Posted on 05/12/2005 11:02:33 AM PDT by jb6
Police say 67-year-old pointed gun, threatened them
GARY L. WRIGHT
Staff Writer
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer shot and killed a 67-year-old man in a wheelchair early Wednesday morning after authorities said the victim pointed a handgun at officers and threatened them.
Police wouldn't say how many shots were fired or where the gunfire struck Alexander Ehrenburg.
Police spokesman Keith Bridges told reporters that Ehrenburg, a double amputee, was shot at his home on Amity Springs Drive near Sharon Amity Road after he pointed a handgun at police officers and refused to put it down. Ehrenburg did not fire at the officers, Bridges said.
"He had a handgun in his lap and brought the gun up when the officers were at the door," Bridges said.
Bridges said police officers made "commands, requests and pleas" for Ehrenburg to put down the weapon.
"Our goal was for this to end peacefully," Bridges said.
Bridges wouldn't say what kind of weapon Ehrenburg had. "It was a handgun he waved at the officers," he said.
Bridges described Ehrenburg as "a barricaded gunman" who posed a threat to police officers.
Police are conducting criminal and internal affairs investigations into the fatal shooting. Bridges said investigators will try to determine whether the shooting was a "suicide by cop" -- a term used to describe a confrontation in which a suspect intends for police to use deadly force.
Ehrenburg's wife, who was in Poland, was notified of her husband's death Wednesday morning. Bridges said police contacted the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw and that an Embassy official told Ehrenburg's wife about his death.
Don King, who lives four doors from the scene of the fatal shooting, didn't hear all the commotion outside Ehrenburg's condo last night. He was shocked when he woke up Wednesday morning, saw TV trucks and crews outside his condo and learned of his neighbor's death.
King said Ehrenburg was an immigrant from Russia. "Alex came from a place where fear of police was pervasive," he said. "To get killed in his own home by police, that's a cruel fate. What a tragedy for everybody -- for Alex and the police. "
King said Ehrenburg was friendly and outgoing.
"Alex was an icon in the community," he said. "You could always see him riding around in his electric wheelchair. He'd frequently stop to talk to people."
The fatal shooting occurred more than three hours after firefighters and police arrived at the condominium complex and confronted what they described as an armed man in a wheelchair inside the home.
Bridges said a Salisbury physician, who had been talking to Ehrenburg, had contacted police and asked them to check on the man's welfare. The doctor said he was concerned after the phone conversation with Ehrenburg, police said.
Here's what police say happened when police, firefighters and Medic personnel responded at the condominium shortly after 9:30 Tuesday night:
When no one would come to the door, firefighters forced their way into the home. Once inside, they were confronted by the man in the wheelchair, who was armed with a gun and pointing the weapon at them, police said. The firefighters left the house.
The police department's SWAT team was called, and negotiations were attempted but cut short when the resident hung up his phone shortly before 11 p.m. The phone was later disconnected.
"He kept hanging the phone up on us," Bridges said.
Negotiators used loudspeakers and other means to resume communications but were unsuccessful.
Shortly before 1 a.m., SWAT officers opened the home's door and threw in a portable phone in hopes of re-establishing communication.
The man in the wheelchair raised a handgun from his lap and pointed it at officers, police said. He refused to drop his gun as officers ordered and continued to threaten officers with the weapon, police said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Chris Kimbell fired his weapon, striking the man. Ehrenburg was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival at Carolinas Medical Center.
Kimbell, a 10-year veteran, has been placed on administrative duty -- standard procedure while the criminal and internal affairs investigations are under way.
Missed the part about the phone call attempt from the police, but I still would have tried bringing in the doctor or relatives before entry.
Someone comes breaking down your door, you've got a right to defend yourself, especially when you've committed no crime. Unless private property and a right to self defense mean zilch to you.
Sad to say, this appears to be a pretty clear case of suicide-by-cop.
Everybody knows that if you point a gun at a cop, they are going to shoot you. That's what they are trained to do.
If you point a gun at a cop, you are inviting him to shoot you.
All your friend had to do to keep from being shot was not point a gun at the police.
It seems a small thing to ask.
Did he not know they were police?
You point a gun at the police, you will get shot. What is so hard to understand?
***************
I think so, too. Especially considering the doctor's phone call to the police.
The man's x-wife, my mother's friend (whom I know very well) is, er was, on good terms with him, they could have called her.
Very sad. But if a swat team breaks into my house - even unjustified - I am going to give them my gun. Immediately. I don't have a prepaid funeral plan.
Eeeeh, wrong answer, that is what the military is trained to do, what I trained to do. This is not what the police are SUPPOSED to be trained to do. They're there to protect and serve, not put down. If they can get the guy out they should have. Why didn't they leave him alone? He didn't fire at them over several instances, so they sent SWOT after him? A little field training against a stationary target?
Worst case, switch off the power and bring in negotiators or relatives. But that's not as fun as a good SWAT action.
Even military police, when not on a battle field, are trained not to shoot when they can bring someone down in other ways.
Why yes it is the fault of the police.
What reason did they have to force their "help" on him?
Why couldn't they just say, "you don't want our help, we'll just leave"?
But the police insist on "helping" him, even if it kills him.
yeah... they had to shoot him. Can't you see it? If they were to simply leave his property, then all those other dumb Americans might get the idea that the cops authority can be questioned....
We certainly can't have THAT! happening now can we?
What's hard to understand is that the police backed off, called in SWAT and 3 hours later SWAT stormed his apartment, where he was alone threatening no one outside. That's what's hard to understand.
Where did you receive your police training?
Would you prefer them to just walk away?
As opposed to this outcome, certainly.
Even if they break the door, once the old man greeted them with the universal "GET OUT" sign, they didn't. Why not?
I have 3 friends who are police officers.
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