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.
No, because I might be out dancing. Or out visiting. Or not wanting to answer the phone.
Interrogating innocent, law-abiding citizens is FAR less dangerous than actually preventing crime. Heck, you can always claim you saved a cop's life that day.
The point isn't that he couldn't get to the door, it's that he probably didn't get there fast enough.
WSOCTV.com
Standoff Killing Of Adoption Advocate Stuns Friends
POSTED: 12:28 a.m. EDT May 12, 2005
Charlotte, NC -- A state legislator and other parents said Wednesday night they were shocked to hear about the death of Alex Ehrenburg, shot to death by a police SWAT officer during a standoff in east Charlotte.
Police said Ehrenburg barricaded himself inside his house and pointed a gun at the officer before being shot.
State representative Jeff Barnhart of Cabarrus County said he was saddened by the death of Ehrenburg who helped arrange adoptions for Barnhart and many other parents.
Ehrenburg worked for a group which placed children from Belarus with local families.
Ehrenburg's wife was in Belarus Wednesday working on an adoption.
A family friend who is a doctor said Ehrenburg suffered from kidney failure which sent toxins circulating throughout his body, causing hallicinations when they reached his brain.
Sick man. He could have been taken down by non lethal means.
Question from Philosophy 101: If somebody is shot by a barricaded man with toxins circulating throughout his body because of kidney failure, is the person shot any less dead because the perpetrator was suffering from hallucinations?
If the SWAT team had not been there the old man couldn't have pointed a gun at them. Why didn't they simply leave?
So if I am in my own house minding my own business beating my wife and someone else calls the cops and I tell them to go away, they are supposed to do it?
The cops were called on a complaint of a man with a gun menacing medical emergency personnel.
Do you dispute that?
Where things got screwed up is the guy told them in so many words to leave him alone.
They should have done just that!
You don't need a warrant to enter on a welfare call. The man's personal safety was in doubt. The fact that he pointed a gun at the firemen, and then the police is why he's dead, most likely just as he wanted.
End of story regarding Constitutional rights.
He was unwilling or unable to answer the door ~ we don't know which. The emergency aid folks had a lawful obligation to enter on the call, and did so. He held a gun on them.
Now things get murky. They left but they reported the event to the cops. The cops came and shot the guy.
The cops may or may not have had a right to shoot him, but they did. His widow may get a handsome settlement. Some of the single guys here might like her name and phone number eh?!
Time for dialysis guys!
That is really not the context of this event. This is not a case of a man sitting at home and suddenly the police appear for no reason. The police had a legitimate reason to be there. Look, this is tragic, but the man is at fault for pointing the gun at the officer. A doctor would not just call the police out to someone's house without a legitimate belief that something was amiss. Perhaps his doctor thought the man was intending to kill himself. Had he not pointed the gun, he would be alive today. The police are authorized and may legally enter someone's home when they have reason to believe that someone inside is in danger, either because of a suicidal intent, or because of other reasons. You can't see the forest for the trees.
The police had a lawful reason. A call for help was made.
They called him several times and he hung up. Apparently it was believed he intended to do himself harm.
You got that right.
So, where did you get your legal training? Stalin U?
Well, isn't that nice. Next time I want somebody killed, I will just call the police and ask for a welfare check.
Oh, I get it now! Call a doctor and instantly you surrender your constitutional rights and police surrender all their obligations under the law. Okay, makes perfect sense.
In a nightmare it does.
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