Family Calls For Help, Police Show Up And Kill Mentally Ill Eighteen Year Old
BY Herschel Smith
10 years, 10 months ago
A North Carolina family is demanding answers.
North Carolina prosecutors promised Monday to get to the truth — “wherever the truth leads”— in the death of a mentally ill teenager whose family claims police shot him in cold blood over the weekend.
Keith Vidal, 18, of Boiling Springs Lakes, was shot and killed Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
At least three law enforcement agencies responded after the family called for help just after noon, saying Vidal was in the midst of a schizophrenic episode.
Vidal was declared dead of a gunshot wound at a hospital.
Jerry Dove, chief of the Southport police, one of the responding agencies, said at a news conference that Detective Byron Vassey, a nine-year veteran of the department, had been placed on administrative leave. He wouldn’t say whether Vassey was believed to be the officer who fired the shot.
[ … ]
Mark Wilsey, the young man’s stepfather, told reporters that the family called police to help subdue Vidal because he was holding a small screwdriver and threatening to fight his mother during a schizophrenic episode.
But the situation appeared to be under control, with two officers restraining the 90-pound Vidal, when the third officer arrived and shot Vidal point-blank, Wilsey contended.
“Then all of a sudden, this Southport cop came, walked in the house [and said]: ‘I don’t have time for this. Tase him. Let’s get him out of here,'” Wilsey said.
An officer used a stun gun on Vidal, “he hit the ground [and] this guy shot him,” Wilsey said.
Wilsey said that when he demanded to know why his stepson had been shot, the officer replied, “‘Well, I’m protecting my officers.'”
According to a report at The Daily Caller, Vidal was pinned on the ground by two officers when the third said “we don’t have time for this,” and shot him. There was never any report to dispatchers of a problem.
The first unit on scene reported a confrontation in the hallway, but told Brunswick County Dispatchers several times that everything was OK. Unit 104 from Southport arrived on the scene at 12:48:41, fourteen minutes after the first officer had already been on scene. Seventy seconds later, Unit 104 radioed out that he had to fire shots at the subject in order to defend himself.
The event report mirrors what family members told the media. Wilsey said his family called the police to help with his schizophrenic son Keith Vidal who had a small screwdriver in his hand. Officers used at Taser on Vidal and then shot him, according to Wilsey.
Wilsey said officers came into their home after they called for backup help when Vidal was having a schizophrenic incident.
Wilsey said officers had his son down on the ground after the teen was tased a few times and an officer said, “we don’t have time for this.” That’s when Wilsey says the officer shot in between the officers holding the teen down, killing his son.
This report is even more detailed. Two officers had him down on the floor, and the third officer, despite his claiming to think of the safety of “his” officers, shot in between the two officers who were holding Vidal down. And just as a reminder, Vidal was a mere 90 pounds, only ten more than my dog. The only person I ever knew who was 90 pounds had anorexia.
This has all the marks of cold blooded murder (at least second degree murder). Yet I expect the blue wall to close in behind the officer who fired the shot, the flow of information to dry up, and no charges ever filed even if the officers lose their jobs.
We’ll see and I will continue to track this. But this is the sort of thing people are coming to expect from police. We already know never to talk to the police. People generally learn the hard way, but learn they will. Do not call the police even when you need help. You just might die or get some innocent person shot.
At least, that’s the message being sent by law enforcement all over America.
On January 7, 2014 at 1:08 am, hutch1200 said:
“we don’t have time for this.”
Hopefully Prison will have a lot of time for this f’ng scumbag Detective Byron Vassey
. His sphincter is gonna be as big as his ego/ steroid rage
On January 7, 2014 at 5:54 am, GunRights4US said:
There is only one way to reverse this trend. A big bucket full of PAYBACK!
On January 7, 2014 at 7:38 am, revjen45 said:
“North Carolina prosecutors promised Monday to get to the truth — “wherever the truth leads”— in the death of a mentally ill teenager whose family claims police shot him in cold blood over the weekend.”
And we believe the cops’ shysters, don’t we? Translation: the fix is in and the cops walk.
On January 7, 2014 at 8:04 am, SWIFT said:
The North Carolina prosecutors will do their grand standing for the public, but in truth, they know charges against the police officer will not exceed manslaughter. They can strut like peacocks, bleeding this story for their own political purposes, but a murder charge is out of the question. If I had been a police officer on the team and witnessed Vassey kill that kid, I would have justifiably shot him dead. It’s called honor, something severely lacking in a majority of PD’s across America.
On January 7, 2014 at 8:17 am, rolf said:
Nothing to see here folks, move along please….
On January 7, 2014 at 10:59 am, G3Ken said:
And my wife always wonders why I hate cops. I grew up as a boy in the 70’s, like most, wanting to be a “policeman”, not knowing at the time the difference between a “peace officer” and a “law enforcement officer”. Sadly, few “peace” officers exist any longer, but that’s what I wanted to be in my little-boy mind…..catch the “real” bad guys, not to be an armed extension of an oppressive government, be it local, state or federal.
I’m ashamed to even be a veteran of the U.S. military. Yes, I love my brothers, but because they had my back and me theirs, but in my youth, I lacked the maturity and foresight to see where we were headed. We are there, folks. Make no mistake. People ask “when is it time”? That time has already passed, but we have done nothing to oppose it and we have what we have. If you’re waiting for an “event” to set you in motion, you’ll be dead a long time before it ever happens. There is no big “event” that would be a catalyst. It’s just a series of incremental steps, big enough to have an impact, but not big enough to be a call to action. This is a prime example, and it doesn’t even make news. Who gives a sh*t about some 90 lb “short bus” rider? His family, obviously. We all should, but we’ve let so many of these go by….only to let the system take care of it. We all know what that did for us.
It’s over, folks. The young people don’t care, they’re too caught up in their electronic gadgetry. The rest of us are too few, too disorganized or too old to do a damned thing about it.
I hear folks talking of the “second” revolution etc. Fantasy. We have this crap because WE failed, I failed…..and our kids or grandkids will pay for it.
That’s the end of my rant, because I know in my heart, it’s over. It saddens me.
On January 7, 2014 at 2:30 pm, Paul B said:
I don’t hate cops, just as I don’t hate other professions.
I do have a grudge against lazy people and this shooter is one of those. If he had not been lazy, he would have had time to deal with the situation.
As to the shooter, a bullet to the head would be too easy. Slow roasting over and open pit comes to mind.
We have to rein in the police and not tolerate this kind of behavior.
On January 7, 2014 at 8:23 pm, I MISS AMERICA! said:
Byron V Vassey
910-845-2211
109 N Shore Dr
Southport, NC 28461-9565
Before you go “SPIKE LEE TWEETED THE WRONG ZIMMERMANS ADDRESS”
Street view shows a deputy vehicle parked in the driveway. It’s him.
On January 8, 2014 at 6:45 pm, anfo said:
Never call the cops on someone you love. Or even like a little. Let’s try this again. Never call the cops on someone you don’t want shot down like a dog. Never call the cops if there is a dog at the location. Or a cat. Or gerbil. Damn. Maybe we should just call cops on other cops,l.