Wanted man was unarmed when shot
It wasn't even 'real' cops that did the shooting.
Des Moines Police Sgt. Vince Valdez said the shooting involved the U.S. Marshal Service Violent Fugitive Task Force and a warrant team of the Fifth Judicial District of the Iowa Department of Correctional Services.
The task force and warrant team are are made up of 'specially trained' non-police officers, according to a local television news broadcast.
Some of the other residents of the apartment complex where the murder (oh, sorry - Officer Involved Shooting) occurred seem to have questions about it.
Cory Gray, 28, said he watched from a second-floor window as officers tried to take Behmer into custody.
"I just know he was an older guy and I just kind of have questions about what happened," Gray said.
Danielle Sparks, 26, said she saw a U.S. marshal "standing outside our window. He was looking up. Then he took off around the building and we heard a boom. It wasn't him shooting. He didn't have time to shoot anyone."
And of course we don't want to be reminded of this casualty of the (failed) War on Drugs.
Employees of the building complex were busy Wednesday with brushes and cleaning equipment used to wipe blood from the concrete just outside a back door.
Des Moines Register - 4/23/08
To quote a great bard:
How many deaths will it take 'til [we] know,
That too many people have died?
EmmetC
