A Naked And Unarmed Black 17yo Was Killed Yesterday By An Austin,Tx Pig.. SMDH...

17-year-old killed in police-involved shooting identified

AUSTIN -- Austin Police identified the person shot and killed during a police-involved shooting Monday as 17-year-old David Joseph.

The name was released during a noon press conference held at Austin Police Headquarters.

According to police, the initial call that brought police to the shooting scene was of a disturbance at an apartment complex on the 300 block of Yager Lane. Police said the caller described an African-American man chasing another man through the apartment complex.

Austin Police Officer Jeffrey Freeman was assigned to the area and responded to the call. Police said he initially didn’t find a suspect but stayed in the neighborhood. According to Austin Police, Officer Freeman eventually found and yelled out orders at Joseph.

Police Chief of Staff Brian Manley said in a matter of seconds from the orders being yelled out, Joseph allegedly charged at Officer Freeman. At that point, police said Officer Freeman shot Joseph who later died at the hospital from his injuries.

Police said there are concurrent investigations, one internal and one criminal, looking into the shooting. Officer Freeman has been with the Austin Police Department for ten-and-a-half years.

According to Chief of Staff Manley, investigators took an initial verbal statement from Freeman at the scene and the officer will be brought in later this week for a formal interview.

Police declined to discuss whether or not Joseph had a criminal record and called the shooting a “tragic event.”

A man fatally shot Monday by an Austin police sergeant was not armed at the time of the incident, three sources told the American-Statesman and KVUE-TV today.

Officials had said at the scene that they did not know whether the man, who was naked at the time, had a weapon when he was shot in North Austin.

However, the sources, who were not authorized to speak because of the ongoing investigation, said investigators have since confirmed the unidentified man did not have a weapon.

The revelation intensified questions about the officer’s decision to shoot. Austin police have called a noon news conference at Austin police headquarters to discuss the shooting.

The sources said a key issue in the case likely will be the distance between the officer and the man and whether or not the officer can demonstrate that he was in immediate danger.

Most officers in the department also carry stun guns.

The shooting happened about 10:30 a.m. Monday in the 12000 block of Natures Bend in a small neighborhood south of Tech Ridge Boulevard near Yager Lane. Several residents had called police and said that a man was running around the neighborhood and acting erratically.

Both the suspect and officer in the incident are black. Nelson Linder, president of the Austin NAACP, said the incident highlights the need for police to review how they handle similar situations in the future.

“Once again it is very clear that this policy of response to resistance is not being enforced,” Linder said. “They need to rethink this whole approach, especially if there might be mental illness issues.”

Meanwhile, Jim Harrington, the longtime director and founder of the Texas Civil Rights Project who is retiring, condemned the incident in a statement Tuesday.

“It is almost incomprehensible that a young naked man would be considered dangerous such that a police officer would kill him,” he said. The social advocacy group has called for “a full, fair, and open investigation” of the shooting.

“This is the pattern that led to the U.S. Department of Justice investigation a few years back, and it appears that the pattern of police shootings continues,” Harrington said. “We intend to pursue this matter with the Department of Justice once more.”