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Anger Over Shooting of Mentally Ill Amputee Puts Houston Police Training & Oversight in the Spotlight

Posted byHoumanitarian

(Erin Mulvaney, Houston Chronicle)
Advocates are calling for better training and more discipline after a Houston police officer fatally shot a mentally ill double-amputee in a wheelchair on Saturday, the third unarmed person police have shot in less than three months.

Matthew Marin, a five-year HPD veteran, shot and killed Brian Claunch at a personal care home at 4309 Polk. Houston Police Department officials stated that Marin – who fatally shot another suspect in 2009 – felt he and his partner were threatened by Claunch, who was waving a silver pen.

Claunch was wheelchair-bound after losing his lower right leg and all of his right arm after being hit by a train.

Police were called to the East End personal care home around 2 a.m. after Claunch became agitated because his caretaker refused to give him a soda and a cigarette. Authorities said Claunch was waving a silver pen, stabbing at the two officers, trapping one in a corner. Officers said the man ignored their commands and threatened them and the occupants of the home before Marin shot him.

Numbers show HPD chief is serious about policing the police (Houston Chronicle)

“How difficult is it, if nothing else, to get away from someone in a wheelchair who has no weapon, has only one arm and one good leg?” asked Arlene Kelly, co-founder of Civilians Down, a support group for victims of police violence that tracks misconduct. “It’s totally and completely needless. Those officers should have had that matter well in hand. The gun should have never been out of the holster.”

The incident – as well as two other recent shootings – point to a lack of training, a need for a better vetting process for hiring officers and a lack of discipline, Kelly said.
(Read more of this story at Houston Chronicle)

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