Cops Kill Woman Stabbing Herself with Crochet Hook

[RedGlitter]

July 14, 2008



Police shots kill woman

Officers say she appeared to be stabbing herself



By DAWN WITHERS

The Salinas Californian



A Salinas woman was killed by Salinas police early Sunday morning after two officers believed she was lunging at one with of them with a knife or a ice pick.

Maria Irma De La Torre, 45, was shot twice in the torso around 3:45 a.m. by a police officer outside her home at 1143 East Laurel Drive. The officers have been placed on four days administrative leave pending an investigation.

"It's a wrongful death," said Diana Hernandez, De La Torre's niece, who added De La Torre suffered from epileptic seizures but had no history of violence or hurting herself during seizures. She was taking medication to control the seizures, Hernandez said.

De La Torre, Hernandez said, was a shy woman born in Michoacán, Mexico, but lived in Salinas "forever and a day." Hernandez said she was devoted to church and her family and because of her epilepsy was unable to work.

"It's grief everywhere," Hernandez said describing the family's mood. "My aunt, she didn't harm anyone, she was the kindest person."

According to information from the Salinas Police Department, officers responded to a 9-1-1 call "involving a woman acting strangely" at the residence.

Cmdr. Kelly McMillin said the officers thought their lives were endangered and reacted to protect their lives. De La Torre did not show any signs of having a seizure, McMillin said, and was unresponsive when police tried to talk to her.

"This is pure tragedy," McMillin said. "No one is happy the way this happened."

It is the first officer-involved shooting this year and the second since January 2007, McMillin said. The shooting last year didn't result in any injuries.

When the two officers arrived they found De La Torre sitting in a minivan in front of her home "stabbing herself in the neck with a small implement." She moved from the driver's seat to the passenger seat as the officers tried to remove her from the car, according to police.

The officers, who are not being named, had difficulty trying to restrain De La Torre while in the van, McMillin said, and claim De La Torre lunged at one of the officers with what they thought was a knife or ice pick, causing one of the officers to fire his Taser and the other officer to fire his gun shooting the woman twice.

The entire incident took place in less than 10 minutes, McMillin said, and the officers independently made the same decision to draw their weapons to stop De La Torre, one choosing his Taser, the other his gun.

McMillin said it turned out De La Torre had a metal crochet hook in her hand, not a knife or ice pick, and it isn't clear if it was the same item she used to stab herself.

De La Torre was taken to Natividad Medical Center and Hernandez said the family was notified of her death around 9 a.m. Sunday.

Police were still outside De La Torre's small green house Sunday afternoon with yellow crime scene tape blocking the driveway.

Hernandez, who did not see the shooting, said De La Torre had been sick in recent days following another death in the family and that her husband, Jose Licea, called Hernandez's mother, Hilda Hernandez, around 1 a.m. Sunday saying De La Torre was unwell and needed to go to the hospital.

Hilda headed over to De La Torre's house and called 9-1-1, Hernandez said, only to request an ambulance, not any police officers.

McMillin said the call that came to police was of a woman acting erratically and people who call emergency services can't request only an ambulance because medics won't to go an emergency that may be unsafe until police have secured it.

When police arrived, Hernandez said, they told Hilda to "move out of the way" so they could get to De La Torre, Hernandez said. Her mother, she said, didn't see the shooting but later called Hernandez saying, "They killed her! They killed her!"

Licea, Hernandez said, did see the incident and the officer who shot his wife. The family, she said, is hiring a lawyer to look into the shooting.

"She was handicapped," Hernandez said. "They could have Tased her."

McMillin declined to comment on the specifics of what was said at the scene, adding that police have several independent witness statements corroborating the officers' account and the evidence that's been gathered from De La Torre's home.

Family members are coming to Salinas from Texas and Mexico. Hernandez said memorial services will likely be held this week.

[spot]

I wonder - not having been a member of any police organization, much less a paramilitary strike force like the one described here - whether in general members of the police think of themselves as being in a relationship of authority over members of the public, in contrast to a position of service toward them. And if so, how things got that way and what could be done to rectify that perception.

[K.Snyder]

spot;917416 wrote: ...how things got that way...


I don't think it's a matter of how things got that way rather why it seems to progress in that manner as fast as it does...

Anyone with the authority to take away ones freedom is bound to create the mentality of superiority...It's just a matter of time...And when placed in environments from which crime is abundant it tends to grow more rapidly as it seems it's the only way the police can cope with the every day realization that they could actually die...

I agree this case is the epitome of unnecessary force...

I question the departments training more than anything...Why a woman sitting in a van needs to be shot dead before other action's taken place is beyond me...This investigation should be examined extensively...

She was probably reaching out for help as she was handicapped...And maybe even begun to have a seizure...Just sad...

[spot]

I suppose these megalomaniac thugs need to get their jollies somehow, and the general public's utterly impotent in terms of what they can do to stop it from happening. One hopes that they'll settle for just one or two of us now and then rather than culling whole communities.

[flopstock]

When the two officers arrived they found De La Torre sitting in a minivan in front of her home "stabbing herself in the neck with a small implement." She moved from the driver's seat to the passenger seat as the officers tried to remove her from the car, according to police.

How can anyone arrive at 'probably reaching out for help' here, K?

Although if Spot wasn't so bent on playing the drama queen here I probably wouldn't even have read all this anyways....

Here's a possible clue kids... her own family could not control her and called for 911. And duh... De La Torre had a metal crochet hook in her hand, not a knife or ice pick, and it isn't clear if it was the same item she used to stab herself.

any of you seen those innocent looking metal crochet hooks lately?

"It's a wrongful death," said Diana Hernandez, De La Torre's niece Nice lawyer speak from the grieving niece, eh?

[K.Snyder]

flopstock;917500 wrote: When the two officers arrived they found De La Torre sitting in a minivan in front of her home "stabbing herself in the neck with a small implement." She moved from the driver's seat to the passenger seat as the officers tried to remove her from the car, according to police.

How can anyone arrive at 'probably reaching out for help' here, K?

Although if Spot wasn't so bent on playing the drama queen here I probably wouldn't even have read all this anyways....

Here's a possible clue kids... her own family could not control her and called for 911. And duh... De La Torre had a metal crochet hook in her hand, not a knife or ice pick, and it isn't clear if it was the same item she used to stab herself.

any of you seen those innocent looking metal crochet hooks lately?

"It's a wrongful death," said Diana Hernandez, De La Torre's niece Nice lawyer speak from the grieving niece, eh?


She could have been...She was epileptic...But that's beside the point...The situation could have been handled better...From the story there was no one other than herself that was in danger...So why did the police feel the need to force themselves on her without getting more information?...The fact of the matter is is that the police did not treat the situation as if it were supposed to be given the circumstances of the call...What do you expect them to shoot her if she threatens to kill herself?...And if she were holding herself hostage why wouldn't the police gather information from her family instead of running into the situation with kamikaze tactics?...

As I've said before I question the departments' training more than anything...

[spot]

flopstock;917500 wrote: Although if Spot wasn't so bent on playing the drama queen here I probably wouldn't even have read all this anyways....:DDrama Queen? MOI?

If the officers involved, and their shift sergeant and his duty captain, and the City's Chief of Police, the Mayor and all of the Mayor's public relations officers together with whichever State Senator's free at the time all tried to indicate their feelings of grief and personal responsibility in this affair by blowing their brains out on prime-time TV after reading a suitably agonized public apology I'd still not think the Department had gone far enough to mitigate the offense they've caused but I'd concede that they'd shown willing. Then I'd permanently disarm them all and only let them ever draw weapons from their armory when they face the prospect of arresting criminals known to be carrying firearms. Or should we settle for business as usual like New Orleans has over the Danziger Bridge massacre?

[Patsy Warnick]

The Family called 911 - they couldn't control the mentally challenged woman, who is stabbing herself.

Did this altercation go as well as Police expected - NO

Mentally challenged, are very strong individuals.

I do question - As this Female is moving from seat to seat, she's not stabbing herself at the same time, yet it seems to be the only part of the scenario told.

I would need to know where the Officer's were standing - at what door & when& which one was threatened? which shot?

I would need to know the 911 call - and if the Officer's are equiped with handling the mentally challenged.

This scenario is NO different then one wanting to jump from a bridge.

Without all details - was this justifable force - NO, I'm sure they've been to this house before.??

Officer's will have some explaining to do.

Patsy