Friday, August 29, 2014

What Wendy's Asst. Mgr. saw: witness recounts killing of COPS sound mixer Bryce Dion by Omaha PD

KETV is Omaha's leading television new operation for good reason. In the video below, reporter Dave Roberts explains exactly where the robber, police and the COPS cameraman and soundman were during Tuesday's killings of Bryce Dion and Cortez Washington by police during the robbery of a Wendy's at 43rd & Dodge Tuesday night. No other reports AKSARBENT has seen have explained the event with as much clarity and that includes the press conference given by Police Chief Todd Schmaderer.



     Cortez Washington's sister-in-law told KETV that the police account of their confusion over Washington's air gun was bogus. She fired a pellet gun and asked "Does that sound like a real gun to you.?"
     In his press conference (see excerpts below) Chief Schmaderer insisted that Washington's pellet gun "looked and sounded" (emphasis added) like the real thing. We're not saying that cops should wait until after someone pulls the trigger of a realistic-looking pistol pointed at them to decide if the bad news is fake, but neither do we buy Chief Schmaderer's assertion that pellet guns sound like real ones. Incidentally, some of the rounds penetrated a tanning salon a block east of Wendy's, across the street and a parking lot. Customers and staff were in the tanning business at the time. KETV did a story about that too.




Excerpts from KETV's transcript of Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer's Wednesday press conference. We corrected a couple of obvious typos, like "Wednesday" for "Wendy's"

WHILE DOCUMENTING THE OMAHA POLICE DEPARTMENT RESPONSE TO THE ROBBERY, 38-YEAR-OLD "COPS" PRODUCTION CREW MEMBER MR. BRYCE DION WAS KILLED BY GUNFIRE IN THE INCIDENT...

MULTIPLE GUNSHOTS WERE FIRED INSIDE OF THE WENDY'S RESTAURANT. THREE INDIVIDUALS INSIDE WENDY'S WITNESSED MR. WASHINGTON HOLDING HANDGUN AND DISCHARGED HAPPENED GUN DIRECTLY DETECTIVE CUNNINGHAM AND OFFICER RILEY. THE WITNESSES DESCRIBED HEARING THE SUSPECTS HANDGUN SLIDE RECOIL WITH THE SHOTS. THE FIRST TWO AUDIBLE SHOTS WERE FROM MR. WASHINGTON'S HANDGUN ACCORDING TO THE WITNESSES. MR. WASHINGTON WAS INJURED BY TO FLEE OUT EAST DOORS WHERE HE COLLAPSED IN PARKING LOT. MR. WASHINGTON WAS PLACED IN INTO HANDCUFFS AT THAT TIME OFFICERS RECOVERED A HANDGUN FROM MR. WASHINGTON. IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT MR. WASHINGTON'S HANDGUN IS AN AIR SOFT PISTOL THAT FIRES PLASTIC PELLET BULLETS. AIR SOFT PISTOL LOOKS AND FUNCTIONS LIKE AN ACTUAL FIREARM. THERE ARE PHOTOS TO MY IMMEDIATE LEFT. MR. DION WAS ALSO INJURED BY A SINGLE GUNSHOT AND COLLAPSED MR. WASHINGTON AND MR. DION WERE BOTH TRANSPORTED TO UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER WHERE THEY WERE PRONOUNCED DEAD SHORTLY THERE AFTER...

WE ARE STRIVING FOR UNPRECEDENTED TRANSPARENCY...

...BASED ON OUR VIEWING OF FOOTAGE THE OFFICERS HAD NO CHOICE OTHER THAN TO RESPOND IN WHICH THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY DID. MR. DION PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR HIS SERVICE TO PROVIDE THE FOOTAGE OF THE REAL LIFE DANGERS THAT LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS FACE ON A DAILY BASIS TO TELEVISION VIEWERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

CHANNEL 7: WAS IT CROSS FIRE OR SAME DIRECTION?
WHEN THE OFFICERS ENTERED FROM THE EAST, THE DETECTIVE AND OFFICER BROOKS RILEY THEY ENTERED THE CAMERA MAN FOLLOWED. THE CAMERA MAN AND AUDIO PERSON, THEY TRAVEL IN TANDEM. OKAY. THEY TRAVEL IN TANDEM. AS THEY ENTERED, IT BECAME A CHAOTIC SCENE. CAMERA MAN MADE HIS WAY INTO THE EATING AREA AND WAS ABLE TO GET DOWN AND HOLD THE CAMERA UP. BRYCE, BRYCE DION, GOT STUCK ENTERED. WHEN THEY ENCOUNTERED THE SUSPECT AND THE GUNFIRE ENSUED, AND IT'S A VERY DRAMATIC VIDEO, WHEN GUNFIRE ENSUED AT SOME POINT MR. WASHINGTON STARTED EXITING HIS WAY OUT AS YOU CAN SEE IN THAT BOTTOM PICTURE THERE. HE'S ON HIS WAY OUT. THE OFFICERS ARE RETURNING FIRE. BRYCE IS IN THAT VESTIBULE AND GETS STRUCK BY A ROUND. 

MR. BECKER DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? YES, SIR WAS THERE EXCESSIVE FORCE THE REPORT WAS OVER 30 SHOTS HAD BEEN FIRED IS THAT EXCESSIVE FORCE I HAD SOMEONE COMMENT THEY WERE WONDERING IF THE POLICE WERE ACTUALLY SHOWING OFF FOR THE CAMERAS.
ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. THEY WERE NOT SHOWING OFF FOR THE CAMERAS. LIKE I SAID I PERSONALLY VIEWED VIEWED IT. DOUGLAS COUNTY ATTORNEY VIEWED THIS. THIS WAS VERY HARROWING SITUATION. IT WAS THREE OFFICERS INVOLVED. TAKE A LOOK AT THE STILL PHOTOS. I'M GOING TO TELL YOU THAT FIRST TWO SHOTS THAT YOU, THEY SOUNDED LIKE A GUN. AND IF YOU CAN TELL ME WHICH ONE REAL FROM THIS GUN I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN. THE SHOTS WERE FROM AIR SOFT GUN AND SOUNDED REAL? YES THEY DID. VERY MUCH DID. ANY CRITICISM IS UNMERITED.

...FRANKIE. THIS WAS A FRIENDLY FIRE SITUATION. IT WAS AN OFFICER'S ROUND THAT STRUCK MR. DION. OKAY. LIKE I SAID EARLIER, MR. WASHINGTON'S GUN WAS AN AIR SOFT GUN. WHILE IT LOOKED AND SOUNDED AND IS SLIDE SLID LIKE IT WAS REAL, IT WAS A PELLET GUN. OKAY.

YOU MENTIONED THE OFFICERS WENT IN BECAUSE THEY FELT THEY NEEDED TO RESCUE SOMEONE YEAH. IT WAS OUR UNDERSTANDING MAYBE AN EMPLOYEE HAD A GUN BEING HELD TO HER HEAD AT THAT MOMENT. AND IS THAT STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR OFFICERS TO ENTER ROBBERY? WE ARE STILL LOOKING INTO THE INFORMATION THAT AN EMPLOYEE HAD A GUN TO THEIR HEAD. OKAY. THAT'S GOING, THOSE POINTS WILL REALLY COME OUT WITH DEEPER INTERVIEWS. OUR PROTOCOL IS PRESERVATION OF LIFE FIRST AND FOREMOST. THERE ARE TIMES IN WHICH WE CAN WAIT AND THERE ARE TIMES IN WHICH WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION. WHEN THESE OFFICERSE ARRIVED, AGAIN, THERE WAS PEOPLE IN THE PARKING LOT THAT CAME THROUGH THE DRIVE-THROUGH. MOTIONING OFFICERS THAT SOMETHING WAS GOING ON IN THERE. OFFICERS DIDN'T HAVE THE LUXURY OF DOING ANYTHING OTHER THAN WHAT THEY WERE TRAINED TO DO AND I WILL SAY COURAGEOUSLY ENTERED WITH THE PREMISE OF SAVING LIVES. THAT WAS THEIR PREMISE. OKAY. THEY DON'T KNOW IF AN EMPLOYEE OF WENDY'S WAS GETTING HURT OR PATRON OF WENDY'S WAS GETTING HURT.

HOW MANY SHOTS WERE FIRED? I'VE HEARD I'VE SEEN REPORTS AS MANY AS 30 SHOTS WERE FIRED. THERE WERE MULTIPLE SHOTS FIRED. THERE WERE THREE OFFICERS INVOLVED. OKAY. MULTIPLE SHOTS FIRED. THE EXACT NUMBER I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE AT THIS POINT IN TIME BECAUSE IT IS SUBJECT TO A GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION.

...CHIEF, WERE THE OFFICERS IN THE CHAOTIC SITUATION AT THE WENDY'S AWARE BRYCE WAS TRAPPED IN VESTIBULE?

I DON'T SEE HOW THEY COULD HAVE BEEN. I DON'T KNOW. WE'RE GOING TO TALK TO THEM. I DON'T WANT TO SPEAK OUT OF BUT WHEN MR. WASHINGTON STARTED EXITING POINTING HIS WEAPON AS HIS WAY OUT, IT FORCED THE OFFICERS TO CONTINUE THEIR GUNFIRE. AND I CAN TELL YOU THAT NOBODY WANTED BRYCE TO GET HURT. NOBODY WANTED ANYBODY TO GET HURT. POLICE WORK IS VERY DANGEROUS.

CHIEF, WE KNEW THAT YOUR INTENTIONS WERE WELL WHEN YOU INVITED THE SHOW TO COME HERE. BUT NOW THIS INCIDENT HAS HIT NATIONAL NEWS AND IT HAS BEEN TRENDING ALL DAY. HOW DO YOU FEEL OUR CITY IS PERCEIVED NOW BECAUSE OF THIS? LOOK THE CITY OF OMAHA IS A TREMENDOUS CITY. THE OMAHA POLICE DEPARTMENT IS LAST YEAR THERE WERE 42 HOMICIDES IN THIS CITY. THERE'S ONLY 17. OKAY. YOU PUT THAT UP AGAINST A LOT OF CITIES IT'S A VERY NICE CITY. AND IT'S PROFESSIONAL LAW RELATION AND PARTNERSHIPS IN THE COMMUNITY THAT GOT US TO THIS POINT, THIS IS AN UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT. BE ANYTHING VIEWED OTHER THAN THAT. AND AN UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT THAT OCCURRED DURING POLICE WORK THAT TAKES ON VERY DANGEROUS ELEMENTS. AND I WILL BE OUT IF NEED BE TO DEFEND HOW GREAT THIS CITY IS. THANK YOU.

CHIEF TMZ HAS RELEASED AUDIO OF THE POLICE CALL. UH-HUH. THAT OR WAS THAT LANGLEY PRODUCTIONS YOU KNOW I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY GOT IT I BELIEVE IT CAME FROM A WEBSITE. OKAY. WEBSITE ONLINE I THINK PEOPLE FROM POLICE SCANNERS.

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