Twice, Sacramento police Randy Lozoya and John Tennis tried to run down Joseph Mann with their cruiser, saying "Fuck this guy. I'm going to hit him" and "OK, go for it. Go for it," before shooting him 14 times.
Mann was 51 years old. He had formerly worked as a DJ and department store clerk, before suffering a "psychotic break" after the death of his mother. Prior to his encounter with officers Lozoya and Tennis, he had been "non-responsive, waving his hands, making karate chops, giving obvious signs of a disability."
The Sacramento police have put the officers on "modified duty" and are investigating the case. The district attorney has not determined whether to lay charges against the officers.
Mann had held steady jobs for most of his life, at a department store and as a disc jockey, among other jobs, Burris said, until "a psychotic break when his mother died". In the last four to five years, he said, Mann had moved around mental health clinics and homeless shelters. Police said they later found methamphetamine in his system, and that he refused to comply with officer commands to drop a 4in knife.
In their lawsuit, Mann's family says he displayed "obvious signs of mental distress".
"Inexplicably, the officers failed to contact any properly trained mental health counselors or make any attempt to use less than lethal force and ignored the established police protocols to make attempts to de-escalate the situation."
Officers tried to run over man before shooting him 14 times, video shows
[Alan Yuhas/The Guardian]
(via Naked Capitalism)
