Update on the THREE Police Officers Murdered in Birmingham Yesterday

[CrimsonNan]

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http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnew...0116259120.xml

3 police officers killed by gunfire
Police say shooter among 3 arrested
Friday, June 18, 2004
CAROL ROBINSON
News staff writer

Three Birmingham police officers were slain and a fourth narrowly escaped death in Ensley Thursday after a confrontation at what neighbors and police called a drug house.

What should have been a routine arrest on a misdemeanor assault warrant turned deadly at 1:18 p.m. when someone inside the apartment house sprayed officers with an SKS assault rifle.

Two officers died in the apartment, just inside the back door in a small kitchen. A third officer died just outside the front door, able only to make a final radio call for help for his fellow officers before a bullet struck him in the head.

Police officials believe it is the first time more than one Birmingham police officer has been killed in a single incident. The last police officer killed in Birmingham was officer Jerome Daniels, slain during a robbery in November 2002.

Those killed Thursday were Carlos "Curly" Owen, 58; Charles Bennett, 33; and Harley Chisholm III, 40. All worked the day shift at the West Precinct, just blocks from where they were gunned down. Owen, whose decorated career on the force spanned nearly three decades, was nearing retirement.

Kerry Marquise Spencer, 24, and Nathaniel Woods, 27, were booked into the Birmingham City Jail at 10:30 p.m. on suspicion of capital murder. Formal charges could come as early as today.

Their arrests followed a two-hour manhunt involving dozens of officers that spanned only two blocks.

Arrests were made at 1736 18th St. in Ensley, where authorities captured one man on the front porch. Police later took a tracking dog up a ladder and broke through an attic vent to take a second man in custody. Arresting officers said they screamed at the second man togive up and found him "cowering" in the attic.

Police recovered the assault rifle in the bushes outside the apartment where the officers died. It was unclear whether more than one gun was used in the shootings and whether any police officers were able to return fire. Authorities said the crime scene was full of guns and bullet holes.

"This is something that seems unimaginable," said Birmingham Police Chief Annetta Nunn.

Ensley residents at the scene openly grieved the loss of their beat officer, Owen: One woman said he brought her coffee once; a man standing nearby sobbed and said Owen came to visit him when he was shot. Chisholm joined the department in 1998; Bennett in 2001.

"Carlos loved catching crooks. After all these years, he was still dedicated, still wanted to put the bad guys away," said narcotics Officer Jim Hickey, a former West Precinct officer. "Chisholm and Bennett were cut from the same cloth."

Rifle-toting police officers and federal agents from a dozen agencies in the Jefferson County area swarmed to the Tuxedo neighborhood, an older, low- to moderate-income community in search of the gunman or gunmen.

Police worked throughout the night trying sort out several versions of events.

Sorting things out:

Friends of the officers gave this account: One officer had a verbal run-in with Woods midday Thursday while he was on routine patrol. The officer checked police records and found Woods was wanted on a third-degree assault charge from February.

Once they had the warrant in hand, Owen, Chisholm, Bennett and Mike Collins went to the one-story house that contained several apartments. Owen and Chisholm entered the apartment through the back door to arrest Woods. He broke away from them and ran toward the front of the house, where Bennett was about to come through the front door.

That's when shots were fired. All three officers, shot multiple times, were dead on the scene.

Collins was on his way toward Bennett in the front when bullets whizzed at him. A bullet struck his holster and tore a hole through his back pocket.

Police said he was shaken, but not wounded.

The shootings, the search and the fallout paralyzed that corner of Ensley for much of the afternoon. Knots of people clustered at every corner, some praying it was not an officer they knew.

Police cars and SUVs, ambulances, firetrucks, SWAT vehicles and a police command unit congregated in front of a neighborhood church. Officers in uniform and plainclothes scurried about, talking over radios and gazing through binoculars.

Police told area business owners to lock their doors while they hunted for the assailants. They searched the area street by street, checking houses, car trunks and trash bins.

A few blocks over, a West Precinct police officer rolled down his patrol car window and sobbed. After wiping his eyes, he glanced up and said, "Those are my friends."

A neighborhood in shock:

Neighbors appeared to be in shock. Some talked frantically over cell phones, others embraced. Little children looked lost.

"I live six blocks from where it happened," said James Davenport. "I have lived here all my life, and I've never been afraid. Lord, this is devastating to me."

Joseph Black, president of the Central Pratt Neighborhood, said he was disgusted by the killings.

"They ought to just have an execution tomorrow morning," Black said.

The Rev. Dean Pesnell, a chaplain at Birmingham police headquarters, said Thursday was "absolutely, without doubt" the toughest assignment he's faced.

It fell to Pesnell and other chaplains to notify the officers' families.

"They are doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances," Pesnell said. "They are very upset. We are all upset. I was an officer myself. The only way I can get through this is knowing that God is with me. We ask for prayers, prayers, prayers."

News staff writers Kim Bryan, Val Walton, Anne Ruisi, Chanda Temple, Vivi Abrams, Bill Plott, Victoria L. Coman, Michelle Q. Guffey and Robert Gordon contributed to this report.



[This message has been edited by CrimsonNan (edited 06-18-2004).]

[BamaLuver]

That was a very sad story -- my heart goes out to the loved ones of those officers slain.

[POWERLINEMAN42]

thanks for the post and update. i agree with one individual that said we need an execution tomorrow.

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R.I.P. Zach Culpepper (1980-1998)

[IH8Orange]

	Quote:
	<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">from the story: Joseph Black, president of the Central Pratt Neighborhood, said he was disgusted by the killings. "They ought to just have an execution tomorrow morning," Black said.</font>

One day, not a day too soon, crooks are going to find out that the citizens of this country have run out of patience, mercy, and excuses.

There's going to be a reactionary movement and at that moment, the criminals will finally understand that their illegal actions aren't primarily an affront and an offense against law enforcement personnel and the judicial system, but against US. THE LAWS ARE OURS.

We've become so systemic that criminals don't view the police as an extension of society. They view the police as an entity that is detached from society: an autonomous tool of an abstraction. Much as Dillinger and Capone, these criminals believe that they are fighting for "the common man" by transgression of the law because they don't see the law as being a creation of the populace, but as a creation of a faceless and heartless system.

In the 1600's, criminals were placed in stocks in the streets so that they could SEE the people against whom they had transgressed. They could see the face of the law. They could see the connection between the law and society and their neighbors. They surely heard the disapproval and disgust of the people, not just the non-chalant judgement of a court.

Some people are so obtuse and unconcerned about anyone other than themselves that it wouldn't make a difference, but I believe that public punishments would discourage at least some criminals. It would at least show them that they aren't some sort of hero to the average citizen, but instead are reviled and ostracized.

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"I've never been quarantined, but the more I look around the more I think it might not be a bad thing." -- George Carlin

[jdpas29]

May the Lord have mercy on the souls of these cold blooded killers.... i have none.

[TommyMac]

Anyone know if Chief Nunn has ever served on the street? For her to term the situation "unimaginable" makes me think she probably hasn't. Was she a paper pusher or did she serve on the street?

God bless the officers and their families.

[IH8Orange]

	Quote:
	<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by TommyMac: Anyone know if Chief Nunn has ever served on the street? For her to term the situation "unimaginable" makes me think she probably hasn't. Was she a paper pusher or did she serve on the street? God bless the officers and their families.</font>

There's no specifics on her past duties or experience in the official press release by the Birmingham mayor's office.

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"I've never been quarantined, but the more I look around the more I think it might not be a bad thing." -- George Carlin

[CrimsonNan]

Public executions would be a good start.

[Bama's Belle]

This is terrible. The people on the street were just sick about it.