Officer kills armed man in wheelchair

Charlotte Observer ^ | Thu, May. 12, 2005 | GARY L. WRIGHT

[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.

[Old Mountain man]

After he threatened emergency personnel IN HIS HOME AFTER THEY BROKE DOWN HIS DOOR with a gun.

Do you understand the difference there?

[SALChamps03]

A gun pointed at you is just cause to fire. Look. I don't agree with you. We can agree to disagree.

[Graycliff]

If your trying to make a point, i missed it.

[Old Mountain man]

Well, maybe I'm older, been there, done that, and understand from personal experience the effect upon the officer when killing a human being. I've done it, could do it again if required, but would save every life possible. If one has reason to believe there is a problem with the health of the individual one is dealing with, tasers or gas are appropriate measures.

That is, if you actually have any business being there.