An unarmed, deaf, mute, 28-year-old man, Daniel Kevin Harris, was gunned down in front of his home in Charlotte, NC. Trooper Jermaine Saunders attempted to pull Harris over at 6:41 p.m. Thursday. Harris didn’t stop for an unknown reason and continued to his house.
Both cars were damaged in the pursuit, then they stopped in front of Harris’ house. A neighbor, Mark Barringer, said:
“I was here in my driveway and I saw the highway patrol car come through and it was smoking really bad. About 10 seconds later, I heard one gunshot.”
Harris died just a few feet from his front door. Saunders and Harris got into some kind of “encounter” before the shot was fired. Harris was trying to converse with Saunders using sign language before he was killed.
Barringer said:
“They should’ve deescalated and been trained to realize that this is an entirely different situation, you’re pulling someone over who is deaf, they are handicapped. To me, what happened is totally unacceptable.”
Another neighbor, Patricia Johnson, said:
“I know the family, I don’t know them by name, but they have been here for many years just like me and they’re a peaceful family, they’re peaceful, they’ve never had any commotions or anything, and they’re all deaf.”
They are supposed to have a protocol when dealing with deaf people. According to Police Magazine:
“The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) makes it very clear that hearing impaired people are entitled to the same level of service from law enforcement officers as anyone else. So it’s your job to accommodate people with hearing loss and to provide them with the same levels of protection and service as any other people in your jurisdiction.”
A State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) agent, Audria Bridges, said:
“The SBI is in the process of obtaining all available dash cam or body camera video present on the scene from the State Highway Patrol as well as Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, as CMPD responded to the scene immediately after the shooting.”
The trooper is now on *paid* administrative leave. That is a standard process after a shooting.
Here is a news clip of the incident:
Featured image via YouTube screengrab.
