Today, the Texas Rangers are investigating the deaths of two young men who were killed by a policeman’s bullets.
A 28-year-old and a 30-year-old both killed by police gunfire in the past two weeks
The Rangers are involved in determining what happened in the shooting death of 28 year old Tabaris Brown in Childress, Texas, on Saturday as well as the shooting death of 30 year old Jaime Almaguer in New Braunfels two weeks ago.
The Death of Tabaris Brown
According to media reports, Brown died in a restaurant parking lot on US 287, where he stopped his vehicle after a chase with police. Exiting the vehicle, Brown is said to have had a gun in his hands according to at least one eyewitness who is not a cop — and that Brown raised his gun toward the officers. Ballistics is testing whether or not Brown fired his weapon at the police before they opened fire on Brown.
The Rangers’ spokesman has told the media that their investigation has revealed at least one friend and one family member that substantiate the fact that Brown did travel with a loaded gun in his car. (In case you were wondering about a plant. Good question, right?)
The Death of Jaime Almaguer
Newspapers across the state are monitoring the story of Jaime Almaguer, who was shot and killed by police while he was standing in the southbound lane of IH35 as the highway travels through New Braunfels. Almaguer died on the freeway early on the morning of November 11th, and traffic headed toward San Antonio and Mexico-way was blocked from the roadway crime scene for much of that Wednesday.
Almaguer was being sought by police for questioning in the death of his alleged girlfriend, Jennifer Trader, whose body had been found in her San Antonio apartment with a single gunshot wound to the head. Law enforcement purportedly was about to give up their manhunt for Almaguer, when he was spotted walking along the IH35 access road in New Braunfels.
According to media reports, Almaguer had not only told relatives in New Braunfels that he had killed somebody in San Antonio, but he was also in communication with law enforcement as their manhunt progressed, and Almaguer is said to have told New Braunfels police that he was armed and he wanted a shootout with the cops.
Where these two incidents of Suicide by Cop? The Texas Rangers Will Find Out ….
It is sad but true that there are occasions where individuals have lost their trust in the criminal justice system of this country to such a degree that they cannot fathom facing arrest and teaming with a criminal defense attorney to fight against the charges. (Defense lawyers CAN help, but clients have to call, take that first step.)
Instead, these tragic souls decide to take a stand against law enforcement in a doomed scenario, where they are knowingly outmanned and outgunned. These situations have come to be known as “suicide by cop.”
It is also sad but true that there are also occasions where individuals are killed by police and the shootout is labeled a “suicide by cop” to cover up an error of law enforcement, with a gun left convincingly close to the victim’s body. Many are suspicious of events where the police kill individuals – especially when their loved ones’ deaths are then investigated by the police department’s internal affairs division. A question can be raised regarding the rising trend of Suicide by Cop — is it real?
The Texas Rangers are an independent organization, with a steady reputation of working with federal agencies as need be (we’ve posted about these joint efforts many times) to find and stop corruption within the Texas criminal justice system. Based upon media reports, they have a plethora of potential evidence in the New Braunfels shooting: e.g., videotapes taken during the manhunt, audiotapes of the conversations that the suspect had with police prior to the shooting.
Whether or not Almaguer’s death was a suicide by cop should be easily determined (and from media reports, it does appear to fit into the Suicide by Cop pattern – especially the taped admissions by the decedent that he wanted to engage in a shootout).
However, the Childress killing does not appear to be so easily investigated. Curious by its absence are any video or audio of the altercation between the police and Brown in that restaurant parking lot. Those police car dashboard cams? The cameras weren’t pointed in the right direction, says Childress Police Chief Reece Bowen, so they didn’t capture the event on tape. And the audio? It wasn’t working. Bowen says his equipment is old, and just wasn’t working. That they’re a “poverty level police department.”
Which makes it a bigger job for the Texas Rangers, doesn’t it? Wonder what the media will be reporting about the gun found with Brown, and the story that its spent shell casings (if any) at the scene have to tell ….
T be bringin da heat on our parties after he run from the popo and start bustin caps, while our bud be gettin conbiscated. We all know that’s why dar was 50 black foke protestin at the Allsup’s 2 minutes after he was capped – T dun ran off with the weed! It’s bad enuff that black foke lost a brotha who had the connecsions to sling and then lost a vehicle to dissribute the wonderful bud, but now T gone off and put our pot parties on tilt and wasted precious weed in the process.
After T run off with the bud dat nite, dar were 3-4 of us that were gonna shoot him befo the popo got him. We just stahted gettin a legit hit and he tares out with our bud runnin from the popo, tryin to say we didn’t pay our fare share, so he’s splittin. We say you mus be trippin if you splittin with the dankest skank we’ve had in 3 weeks. Obama giv u welfare and food stamps jus like the rest of us, so u betta recodnize, then T jus ran and dissed us all.
Bad stuff happens to peeps who tite with da weed and each day we be goin with non, makes me get a lil mor angry at T. That’s all I be sayin bout dat, but we still smoke a fatty in T’s memery, do.
What about the family? Will someone pay to raise all the family that the dudes that got shot left behind? Who gonna take care of that? Will Obama? I think the county should have to pay to raise the kids that done be left back and the mother and father that have to deal with their kids being shot. Someone should have to pay that and the Texas Rangers should say who will pay and how much. Somebody gotta come with the cash because it’s not right for these families to deal with loss of income from two boys that aren’t there any more to earn food money and gas money and utilities money. Then there’s shoes and clothes for them kids.
I be wit Tony. Me and my girlfriends be belevin dat Tabaris be draggin off some rank skunkey dat nite, cuz he be knowin dat u cant be aktin a-donkee wit da popo, fo sho. If I wer T, I woodn’t of wanted dar to be camras fimmin my dumbazz nether. Evry time T be tryin to put da mack down on me, dat fatty he be draggin catch my weeve on fire, evry dam time, cuz T dont make nobody’s sense when he gets lit up on Colt and rank skunkie.
Well, I be missin T, jus like Puffy be missin Biggie, evry breaf I take without precious bud fillin my lungs.
Also, where all T’s iron chested homey’s dat wer sposed to stud up and sho dees popo wut’s up? Day all mus have iron in their head and azz, cuz day too dumb and lazy to get off da couch and do somethin mo than smoke fatties and chek da malebox fo govenment cheks.
By the way, Angel, the govenment is awreddy payin fo T’s kids and family, cuz aint nothin gonna get them off dar azz to do anything. So, yo wish was awreddy granted even befo T got capped.
He was headed north on I35 not South. I knew Jamie since around 4th grade and through out School. This past nov was lookin up old friends online. I found him the day after he passed away. I wasn’t watching much news at time didn’t really know about it a couple weeks later. Just thought it was all very sad. Both families have been in my prayers.