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.
What the heck were they trying to 'negotiate'? Of course he hung up on them, he had nothing to talk to them about.
What is so hard to understand about suicide-by-cop?
The guy has no legs. His health is deteriorating by the day. He is alone.
Putting a bullet in his own brain would be a sin, but if he can get somebody else to do it, he's a victim.
The guy got exactly what he wanted, God rest his soul.
You're point is dead on target!
The police even backed off after they entered and he didn't shoot. It was the SWAT team that got the trophy.
That's not the question I asked you?
Do you think you are a United States Senator or something?
Was he threatening anyone? - No. Did he say he was going to kill himself? So what - if he did. Is it OK for cops to kill you but not you yourself?? This stinks!!
Helps murderers sleep well at night too.
The guy got exactly what he wanted, God rest his soul.
I highly doubt that was what he wanted.
Ruby ridge?
Whats that got to do with this.?
****************
Bingo.
I have no problem with law enforcement that follows the law, to include the Constitution. I am not a statist who considers that the police should be all powerful and to hell with private property, personal rights, etc. I support the policeman's charities, etc, I do not support murder by police.
This was completely avoidable. All they had to do was stay out of his home.
Sure, lets jail all the firefighters, EMS-Paramedics and of course all the cops!!!
Cops are involved so this must be an unlawful maneuver, no warrant, no PC no nothing!!!
Jail’em all!!!
Exigent circumstances, what’s that…
So many armchair ultra conservatives are so quick to slam the police for making snap decisions, which the courts have historically upheld because the cops can only be held to the knowledge, which they had at the time the incident or decision, went down, not every little piece of evidence the investigators were able to gather after the fact using a microscope and extensive interviews.
Sure lets jail everyone involved, make it known to all the fire and EMS personnel you better be 1000000% damn sure you known 1000000000000000000000000% of all the facts before you break down that door, because you believe there is an emergency inside!!!
Oh and one more thing, if there is an emergency inside and you take too long to break down that door and someone dies the same crowd whose calling for your heads now will be calling for your heads then…
So my advice is to find another line of work.
The anti-authoritarian crowds need to be careful what they wish for cause they just might get it and they might not like what they get either.
I think it’s called unintended consequences.
Make theses types of jobs magnets for criminal and civil litigation and establish a precedence for jailing these folks (fire and EMS as well as cops) for things that they may not know absolutely know or actually have no way of knowing at the time and you’ll end up making those careers VERY undesirable for everyone.
Call 911 after you loved one has been involved in a bad traffic accident and it takes 90 minutes for fire to respond, 3 hours for EMS to respond and the cop has to come from the state capital because no one wants the job.
You point a gun a a cop you die. What part of "STUPID" don't you understant?
His behavior indicates that he did.
Guns are not toys, in case you were never told.
You never point a gun at anybody or anything you would not be willing to destroy.
By pointing a gun at the cops, the guy proved that he was willing to kill a cop.
I repeat: guns are not toys, and pointing a gun at someone is proof in itself that you would be willing to kill them.
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