Six Cleveland police officers got the boot on Tuesday in connection with the November 2012 car chase and “shoot in” that saw 137 bullets fired into a car. Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams were both killed in that incident. Michael Brelo, the only officer who was indicted—he fired a total of 49 shots, including 15 while standing on the hood of Russell and Williams’ car—was among those fired.
Brelo was found not guilty of manslaughter and felonious assault in May 2015. The judge in that case ruled that “Brelo's use of force was permissible because he had reason to believe he was threatened.” The judge also found prosecutors couldn’t prove it was Brelo’s shots that actually killed Russell and Williams, so no verdict on the manslaughter charge.
Just …wow.
In addition to the six officers who were fired yesterday, six others will miss one month’s pay due to suspension—and one officer gets to skate away, since he retired last year.
In spite of the Brelo verdict, this round of firings adds to the accountability measures that followed the deadly car chase.
During the chase, there were 46 supervisors on duty, 18 of whom were involved in the pursuit, said police Cmdr. James Chura, calling the incident unprecedented. Of those supervisors, one was terminated, two were demoted and nine were suspended for from three to 30 days.
As for the 105 officers involved in the pursuit, 63 were suspended for between one and 10 days, he said.
"We said we would conduct a fair process, and I believe we have done that," Mayor Frank Jackson said. "They will feel however they feel, but we conducted this in a fair way, with due process."
It is suspected that Russell and Williams were attempting to buy drugs on the night of November 29, 2012. It’s suspected but not proven because, hey, they were shot at more than 100 times, remember? Anyway, the car sped away from an undercover police officer who gave chase. The vehicle Russell and Williams were riding in backfired, according to police, who say they thought they were being fired upon. Speeding through the streets of Cleveland at 100 miles per hour or more, Russell and Williams’ car ended up in a school parking lot, where police said they rammed a patrol car. That’s when the cops started shooting.
And kept on shooting.
SMH.