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Officers arrested in shooting death of 6-year-old boy in Louisiana
(CNN)Two police officers in Louisiana are facing murder charges after a 6-year-old boy was shot to death in the front seat of his father's vehicle, authorities said.
The shooting happened on a dead-end street at the end of a Tuesday night chase in Marksville, a town of about 5,500 about 90 miles northwest of Baton Rouge, authorities said.
It's unclear why officers pursued or why shots were fired, since investigators say there were no outstanding warrants against the father, Chris Few, and that no firearm was found in his vehicle.
Jeremy Mardis, a first-grader, was hit by five bullets in the head and chest as the officers pursued his father's car, according to CNN affiliate WAFB. His father was hospitalized with gunshot wounds and was listed in critical condition.
"We took some of the body cam footage. I'm not gonna talk about it, but I'm gonna tell you this -- it is the most disturbing thing I've seen and I will leave it at that," State Police Col. Michael Edmonson said at a press conference late Friday. "That little boy was buckled into the front seat of that vehicle and that is how he died."
Norris Greenhouse Jr., 32, and Derrick Stafford, 23, were charged with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. They were placed on administrative leave, as were two other marshals involved in the chase who have not been charged.
Greenhouse and Stafford were working second jobs as city marshals when the shooting happened. Greenhouse is a full-time Marksville police lieutenant and Stafford is a marshal in Alexandria, Edmonson said.
CNN affiliate WAFB reported that Dr. L.J. Mayeux, coroner of Avoyelles Parish, said the chase ended at a dead end street and that Few backed into the marshal's vehicle several times and would not get out.
Officials initially said there was an exchange of gunfire but later said no firearm was found in Few's vehicle.
Mayeux also said Chris Few had outstanding warrants, WAFB reported, but Edmonson said he found no warrants against Few with police or court offices.
"I don't know what he was thinking," Few's girlfriend, Megan Dixon, told WAFB. "I don't know why he wouldn't just stop."
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Too many unanswered questions:
1) What was the reason for the pursuit?
2) At what point, if any, were the officers aware that there was a child in the vehicle?
3) When the vehicle began to be operated in reverse, were the officers in a position to stand clear?
Until those questions are answered I'm leaning toward involuntary manslaughter at most.
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I agree that we are closer to the beginning of this investigation than we are to the end.
A few things about this case are profoundly different than other police shootings. First, it was not driven by protests, press coverage or dubious eye witnesses.
The arrests were the result of a state police investigation using video evidence.
The chief of the state police described this as the worst thing he'd ever seen. The fact that they are going for second degree murder charges over manslaughter is very interesting.
I wonder when the public will get to see that evidence.
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The video evidence might ultimately prove exonerating.
When the Dauphin County jury was shown the Tazer video of the traffic stop gone awry in Hummelstown the found Officer Lisa Mearkle innocent on all counts.