List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, June 2017
This is a list of people reported killed by non-military law enforcement officers in the United States
in June 2017, whether in the line of duty or not, and regardless of reason or method. The listing documents the occurrence of a death, making no implications regarding wrongdoing or justification on the part of the person killed or officer involved. Killings are arranged by date of the incident that caused death. Different death dates, if known, are noted in the description.
The table below lists 10 people.
Following a nighttime traffic stop and a brief car chase (which ended in Bailey's vehicle crashing), two Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers fired 11 shots in the back and side of Bailey's vehicle; four struck Bailey, killing him.[1][2] The officers said that the saw "Bailey reaching toward the center console, where they feared a gun may have been stored"; however, no weapon was found.[1] State and federal prosecutors conducted investigations but decided not to prosecute the two officers.[1][2] The police chief recommended that the two officers be fired for violations of department policy, but the local Civilian Police Merit Board voted, 5–2 that the officers had not committed a violation, allowing them to keep their jobs on the police force.[3]
Police attempted to pull Joseph-McDade over during a traffic stop. Joseph-McDade fled, eventually colliding his vehicle with a police vehicle. An officer ordered him to get out of his vehicle. Police say Joseph-McDade then gunned the engine at which point police opened fire, killing him.[4]
Los Angeles sheriff's deputies responded to a "loud music" complaint, and after one deputy reached down to touch a large pit bull, the dog bit the deputy. Two deputies opened fire, firing six shots, and a bullet ricocheted and killed Garcia-Muro.[5][6][7] The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office concluded that the deputies' actions were lawful and declined to bring charges.[5] The mother of the victim filed a wrongful death suit.[8]
Two Seattle police officers shot Charleena Lyles, a pregnant woman, seven times in her Northwest Seattle apartment, after she called 9-1-1 to report a burglary.[9] Police said they fired after Lyles confronted them with a knife,[9][10][11] but Lyles' family questioned that account.[12] Lyles may have suffered from mental illness,[12] having experienced a decline in her mental health leading up to the fatal encounter.[11]Inquest proceedings began in 2019.[13]
Following reports of gunfire and a man with a knife, ten patrol units responded to the scene, where neighbors pointed out Le as the apparent assailant. Officers say he advanced on them with a knife. Le was in reality holding a pen. Officers deployed their tasers, which they said were ineffective. They shot Le to death, claiming he was lunging at them. Le was shot twice in the back and once in the back of the hand.[14][15]
Police responded to reports of a man with a weapon in an occupied home, later identified as Obet. When Obet fled, he attempted to carjack a vehicle. Police then opened fire, killing him.[18][19]
After being asked to leave a bus in Omaha while heading to his home state of Oklahoma, Bear Heels, who had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, was left at a gas station. His mother asked police to bring him to a crisis center. Police officers punched Bear Heels, and deployed a stun gun on him 12 times, leading to his death.[20]
Las Vegas police shot and killed Suarez, stating that he had shot at officers and had told his girlfriend he wanted officers to kill him prior to the shooting.[21]
^ ab"Recording: Police shout 'get back' before shooting of woman". WXMI. Associated Press. June 20, 2017. Retrieved August 27, 2017. Authorities said Charleena Lyles, 30, confronted the officers with a knife — a move that came less than two weeks after she had threatened officers with long metal shears after they responded to a domestic disturbance at her home.