Friday, March 9, 2012
Group demands arrest, indictment of officer identified as Wendell Allen shooter
Posted by Charles Maldonado @ChMaldonado on Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 11:49 AM
The United New Orleans Front (UNOF), with relatives and friends of Wendell Allen — the 20-year-old man killed by police in a Gentilly home this week — this morning called for the arrest and indictment of Officer Josh Colclough, identified yesterday by New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) Superintendent Ronal Serpas as Allen's killer. Serpas told media yesterday that Allen was believed to be unarmed when Colclough, one of a number of officers executing a search warrant at the home, fired a single fatal shot to Allen's chest.
Earlier: "Serpas: Man killed by police was unarmed"; "Mayor calls for full investigation into fatal police shooting"
"[Colclough] should be tried as a murderer ... Because that's what he is," said Tanya Peters, Allen's aunt, at a press conference in front of NOPD Headquarters today.
Allen's killing is the second fatal officer involved shooting in the past two weeks. Justin Sipp was killed following a traffic stop last on March 1, after police say Sipp began shooting at three officers, seriously wounding two of them. Asked by reporters about that incident, UNOF spokesperson WC Johnson — wearing a t-shirt reading "I am Kim Groves" — said he's skeptical about the NOPD's account. Johnson mentioned claims that Sipp's brother Earl Sipp, who was also in the car and was shot in the leg by police, was under medication when he gave a statement to police.
"We don't know what happened. We don't know what Earl said," allegedly on anesthesia and without a lawyer present, Johnson said. He said NOPD has a history of lying and covering up such incidents, citing the post-Katrina killings on Danziger Bridge. "They said they had weapons, that they shot at the police."
"There is an out-and-out war declared on the young blacks of this city," Johnson said. "We are standing up and making a commitment to our youth."
(After the jump, video of a reading of all UNOF demands and video of Helen James Shorty, identified as Allen's grandmother, speaking at the press conference)
Video 1: UNOF Demands
Video 2: Helen James Shorty, Allen's grandmother
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