Police in Maryland have released a body worn camera footage justifying circumstance leading to the killing of a 23-year-old Ghanaian Aaron Mensah who stabbed his parents at Maryland in the US.
The footage seeks to provide additional information to the community and general public on the 29 November incident.
The three deputies involved in the fatal shooting were identified as Deputy First Class Cassy Boettcher, Deputy Travis Stely, and Deputy Nathan McLeroy.
A statement issued by the police on Monday (19 December) said “This is a very tragic situation, that ended with a deadly outcome, that was completely avoidable, had the armed suspect obeyed the commands of deputies and simply dropped the knife. I must emphasize the fact that this critical incident was not one that any of the involved deputies wanted to experience and is very difficult on them.”
“Considering the new laws surrounding the investigation of law enforcement involved deaths of citizens (civilians), it’s important that factual evidence to include body worn camera footage be disclosed and made available to the public, when possible,” said FCSO Sheriff Chuck Jenkins. “This allows the public to see first-hand what occurred and understand why the suspect forced the deputies into a situation where they had to use deadly force as a last option to stop the threat to themselves, following an already deadly knife attack by the deceased suspect on his parents, ” the statment added.
Below is the video:
Background
The office of Maryland’s attorney general has released the name of the man shot and killed by Frederick County sheriff’s deputies earlier this week.
Aaron Mensah, 23, was shot at about 2:15 a.m. Tuesday on Zoe Lane, the office of Attorney General Brian Frosh said.
The sheriff’s office said he was armed, and that they had responded to the area because his sister called 911 and told them he was stabbing their parents.
Mensah’s father died later at a hospital. His mother was taken to a hospital and being treated.
Frosh also identified the deputies involved in the shooting as Deputy First Class Cassy Boettcher, who has been with the sheriff’s office for two and a half years; Deputy Travis Stely, who has been with the sheriff’s office since September and has six years of law enforcement experience, and Deputy Nathan McLeroy, who has been with the agency since July and has three years’ law enforcement experience.
On Tuesday night, the sheriff’s office said an initial look at the case found that deputies and Maryland State Police troopers found Mensah with a knife after the stabbing.
The officers who encountered him reportedly told him to “drop the knife.” After that, one officer shot him with a bean bag round from a shotgun.
That, the attorney general’s office said, was followed by Mensah “rapidly moving toward the officer.” Multiple officers deployed their stun guns and three officers fired on the man with their guns.
Frosh’s Independent Investigations Division is handling the investigation. While the deputies who fired their guns were not wearing body cameras, other officers involved were, and their cameras captured portions of what happened.
Fred Dzakpata
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