminate sirens and klaxons because they are no longer necessary?
.
Yes. They are. So are people without legs or only one arm.
That's just about the most ignorant statement I've read on this thread. I'm an interpreter for the deaf and there are many deaf individuals with driver's licenses who drive perfectly safely - much better than hearing people.
Try not to express opinions on things about which you know so little.
“apparently they can..just assumed they could not.”
Wait ‘til you find out blind people can hunt.
Jermaine or Germayne, or various other attempts at spelling it, is a Negro MAN’s name.
Me too.
You’re obviously biased. Nobody has all the facts yet.
Jermaine or Germayne, or various other attempts at spelling it, is a Negro MAN’s name mostly. Rarely but occasionally Germaine is a white woman..
a deaf driver does not constitute a risk for safe traffic
Hmmm...so, can i a hearing person listen to music on a head set.
Since hearing is not necessary?
Jumping out was not a good reaction
It is kinda early, but you might want to keep your eye on this one.
No. You may not have noticed, but emergency vehicles now come equipped with flashing lights!
Since hearing is not necessary?
No, because a hearing person is not deaf all the time, and has not become accustomed to being forced to use his eyes for all incoming signals.
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Moonman6, I don't need ALL the facts. I need the facts that say he was unarmed and that neighbors saw him get out of his car and get shot. He didn't have a hostage, he didn't have a record, he is just dead. That is enough for me to eliminate any justification for shooting him.
1 - The cop was probably not in fear of his life when he shot the guy.
2 - Anyone with an IQ over 50 could see that the deaf man was signing.
3 - I suspect the cop shot the man because he was enraged over failure to stop, even after being rammed.
Deaf people get licenses all the time. All road signals are visual, and emergency vehicles have flashing light. In most jurisdictions they’re on a much shorter “leash”, sometimes 1 ticket leads to an automatic suspension, sometimes they get double points. But yes, deaf people have been legally driving in America since shortly after drivers licenses were invented.
At least he wasn’t blind, too.
I’m really surprised that deaf and mute people can have drivers licenses.
Or can they?
So, many rules...
Next you will tell me i can’t drive with my feet while texting?
Hadn’t seen your comment yet. Deaf and mute can get DL, too?
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