Talk:Killing of Zachary Hammond

Shooting
The narrative in the "Shooting" section of the article differs with both a previous narrative and with the description of events that I've gathered from the media over the past week. In that description, it wasn't Lt. Mark Tiller's car that blocked Zachary Hammond's car, but a different car driven by someone else, possibly the undercover police officer who intended to arrest Tori Morton for possession of marijuana.

From what I've heard, it seems that Tiller parked his marked police car in the rear of the Hardee's parking lot, and that he was approaching Hammond's Honda Civic on foot. That is, Tiller was walking toward the blocked exit from the restaurant's drive-through window.

Hammond appears to have put his car into reverse, trying to back up enough to get steering way around the blocking car ahead of him. At some point while he was backing up his car, he saw Mark Tiller. Hammond then slowed down and came to a stop. As Hammond reached for his gear-shift to take his car out of gear, and to set the parking brake, another police officer, misinterpreting Hammond's arm motions, shouted "He's got a gun!"

Although Hammond was unarmed, the shout alarmed Tiller, who evidently decided to shoot first and ask questions later. The shots were fired from the side of Hammond's car, slightly to the rear of Hammond's driver's seat. The bullets entered the back side of Hammond's body.

The fact that Hammond's Honda Civic wasn't moving when Hammond was shot is amply proved by the fact that the car did not move from where it was after the shots were fired. If the car had been moving when Hammond died, then it would have continued moving until it crashed into something.

The description from the police about what happened has been altered a number of times. Jenab6 (talk) 11:09, 16 August 2015 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately, sources are not consistent about the circumstances leading up to the shooting. I've relied on the most reputable sources and the facts that are consistent among the more recent sources. We mainly know what the police claim happened, and I've tried to make sure that all of that is attributed to the police. We also know what Hammond's Family's attorneys have claimed, but even they admit that there are a lot of unanswered questions. I don't dispute that Hammond's car was not moving, but we can't add that to the article until sources make that assertion, which will probably only happen after witnesses come forward or when video is released.


 * This source is consistent with your third paragraph, but other sources were silent on that aspect. We should indeed add this, but it has to be attributed to Eric Bland.


 * I have made most of the edits to this article, and no, I'm not trying to make sure that only he latest version of the Seneca Police Department's story will be available. The police are the only witnesses that have said anything about the shooting so far. Everything else is speculation. Even the autopsies are ambiguous.


 * I'm open to suggestions on how to address your concerns, but any such recommendations should be accompanied by reliable sources. - MrX 11:44, 16 August 2015 (UTC)

The video was finally released, and it is hard to watch http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/video-of-cop-shooting-zachary-hammond-released_562f8de6e4b06317990f5ff6 - -  Cwobeel   (talk)  17:03, 27 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Yes it is. I'm wondering if there will be some notable commentary about it, or if the feds will take any action.- MrX 17:20, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

Miscellany
I am parking this source here for possible later follow up. The Lawyer for the Hammond family has raised issues about possible misconduct by the police chief related to the recent drug theft conviction of the police chief's son.- MrX 21:33, 17 August 2015 (UTC)

This source by a Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper discusses shootings by police in South Carolina, and is relevant per this source.- MrX 13:16, 18 August 2015 (UTC)

Dashcams, no charges
I edited the article a fair bit in light of the solicitor's report and the release of the dashcam footage. It seems Hammond had a long history of drug dealing, had previously expressed his desire to evade police (in a text conversation with his mother, no less), the dashcam footage fails to show the officers "high fiving" the corpse or planting anything on the body, and it does show Hammond steering his car towards the police officer before the police officer opened fire. The solicitor is not going to file charges, it seems, and it is unlikely that the feds will either. Titanium Dragon (talk) 11:45, 28 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Yes, there is quite a bit of background material now. I disagree that Hammond was steering his car towards the police, and it certainly paints an incomplete picture of the events. In any case, we should stick to what most of the sources say about those brief seconds of the event. - MrX 12:30, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

Please remove a nonsensical text
QUOTE: where the pair were texted by the undercover officer. UNQUOTE You can't text a pair of people. You can't text a person. Texts are sent to a cell-phone. Cell-phones are read by people. Nobody can say that a text "goes to" a person who the text-sender understands MIGHT be the person who reads the phone that gets the text, and it is even less likely that a text sent to one phone will be read by TWO people if that's what the text-sender intended. Nor is it very likely that someone sending a text to a phone intends two people to read that phone. The text was a sent to a phone, and someone was paying the bills on that phone or its phone-number. Identify the phone as such by that data and avoid the nonsensical speculation as to what "person" or what "pair of persons" it was who "received" that text.2604:2000:C682:B600:F18E:94C5:60E0:1971 (talk) 04:20, 18 June 2016 (UTC)Christopher L. Simpson