Anger grows over Black man Killed by Dallas Police: Medical Examiner Confirms Shooting in the Back

Police claim there was No Dashcam Camera

From [HERE] Dallas police say John Husband III, the man who was shot and killed by an officer on Saturday, was reaching for a "fully loaded" handgun when the officer fired in self-defense.
  The police statement — issued nearly two full days after the incident in the 3600 block of Folklore Trail in Oak Cliff — said a car driven by Husband was pulled over by Officer Leland Limbaugh for failing to signal a turn.

The officer, hired in 2009, "smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the car" and ordered Husband out of the vehicle. When Limbaugh began to handcuff Husband, the 21 year old tried to break away.

“Suspect Husband ignored the officer’s commands and began to struggle with the officer," the statement read, adding Husband then, “reached for the gun in his waistband.”

The story contradicts what several witnesses claim, including Xavier Bryant, 22, who was in the car with Husband at the time. "He didn't even try to chase him," Bryant said. "Then they try to make it seem like he was going for a gun? He was trying to run away." He and others insist Husband was shot in the back as he ran away. The Dallas County Medical Examiner confirms the bullet struck him in the back, near the left shoulder blade.

Police dashcam video, which would help settle the discrepancies, is not available. Officer Limbaugh’s car is one of the few in the fleet not equipped with a video camera.

“That’s real messed up,” said Derrick Epps, 26, of the revelation that there is no video. He was also in the car with Husband and Bryant as they visited a friend’s apartment. “That was our proof,” he said. “He was running away. I promise you.”

Husband was pronounced dead a short time later at a nearby hospital.

Police said a "fully loaded .40-caliber handgun" was found with the suspect, along with marijuana.

The department says the officer feared for his life. Ofc. Limbaugh is now on “special assignment.”

"If the officer believes he saw him going for a weapon [...] then deadly force was appropriate at that time," said Harvey Hedden, who trains officers internationally.

Hedden noted officers only have a split second to make a decision.

"You are seeing someone grasp for what you believe is a weapon after you told them they are under arrest," he said. "The only conclusion you can draw is that they want to use that weapon on you — and if you hesitate, you are dead."

The shooting is the sixth time in 2012 someone has been killed by a Dallas police officer, angering community activists like Peter Johnson.

“This is embedded in the culture of the Dallas Police Department,” he said. “If you shoot somebody in the back that is running away from you, that is murder!”

Others question why non-lethal force wasn’t used instead. Just a few hours earlier that same day, Dallas SWAT officers used a gun that fires bean bags to subdue a non-cooperative, suicidal man in North Dallas.

“So now the question is, bean bags are used up north and bullets are used down south?” said activist Ronald Wright. “It’s just unacceptable.”

The events have troubled Dallas City Council member Dwaine Caraway, who said he wants more information about what exactly happened on Saturday.

"If indeed this young man was shot in the back while running away, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know there are some questions that need to be asked," he said. “I’m not happy about it.”

Meanwhile, Husband’s family is planning his funeral. His father said Husband hoped to eventually become a truck driver to better provide for his long-time girlfriend, Amber Gurley, and their one-year-old son.

“This is wrong how his dad died,” Gurley, 19, said. “It’s wrong how they took him, and it’s wrong that I’m going to be an only parent taking care of him.”