Young Black Man Shot In The Back By Chattanooga Police
By Noble Johns
CHATTANOOGA (BNW) Known for nefariously murdering Black men, officers in the Chattanooga Police Department murdered another Black man Wednesday night. “They shot the boy in the back as he tried to run, and then put their feet in his back to make sure he was dead,” a witness to the shooting said, but refused to give his name for fear of police retaliation.
“They said they will kill all the Niggers in East Lake if they have to,” another witness stated.
A Chattanooga Housing Authority officer (Lt. Erik Reeves) shot and killed a man Wednesday night near the intersection of Fourth Avenue and East 26th Street, according to police. The police in Chattanooga have a history of murdering Black men that goes back several decades.
The suspect, identified as 15-year-old Alonzo O'Kelley Jr., was taken to Erlanger Hospital where he died of a single gunshot wound to the back. Another juvenile was taken into custody immediately after the shooting and is believed to be connected to the initial incident.
“I plan to call for an Justice Department investigation of this senseless murder,” said Clifford Eberhardt, editor of Black News and community activist. They have a history of murdering Blacks in this city like they did Leslie Prater, and much of nothing is ever done about it.
Leslie Vaughn Prater will be the last person who needlessly dies in police custody in Chattanooga if his mother has her way. Prater suffocated as four Chattanooga police officers held him face down on the ground.
Loretta Prater, a Southeast Missouri State University administrator, will teach three classes at the Chattanooga police academy about the death of her 37-year-old son, Leslie Vaughn Prater, said Sgt. Tom Layne Wednesday. She said her sessions with police recruits would give them a "sense of how important their role is when they are out there on the street."
The facts surrounding Prater's death aren't pretty.
A medical examiner's report said Prater died from "positional asphyxia" with contributing factors of acute alcohol and cocaine intoxication, a heart condition and mild obesity. The report describes Prater's death as a homicide.
The 5-foot, 11-inch, 232-pound Prater suffered fractured ribs, a dislocated shoulder joint with a fracture and multiple abrasions in the arrest, according to the report.
The settlement also requires "an independent audit of the police department's internal affairs division that concluded there was no wrongdoing in the fatal arrest."
It's open season on Blacks in Chattanooga and they lesson in the Prater case obviously haven’t been learned, or it wasn’t intended to be learned. Now, another mother has to suffer the lose of a son by racists cops in Chattanooga. Gloria Duncan, the mother of the victim told reporters that the shooting was unnecessary. She said her son had already thrown away his gun when the officer fired. Now, it's murder of a young Black boy; murder, most vile!
The officer in the resent murder was investigating alleged reports of gunshots being fired in the area. He claimed to have walked up on two men arguing at the East Lake Courts housing complex, said Sgt. Jerri Weary, Chattanooga Police Department spokeswoman. He then saw the man brandish a weapon, she said.
You cannot take the word of the Chattanooga Police Department because they are pathological liars, Eberhardt said.
They said the incident happened around 8:47 p.m. The officer, who was not injured, said he repeatedly asked the man to drop his weapon but he would not, police said. The shooting brought out representatives of law enforcement agencies including the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“The streets of Chattanooga will be on fire this week,” an angry resident from the East Lake Courts said
“Multiple agencies are involved in the investigation, because this is a federal housing development,” Sgt. Weary said.
The victim was pronounced dead at Erlanger hospital, said Lt. Tim Carroll, head of major crimes for the Chattanooga department. Critics of Chattanooga’s Weed and Seed program claim that the money is being misused by the Chattanooga Police Department. Because, the city is doing more weeding than seeding to solve crime… Some are calling for the Inspector General of the Justice Department to investigate the program.
“I think if the city used the Weed and Seed program correctly, they would not see the level of crime in Chattanooga, but they only use the money to prop-up a corrupt police department,” Dr. Eberhardt said.
Police had not released the officer’s name and had not positively identified the dead man late Wednesday. Investigators have recovered a gun and detained one person for questioning, but his role in the shooting and/or the dispute was unclear, Sgt. Weary said.