Miami Police Officer Kills Mentally Ill Black Man

/
miami shooting5
  • Vietnam Veteran Shot in the Back of the Head by Aggressive Cops
Three Miami-Dade County police officers struggled with a man whom relatives described as mentally ill before one of the officers shot and killed the man.  Randy Carlos Baker, 49, an Army veteran, died on the way to a hospital. Baker's family said he died in the street where he was shot. According to witnesses, Baker was walking home in West Perrine, carrying a soda, when Officer Saavedra pulled up to him in his police car. Baker, who family members say was mentally ill, was known in the neighborhood as someone who was ''not right in the head,'' but they also say he wasn't dangerous.When Saavedra stopped Baker, the two men began to argue. According to Angela Baker, who witnessed her cousin's shooting, Saavedra ordered Baker to get out of the street, and Baker asked why. ''I guess the police officer got offended,'' said Angela Baker, who added that Saavedra got out of his car, grabbed Baker and started hitting him, despite pleas from herself and others to stop because Randy Baker was mentally ill. Two other officers -- Millie Garcia and Della Oros -- arrived and jumped into the fray with their batons. Police say Baker wrestled a baton away from one of them and struck Garcia in the mouth and Oros in the back of the head. Angela Baker said after one of the female officers was hit, the other one struck Randy from behind. When Randy turned to face her, Saavedra stepped up and shot him in the back of the head. After Randy fell, Angela said, Saavedra shot him twice more in the chest. Baker's relatives said he only fought back because the officers hit him first for no reason. Brad Brown, president of the Miami-Dade branch of the NAACP, said "we all know that most people who are shot by police are young African-Americans and people with mental illness, here we have someone who falls within both categories."[more] and  [more] and [more]
  • Pictured above: Miami-Dade Fire Rescue workers hose down the crime scene where Randy Baker, 49, was shot  by police in West Perrine. [more]
  • Family Files Complaint After Police Shooting [more] and  [more]
  • NAACP Calls For Investigation Into Police Shooting [more]
  • Shooting fuels anger [more]