Four officer-involved shootings in the span of 3 weeks, what are the potential impacts?
CHARLOTTE, NC (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Over the weekend, police in Gastonia got a call about a violent domestic situation on Saturday afternoon shortly after 1 p.m. on South King Street. When officers got to the home, they say a woman with multiple guns started shooting.
“Officers returned fire,” said Gastonia Police Chief Trent Conard. “Both of our officers returned fire. One of our officers was shot multiple times.”
Queen City News has confirmed the officer is stable. The suspect, who has yet to be identified by police, was shot and killed.
Almost a week ago, an off-duty police sergeant shot and killed a suspected shoplifter at a Food Lion in Pineville. Investigators say the suspect got in a fight with officers after a brief foot chase to nearby apartments, and reached for one of their guns after he was unaffected by a police Taser. The name of the officer who fired the deadly shot hasn’t been released.
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The man killed was Dennis Bodden, who, according to police, was a chronic shoplifting suspect at that particular Food Lion with violent tendencies toward police and the public.
Former CMPD officer Walter Bowers weighs in on how shooting circumstances can impact recruitment numbers in various ways.
“When you see a situation where the community turns against law enforcement, I think that has a more negative impact,” Bowers said, “in comparison to when officers give it all in service of the community.”
Back in Gastonia, police just announced the arrest of Tane’z Sanders, who now faces 5 felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and armed terror to the public.
She’s accused of trying to shoot a good Samaritan on May 9th after she crashed her car into a tree in the Walmart parking lot on East Franklin Boulevard.
The whole incident was perplexing to police. When officers got to the Walmart, they say Sanders just started shooting. Police shot back, hitting her resulting in minor injuries. She had three children in the car, ages 10, 7 and 1, all of them are okay.
These three officer-involved shootings follow the tragic one that took the lives of four law enforcement officers on April 29th and left multiple other officers injured.
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U.S. Marshals were serving a warrant in Shannon Park on Galway Drive in east Charlotte when they were met with gunfire. CMPD officer Joshua Eyer, Investigator Samuel Poloche, Investigator William “Alden” Elliott and U.S. Marshall Thomas Weeks Junior all lost their lives, and all left behind wives and children.
The impact of their loss will likely be a heavyweight for law enforcement to carry. “In my opinion, that can stick with an officer indefinitely,” Bowers said. “because, it’s like every day they show up to their assignment to go on patrol or whatever work day they do. They have to deal with that potential circumstance happening every every day.”
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