Killing of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams
| Date | November 29, 2012 |
|---|---|
| Time | c. 11:24 p.m. |
| Location | Cleveland, Ohio, United States |
| Participants | Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams (fatalities) Michael Brelo and 12 other officers (police officers) |
| Deaths | Timothy Russel and Malissa Williams (November 29, 2012) |
| Litigation | Michael Brelo was acquitted in the deaths |
The shooting of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, two homeless African American individuals, occurred on November 29, 2012 at the conclusion of a police chase.
According to people who knew the victims, Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams were mostly likely driving around looking for drugs. Russell was driving his 1979 light blue Chevy Malibu and Williams was in the passenger seat. A plain clothes police officer spotted Russell's car in a area known for drug deals. He called in the license plate but it came up clean. He tried to pull over the car anyway for a turn signal violation. Russell, however, did not pull over and a police chase began.
As Russell sped past two officers, they believed that they heard shots being fired. As no gun was found this sound was most likely the car back firing. A minister who knew Russell later reported that Russell's car had a history of frequent backfires.
"The chase reached speeds of 100 mph. Investigators found that at one point, there were 62 police cars involved in the chase, including officers from Cleveland, East Cleveland, Bratenahl, the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's department, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and RTA."[1]
After a 22 mile chase Russell turned into Heritage Middle School in East Cleveland. Police officers believed that they saw a gun in the car and that Russell was going to run over them. One officer began to shoot, and others followed. There was so much gunfire that the officers believed that they were being fired at from the vehicle. In the end 13 officers firing 137 bullets into the car. Russell was struck 23 times, and Williams was struck 24 times. No gun was recovered from the vehicle.
On May 30, 2014, only one officerof the 13, Michael Brelo was indicted on two counts of manslaughter in connection with the shooting. This was because after all the other officers ceased shooting, he continued to shoot and actually moved forward and jumped onto the hood of the victims car to continue shooting. [6]
On May 23rd, 2015, Michael Brelo was ruled not guilty. Five police supervisors were also indicted for dereliction of duty.[7]
See also
- Shooting of Andy Lopez
- Shooting of Michael Brown
- Shooting of John Crawford III
- Shooting of Ezell Ford
- Death of Eric Garner
- Shooting of Tamir Rice
References
- ^ http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2015/04/everything_you_need_to_know_be.html
- ^ "East Cleveland detectives, BCI officials questioning 13 Cleveland officers involved in fatal chase". News Net 5.
- ^ "Cleveland police-chase shooting: As more information emerges, so do the questions". The Plain Dealer.
- ^ "137 police shots, 2 dead: Many questions in Ohio". Fox Boston.
- ^ "Minister who worked with Timothy Russell says his car often backfired". The Plain Dealer.
- ^ http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2014/06/mcginty_says_brelo_fired_15_sh.html
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20140531020243/http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/cleveland-police-officers-indicted-large-chase-23935859