Omaha Cops Fatally Shoots Armed, Uncooperative Car Passenger After Traffic Stop

[kellyhound]

Omaha Police body camera footage released as promised yesterday detail the mounting tension in a November traffic stop that ended with the fatal shooting of K.J. in November.

Three video files from the Nov. 19 incident were sent out by OPD at 1 p.m. along with a statement noting that the videos provided were “not the totality of the video shared during the grand jury proceeding.”

Legal hurdles had previously kept the footage from the incident that resulted in the death of K.J out of view from anyone but the grand jury, which found no wrongdoing. K.J. had been uncooperative with police during a traffic stop and was armed.

Body-cam videos show Officers Dan Faulkner and Richard Martier engaging at a traffic stop near 27th and Harrison streets that resulted in the shooting death of a man later identified as K.J.

Martier’s video goes to black with, picking up only audio details, as the camera fell off, reports state.

Seven minutes of video from Faulkner’s bodycam shows nearly the entire encounter, with visual obscured during a few seconds of close contact with K.J.

As audio is turned on, one of the officers says “he’s reaching” as they get out of the patrol car.

Faulkner repeatedly shouts to all people in a dark-colored car to “show us your hands!” and kicks the vehicle. Multiple people in the vehicle comply, sticking their hands out the driver’s window and both passenger-side windows, and some saying “open the door!”

“I’ve got my fucking gun right on your face. Put your hands up, Now!” Martier says to J. through the window.

Seated in the back seat, J. appears not to comply — his hands are not seen in the video.

“Hands up! He’s digging. Hands! Hands! Stop reaching right now!” Faulkner shouts from the passenger side of the vehicle.

Officers continue shouting to the man to get his hands up and to unlock the door before Martier is seen shattering the rear-driver’s side window with his flashlight.

“He’s not listening!” Faulkner shouts.

“Why aren’t you listening? Open the door!” Martier shouts from the driver’s side of the vehicle as he breaks the window, then pulls the man out of the back seat.

Faulkner’s camera visibility then goes gray for a few seconds as he makes close contact with J, but continues to shout at him to make his hands visible.

Faulkner is heard shouting, “He’s digging, he’s digging. He’s got a gun! He’s got a gun! He’s got a gun! Gun! Gun! Gun! Reach!”

Shots are then fired, at 00:01:37 into the seven-minute video, as J. stumbles up the curb, his hands still obscured from view, and falls face-down onto the grass and sidewalk.

Faulkner calls in “shots fired” at 00:01:50 into the video. as both officers continue shouting for hands to stay up and the remaining vehicle occupants to remain in the car.

At 00:02:55, officers approach the man, turn him over — more shouts of “Gun!” — and Martier begins CPR on him as witnesses scream “You killed him!” “You shot him!” “No reason!” at the officers and call them liars. They shout back, repeatedly, “He had a gun!” and point to the sidewalk as they continue performing CPR on J.

An ambulance arrives at the scene at 00:06:50 as CPR is in progress.

Two north Omaha community leaders viewed the videos Friday. Both Marcey Yates and Bear Alexander said they believe the traffic stop started out in the wrong direction.

“These officers came up on a random traffic stop, and within seconds, kicked the tail-light of the car, telling them to show them their hands with their guns drawn.

And within ten 10 seconds, said ‘I have a gun pointed at your head.’ So of course this man is definitely afraid of the officers right now,” said Alexander, a community activist with ProBlac.

Both went over the videos closely, slowing them down at certain points of the recording. They said they believe that after police broke out the window and pulled J. from the car, officers could have used non-lethal tactics to get J. under control.

“At that point, whether you need to cuff the guy and take him down or whatever — from that point, there’s other options,” said Yates, director of Culxr House.

But J. had a gun, and police say he would not show officers his hands. Still, they said they don’t believe J. should have died on the street and they don’t believe his death was justified.

“So what? Doesn’t matter. The law ain’t kill somebody if they got a gun,” Yates said.

They said the officers were much too aggressive for a minor traffic stop.

“They busted the windows out. They were yelling at women to ‘put their hands up,’ guns in their faces — that’s traumatizing in itself,” Alexander said. “How many people in west Omaha have had a gun pointed at their face?”

While glad to see police release the videos, they both still wondered why it took so long.

“Of course, we want them to routinely release the footage,” Yates said. “Sooner. Gotta do it sooner, though. Gives us a chance to see how they’re operating.”

“It’s one thing to imagine how it happened, but then to see how it happened is two totally different things,” Yates said. “So, man, I’m still processing it, to be honest. That’s wild.”

Alexander called it “traumatizing.”

“We allow officers to harras predominantly Black and brown people, pull them over, terrorize them. That was a traumatizing situation. Had K. J. would not have died, that still is a traumatizing situation,” he said.

OPD explained why they waited five months to release the video saying in a statement that they withhold investigative records to ensure fairness in the criminal justice process.

“The Omaha Police Department takes its obligations to maintain the integrity and completeness of its investigations seriously. Neb.Rev.Stat. §84-712.05(5) allows a law enforcement agency to withhold records which are part of an investigation that the agency is conducting.

The Police Department has consistently and will continue to withhold investigative records since doing so is integral to fulfilling its duties and to ensure fairness in the criminal justice process. The Police Department has not made exceptions to this rule since doing so would likely lead to allegations of bias, unfairness, and inconsistency.

Recently, a Grand Jury reviewed the incident involving K. J. and officers of the Omaha Police Department that occurred on November 19, 2020.

The Grand Jury issued a no true bill. Pursuant to Neb.Rev.Stat. §29-1407.01(3)(c), a copy of the transcript of the grand jury proceeding and any exhibits “shall be available for public review” pursuant to that statute.

On April 22, 2021, the transcript and exhibits were made available for public review as required by the process established by the Nebraska Legislature.

As a result of this disclosure by the Clerk of the District Court, and pursuant to the language in Neb.Rev.Stat. §84-712.05 which makes clear that investigative material that is released by a public entity pursuant to its duties no longer gets the benefit of an exception from withholding, the Omaha Police Department will release the video that was part of the Grand Jury’s investigation.

This variance to the Police Department withholding investigative material is due to the uniqueness of the language in Neb.Rev.Stat. §29-1407.01(3)(c) which requires release of this information to the public.”

K. J, was described by a witness and friends as a “family man” who won’t be around for Thanksgiving or Christmas anymore.

Toxicology results later show J. had a hallucinogenic drug in his system.

A .45 caliber handgun with a "round in the chamber" was found on the ground underneath J.

A report outlines a number of statements officers say witnesses made Thursday night.

Those in the car, according to the report, say they heard the officers yelling to show their hands.

The report says the passengers told investigators they did not know if Jones had a gun on him.

The report says other witnesses told them they heard officers' commands for people to show their hands.

According to the report, one witness told investigators he heard officers yell "he's got a gun" before seeing Jones reach for his waistband.

The report says he told investigators he assumed Jones had a gun as he turned back toward officers.

35-year-old J, also known as Greedy, was in the back passenger seat of a vehicle with three other women when they were pulled over.

[docfr8]

Dude had a gun... Dont be fooled

[Ballzyboy]

Another suicide by cop. Cold cell or cold grave Keanu?

[Oscar99]

Cops gave him plenty of chances - he had it coming

[rhubarb_king]

In light of recents events, I think we are about to see a lot more body cam footage being released by the police. It's a shame when the police now feel that they have to defend themselves publically, every time they are just simply doing their job.

[habsphannn]

So one of the community leaders who reviewed the video is also a community activist with an organization called ProBlac? I'm sure that was an impartial review.

[r.p.mcmurphy]

Dude was tripping. I can't fault the cops on this one.

[Desert Rat]

Originally Posted by r.p.mcmurphy

Dude was tripping. I can't fault the cops on this one.

On drugs with a firearm with a chambered round. Fucked around...found out.



On the other hand, the escalation by the police seems quite dramatic without a presence. I don't recall anything being radioed back until after shots were fired. Probably a good thing for the cops that the rest of the passengers complied. Sloppy police work.

[duntez]

Cops getting shot when they loose their attention or simply have too much trust or sympathy. Chances ur getting shot are higher then ever if you don’t fucking comply and especially if ur reaching for some shit... even if it’s a toothpick. Justified

[DaveTheBassist]

Justified. I'm actually surprised he didn't try to fire on the first officer during the altercation.