DIRECT ACTION FRIDAY, FEB 17 - 7pm
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This is so wrong. All this poor guy had was a cell phone in his pocket, and the cop shot him in the head when he turned away from him. And look at this guy Peters' record - more than just him is responsible for his belief that this would be a "justified" kill, too. His department has backed him up every other time he's left another person dead. He even got a Medal of Valor for killing a man, so why wouldn't he - and just about every other cop - think this was okay?
John Loxas and grandson
photo lifted from my buddy's blog at OP-NAT Eye -
John
Loxas, smiling above with his grandson, is the murder victim, by the way.
Apparently you don't even have to have criminal intent to kill someone
to be charged with some degrees of homicide in Arizona, so there is a lot of room for how Peters can be charged. Lots of people
go to prison for negligent homicide or manslaughter - some even second
degree murder - without having had any "criminal" intent at all. The
taking of a life is that grave of a business to us here...though we
empower virtually anyone to run around with a concealed weapon here -
our legislators want them in the schools and bars, even.
Scottsdale Police Officer James Peters
Officer
James Peters, shown above in uniform, will probably never be charged with homicide for
killing John Loxas. He won't be charged with a thing, is my bet. He
probably won't
even lose a day's pay. This will go down as an unfortunate but
nevertheless "justified" kill. They justified it already by virtue of
the type of information released to the media about John's run-ins with
his neighbors and the police before. Please remember as you read this
stuff that the state is in control of these press releases; the victims
of the state have already been silenced, in cases like this, and his
survivor's voices will likely never be amplified louder than the
suggestion below that even though he wasn't carrying a gun or
threatening the cops, he somehow deserved to be shot.
Our
condolences to John's loved ones. Feel free to contact me if you want
to connect with other families who have survived the loss of a loved one
to police or prison violence, either for mutual support or to help
change things.
My name is Peggy Plews (480-580-6807).
You can call any time, or email me at prisonabolitionist@gmail.com
You can call any time, or email me at prisonabolitionist@gmail.com
-----------from the Arizona Republic--------------
Arizona Republic
The Scottsdale police officer who shot and killed a man holding a
baby Tuesday has been involved in seven shootings since 2002, six of
them fatal, police said Wednesday.
Officer James Peters shot 50-year-old John Loxas on Tuesday evening
after police were called to a house in the 7700 block of East Garfield
Street, near Hayden and McKellips roads.
Neighbors had called 911 earlier and said Loxas had threatened them with a handgun.
Peters, a former member of the department's SWAT team, was one of six
officers who responded to the call. The 12-year police veteran is on
administrative leave, which is standard after any police shooting, said
Sgt. Mark Clark, a Scottsdale police spokesman.
According to the 911 call, the neighbors said Loxas was pushing his
9-month-old grandson in a stroller and walked over and kicked a
neighbor's trash can into the street. When another neighbor went to pick
it up, Loxas returned with the baby in his arms and started yelling,
"You got a problem with that?" the caller tells the dispatcher. "The guy
pulls out a gun, cocks it and aimed it at him."
When officers arrived, Loxas had returned to his house, but came to
the door with the baby in his arms, police said. Peters and another
officer told investigators that they saw a black object in Loxas' hand.
Loxas turned to go back inside when Peters, who was standing 18 feet
away at the edge of the driveway, shot him in the head with his patrol
rifle, police said.
"(Loxas) was holding the baby in his left arm in front of his upper
body and face. Moments later, he reached down to his right, lowering the
baby, clearly exposing his head and upper body. Officer Peters
responded to the movement with a single shot (to) the suspect's head.
The suspect fell to the ground and the baby was rescued by officers. The suspect died instantly," Clark said.
Peters "felt he had to prevent him from re-entering the house," Clark
said. "The intent was to rescue the baby." Investigators later
determined that Loxas was not carrying a gun but had a cellphone in his
pants pocket.
A search warrant recovered a loaded pistol "a few feet from where the
suspect fell inside the residence," Clark said. "It was wedged between
the arm and cushion of a chair a few feet away from where he fell." It
is the same pistol believed to have been used to threaten neighbors, he
said. A loaded shotgun also was found near a chair a few feet from the
pistol, Clark said. In addition, police found at least eight "Airsoft"
type rifles and pistols, as well as "a functional improvised explosive
device," he said.
Loxas lived in the house alone and babysat his grandson often, police
said. The home was filled with garbage and clutter and a city inspector
determined the home to be uninhabitable Wednesday, Clark said.
In 2010, Scottsdale police were called to the house because Loxas was
threatening neighbors with a pistol, police said. He has been arrested
at least once, police said. The 911 caller told the dispatcher that this
wasn't the first time that Loxas had pointed a gun at neighbors.
On Wednesday, several neighbors said that house parties were
frequently held at the man's home, often lasting until 3 a.m. or later.
Residents of two nearby homes said they had filed noise complaints with
police.
Scottsdale police Chief Alan Rodbell said he is confident that the
external review by legal experts will "leave the community with the same
sense of confidence that I have in my officers, my detectives and
oversight in this very serious incident."
Lyle Mann, executive director of the Arizona Peace Officers and
Training Board, a state law enforcement panel, said that he couldn't
comment specifically about Peters, because he didn't know the
circumstances of the seven shootings. But he said "some are functions of
assignment."
"If you are out chasing armed felons every day, there's the
probability that they're going to be bad people. While it feels like it
clearly is an anomaly in terms of this person being involved in this
many discharges, I wouldn't read anything into that," Mann said.
Each of Peters' previous shootings have been determined justified
through an internal investigation as well as an external investigation
by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
Peters' previous fatal shooting occurred in March 2010, when Peters
shot and killed a man suspected in a string of bank robberies. At the
time, The Republic reported that the city had settled in 2009
with the family of one of the people involved in a different fatal
shooting for $75,000 but denied liability.
In another case, Peters was honored for his actions in responding to a
hostage situation and the hostage thanked the officer for saving his
life and shooting the suspect.
Peters also was involved in these previous shooting incidents, police confirmed:
Nov. 3, 2002: Peters was one of three SWAT officers who fired at
Albert Redford after a nearly four-hour standoff at his north Scottsdale
home. Officers had been called out for a report of domestic violence.
Officers fired a total of seven shots, striking Redford three times.
March 25, 2003: Peters shot and killed disbarred lawyer Brent
Bradshaw, 47, of Scottsdale. Officers responded to shotgun blasts at
Bradshaw's home. Three hours later, police found Bradshaw wandering
along the Arizona Canal at Miller and Chaparral roads, carrying a
shotgun. Officers tried unsuccessfully to get him to put down the gun.
Oct. 10, 2005: Peters shot and killed Mark Wesley Smith, a burglary
suspect, during a confrontation outside an auto-body shop near Hayden
and McKellips roads. Smith was smashing car windows in a rage outside
the body shop. Autopsy reports would later show that he was high on
methamphetamine.
April 23, 2006: Peters shot and killed Brian Daniel Brown, 28, who
took a Safeway employee hostage after he hijacked a Krispy Kreme
delivery truck in Peoria. Peters received a Medal of Valor for this
incident in June 2007.
Aug. 30, 2006: Peters and Officer Tom Myers fatally shot Kevin
Hutchings after Hutchings fired at least one round at police outside his
northeast Mesa home. Scottsdale police were trying to contact Hutchings
about a Scottsdale assault earlier that evening with a longtime
acquaintance of Hutchings. Hutchings' family sued the city and
eventually settled out of court for the $75,000, city officials said.
Feb. 17, 2010, Peters and Scottsdale Detective Scott Galbraith shot
Jimmy Hammack Jr., 46, after Hammack drove his truck toward detectives
who were investigating him as a suspect in three Scottsdale bank
robberies and two in Phoenix. Hammack later died from his injuries.
This is the second time in less than three weeks that a Scottsdale police officer shot and killed a man.
On Jan. 28, Jason Edward Prostrollo, 25, was shot dead after officers
were called to the north Scottsdale home of Prostrollo's acquaintances.
Police were called in the early morning by a 35-year-old woman saying
Prostrollo, a guest in her home, was drunk and fighting with her
50-year-old boyfriend, and had a knife.
Prostrollo, a former Marine with two tours of duties in Iraq, came
out of the house with pieces of a pool cue in each hand, police said. He
ignored commands to drop the cues and stop walking, police said. A K-9
officer released his dog and a bite from the dog didn't deter
Prostrollo, who kept walking toward officers.
That's when Lt. Ron Bayne
shot Prostrollo and killed him.
Prostrollo's family and friends have questioned the police department's use of lethal force.
Reporter John Genovese contributed to this article.
-------------
Roosevelt Street Artwalk: Phoenix
(June 4, 2011)
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