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Cop in Kansas City is charged with manslaughter six months after shooting dead a black man who was backing a truck into his own garage because he ‘saw a gun in the vehicle’

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;382d2d&semi;">Kansas City Police Detective Eric DeValkenaere was indicted by a grand jury <&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;382d2d&semi;">Jackson County&comma; Missouri&comma; prosecutors announced indictments on Thursday against Detective Eric DeValkenaere <&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;382d2d&semi;">DeValkenaere charged with involuntary manslaughter&comma; armed criminal action <&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;382d2d&semi;">On December 3&comma; he fatally shot Cameron Lamb&comma; DeValkenaere shot Lamb on Dec&period; 3&comma; as he sat in his pickup truck<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;382d2d&semi;">Lamb&comma; a 26-year-old father of three&comma; on Dec&period; 3&comma; was shot as he was backing his pickup truck into his garage<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;382d2d&semi;">DeValkenaere claimed Lamb aimed a gun at another detective&comma; Troy Schwalm Announcing the charges on Thursday <&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;382d2d&semi;">Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker stated&colon;  &&num;8220&semi;The defendant&&num;8217&semi;s reckless behavior began by entering the victim’s property without consent&comma; without a warrant&comma; knocking over the fence to gain entry into that backyard&comma; and firing his weapon&comma; killing Cameron within seconds of entry<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;382d2d&semi;">Police investigators claimed after the shooting they found Lamb inside the vehicle with his left arm and head hanging out of the driver’s side window<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;382d2d&semi;">On the ground near his left hand was a handgun&period;<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;382d2d&semi;">Det Troy Schwalm in sworn affidavits said he did not see Lamb point a gun at him<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;382d2d&semi;"> Medical records say Lamb is right-handed&comma; and he had limited use of his left hand because of an injury he suffered in 2015 <&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;382d2d&semi;">Lamb&&num;8217&semi;s family met with President Trump this week&comma; asking for his help<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;382d2d&semi;">Trump is said to have promised Justice Department would look into case <&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"artSplitter mol-img-group">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mol-img">&NewLine;<h6><strong><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi; font-size&colon; 1rem&semi;"><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-349666" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;06&sol;Eric-DeValkenaere-left-and-Cameron-Lamb-right-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Eric DeValkenaere &lpar;left&rpar; and Cameron Lamb &lpar;right&rpar;&comma; 1" width&equals;"669" height&equals;"476" &sol;><&sol;span>Detective Eric DeValkenaere &lbrack;left&rsqb;&comma; Thursday was charged with involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action for recklessly causing the death of Cameron Lamb &lbrack;right&rsqb;&comma; in Jackson County&comma; Missouri <&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<div>A white Kansas City police officer was indicted by a grand jury on Thursday for the fatal shooting of a black man who was killed while backing his pickup truck into his garage last year&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Detective Eric DeValkenaere was charged with involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action for recklessly causing the death of Cameron Lamb&comma;  Six months after a Kansas City police detective shot and killed 26-year-old Lamb&comma; according to prosecutors in Jackson County&comma; Missouri&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi; font-size&colon; 1rem&semi;">Lamb was shot dead on December 3&comma; sitting in the driver&&num;8217&semi;s seat of his red pickup truck as he backed it into a garage in Kansas City&comma; Missouri<&sol;span><br &sol;>&NewLine;DeValkenaere claims he shot Lamb after Lamb pointed a gun at another detective&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The charges were announced just days after Lamb&&num;8217&semi;s family met with President Trump at the White House&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Trump is said to have promised Lamb&&num;8217&semi;s mother&comma; Laurie Bey&comma; and stepfather&comma; Aquil Bey&comma; that his Justice Department would look into bringing federal charges against DeValkenaere&period;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<h6><strong><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi; font-size&colon; 1rem&semi;"><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-349669" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;06&sol;Cameron-Lambs-home-in-Kansas-City-Missouri&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Cameron Lamb's home in Kansas City&comma; Missouri" width&equals;"674" height&equals;"377" &sol;><&sol;span>Police seal off the area around Lamb&&num;8217&semi;s home after he was shot and killed on Dec 3&comma; as he was backing his red pickup truck into a garage in Kansas City&comma; Missouri <&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">Announcing the charges on Thursday <span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi; font-size&colon; 1rem&semi;">Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker stated&colon; <&sol;span> &&num;8220&semi;The defendant&&num;8217&semi;s reckless behavior began by entering the victim’s property without consent&comma; without a warrant&comma; knocking over the fence to gain entry into that backyard&comma; and firing his weapon&comma; killing Cameron within seconds of entry&&num;8221&semi;&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyQuote;The conscious disregard of a risk&comma; or in this case&comma; a series of risks or assumptions that were dangerous&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;In this case&comma; what we believe&comma; though&comma; is that his conduct was reckless&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Baker said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi; font-size&colon; 1rem&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;It was reckless&comma; and it was in violation of the Fourth Amendment&period;&&num;8221&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;span>The Kansas City Police Department told <a class&equals;"class" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;kmbc&period;com&sol;article&sol;grand-jury-indicts-kansas-city-officer-with-involuntary-manslaughter-charge-in-december-fatal-shooting-eric-devalkenaere&sol;32910729" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"nofollow noreferrer noopener">KMBC<&sol;a> on Thursday that DeValkenaere joined the force in 1999&period; At the time&comma; he was assigned to the Investigations Bureau&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Kansas City Police Dept&period; has announced that detective DeValkenaere is currently under suspension&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyQuote;The Kansas City&comma; Missouri Police Department continues to mourn the loss of life and all suffering surrounding this incident&comma;’ KCPD said in a statement&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyQuote;We respect the judicial process&comma; including the grand jury’s finding in this matter&comma; as well as all defendant&&num;8217&semi;s presumption of innocence until proven guilty&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"artSplitter mol-img-group">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mol-img">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"image-wrap fff-pic">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"overlay-icon mobile-gallery">&NewLine;<div>&NewLine;<h6><strong><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi; font-size&colon; 1rem&semi;"><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-349671" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;06&sol;Jean-Peters-Baker-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Jean Peters Baker 1" width&equals;"1009" height&equals;"675" &sol;><&sol;span>The grand jury indictment was announced on Thursday by Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker who described Det&period; DeValkenaere&&num;8217&semi;s actions as &&num;8220&semi;reckless&comma; and &lbrack;a&rsqb; violation of the Fourth Amendment&period;&&num;8221&semi; <&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mobile-gallery-icon"><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi; font-size&colon; 1rem&semi;">The speaking on the grand jury indictment on Thursday Baker emphasized that Det&period; DeValkenaere&&num;8217&semi;s actions were &&num;8220&semi;reckless&comma; and &lbrack;a&rsqb; violation of the Fourth Amendment&period;&&num;8221&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;span><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi; font-size&colon; 1rem&semi;">&OpenCurlyQuote;As the case makes its way through court&comma; we will continue to respect the process&comma; and therefore cannot comment further at this time&period;’<&sol;span><&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas praised the grand jury and prosecutors as well as the FBI for their work on the case&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyQuote;My heart continues to break for the family of Cameron Lamb&comma;’ Lucas said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyQuote;I believe our justice system in Kansas City took an important step today&comma; showing all are accountable before the law&period;’<br &sol;>&NewLine;On December 3&comma; police were called to an area near the intersection of the East 35th Street and College Avenue in the Oak Park Northwest section of Kansas City&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Police were asked to respond to a disturbance between two vehicles&comma; one of which was a red truck driven by Lamb at a high rate of speed&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;A police helicopter tracked one of the vehicles&comma; which pulled behind a home on the 4100 block of College Avenue&comma; according to <a class&equals;"class" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;kansascity&period;com&sol;news&sol;local&sol;crime&sol;article238045329&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"nofollow noreferrer noopener">The Kansas City Star<&sol;a>&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;According to police&comma; detectives approached a man in the vehicle and &OpenCurlyQuote;the officer was put in a position where he had to discharge his firearm&period;’<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div>&NewLine;<h6><strong><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi; font-size&colon; 1rem&semi;"><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-349678" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;06&sol;Aquil-Bey-left-and-Laurie-Bey-4&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Aquil Bey &lpar;left&rpar;&comma; and Laurie Bey 4" width&equals;"768" height&equals;"429" &sol;><&sol;span>Earlier this week&comma; Cameron Lamb&&num;8217&semi;s mother&comma; Laurie Bey &lbrack;center&rsqb;&comma; and stepfather&comma; Aquil Bey &lbrack;left&rsqb;&comma; met with President Trump&comma; who it is believed to have promised them that the Justice Department would look into the case <&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">According to the police report&comma; the two responding officers detectives Eric DeValkenaere and Troy Schwalm&comma; approached from different sides of the house as Lamb sat in his truck&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Court documents indicate that the officers saw Lamb backing the truck into a garage&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;At one point&comma; Schwalm said he could see Lamb’s left hand&comma; and that Lamb was looking at him&period; At no point did Schwalm see Lamb holding a gun&comma; according to sworn statements&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;DeValkenaere told investigators that he saw Lamb’s right hand on the steering wheel and his left hand sliding down his body&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The detective claimed Lamb reached into his waistband and pulled out a gun&comma; which he aimed at Schwalm&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;DeValkenaere then fired his weapon&comma; shooting four bullets into the windshield of the pickup truck&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Two of the bullets fatally wounded Lamb&comma; according to an affidavit&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Investigators at the crime scene said they found a gun on the ground beneath Lamb’s hand where the truck came to a stop&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The police claim Lamb’s body was inside the truck and his left arm was hanging out of the open driver’s side window&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;But medical records say Lamb is right-handed&comma; and he had limited use of his left hand because of an injury he suffered in 2015&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><strong> <img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-349684" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;06&sol;Cameron-Lamb-3&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Cameron Lamb 3" width&equals;"781" height&equals;"479" &sol;>Police investigators claimed after the shooting they found Lamb inside the vehicle with his left arm and head hanging out of the driver’s side window&period; On the ground near his left hand was a handgun&period; However&comma; medical records say Lamb is right-handed&comma; and he had limited use of his left hand because of an injury he suffered in 2015<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">According to court documents&comma; Lamb made a phone call just moments before he was shot&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The second vehicle was also located&period; Three people involved in the incident were detained and questioned&comma; but none were charged&comma; Hernandez said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The call went to voicemail&comma; which was able to record the immediate aftermath of the shooting&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyQuote;We are living in really troubled times&comma;’ Peters Baker said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyQuote;Emotions are high&comma; and however opportune or unfortunate&comma; when you may view the timing of this particular case in this announcement&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyQuote;I view this moment as consequential as necessary&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyQuote;We need to be here&period; These moments of reform&comma; they&&num;8217&semi;re long overdue for us to have real discussions about how to reform the criminal justice systems&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyQuote;How police prosecutors and the courts must and should reform&period;’<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div>&NewLine;<h6><strong><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi; font-size&colon; 1rem&semi;"><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-349673" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;06&sol;Cameron-Lamb-2&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Cameron Lamb 2" width&equals;"838" height&equals;"472" &sol;><&sol;span>DeValkenaere claims Lamb &lbrack;photo&rsqb;&comma; was pointing a gun at another detective&period; However&comma; according to sworn statements&comma; at no point did Schwalm see Lamb holding a gun<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">DeValkenaere’s lawyers said their client was innocent&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyQuote;On the date in question&comma; the suspect was involved in a domestic violence situation and then attracted police attention by engaging in a high-speed&comma; dangerous car chase through the residential streets of Kansas City&comma;’ a statement from his lawyers said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyQuote;Police officers followed the suspect to a residence&comma; which according to a witness on-scene&comma; was not the suspect’s home&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyQuote;When officers approached the suspect&comma; the suspect raised and pointed a gun toward an officer&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyQuote;As these facts demonstrate&comma; this is a justified police shooting&period;’<br &sol;>&NewLine;An attorney for the Lamb family said&colon; &&num;8216&semi;We are pleased at this first step in getting justice for our son&comma; but cannot rest until the man who killed him is behind bars&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8216&semi;President Trump and the Attorney General personally promised us a federal investigation into criminal charges for this officer and police department when we met with them this week&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8216&semi;We are anxiously waiting for federal action while the state criminal charges proceed against this officer&period;&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"column-content cleared">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"shareArticles">&NewLine;<h3 class&equals;"social-links-title"><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;

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