broward : deputy kills murder suspect

[ftlaudcop]

BSO: Deputies kill murder suspect in Lauderdale after he shot first

By Macollvie Jean-Francois
Sun-Sentinel.com
Posted June 14 2007, 3:27 PM EDT


FORT LAUDERDALE -- Broward sheriff's deputies trying to arrest a murder suspect fatally shot him when he got out of a pickup truck with a gun and opened fire Thursday, authorities said.

Michael Lee Taylor, 19, was pronounced dead at Broward General Medical Center, said sheriff's spokesman Hugh Graf.



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"He shot first and we returned fire," said Elliot Cohen, another sheriff's spokesman.

The shooting occurred at the intersection of Northwest 14th Street and Eight Court at about 11:37 a.m.

Taylor was wanted in connection with a shooting on Sunrise Boulevard last week that killed Freddie Lee Edwards, 27, of Pompano Beach, Graf said. A second man, Christopher Randall Stephens, 30, was wounded.

Graf said deputies wanted to serve Taylor with a murder warrant. Deputies were in the area. Taylor was in a blue Dodge truck at the intersection near where he was believed to have family. He pulled up and got out of the truck with a gun in his hands. He shot at the deputies, Graf and Cohen said. The deputies returned fired.

Fort Lauderdale police will investigate, Graf said.

Dozens of people in the neighborhood poured out into the streets, angry over the shooting. One distraught woman who was identified as Taylor sister wailed and collapsed on the sidewalk.

Nicki Brown, 36, of Fort Lauderdale, said she had known Taylor since he was 12. She said he worked at a Winn-Dixie warehouse.

"It's a shame they killed that boy," Brown said. "Michael didn't have a gun. Michael didn't even believe in guns. He was always trying to help people out."

Graf said Taylor was alone when he was shot.

Edwards was fatally shot in the chest while driving his Monte Carlo east near the 3100 block of west Sunrise Boulevard on June 9, authorities said. He and two other people were in the car when a dark blue Ford pulled up. Gunfire was exchanged. Stephens, a passenger, was shot in the foot, the Sheriff's Office said.

[italyn]

A Sgt told me about this today when i was in training...
I said well as long as all the Deputys go home safe to there family at night, because that is the most important in our job. Going home safe at night.

[BrickCop]

"Good boy" my *****- good riddance.

[dogma vs karma]

"It's a shame they killed that boy," Brown said. "Michael didn't have a gun. Michael didn't even believe in guns. He was always trying to help people out."

that's always the story

[SJR1709]

Yeah...they are always such angels...even though they have a criminal history longer than a city block, and they just happened to be wanted for murder. Apparently the good kids are always the ones that get it...hmm...go figure?

[C.I.HOG]

Good Riddance I concur!

One less to house in jail awaiting trial for years and then proson for the murder if Edwards all at the ripe age of 19.

[Dinosaur32]

Wait until they bring out his communion pictures....you lnow the ones that show his halo...............

[frostbiteCRA]

Sorry to say, but that kid was a scum bag. Wanted for murder and then his family and friends want to picture his like an angel. Should have seen the multitude of people that came out to argue with the police at the scene of the shooting. I bet every other person had a warrant...

[j706]

May you NOT rest in peace, you sorry P.O.S. " He didn't even believe in guns" Yeaaaa-right Bet he does now!!

[ftlaudcop]

I heard they popped him with 1 shot witha ar-15 223, from 280 ft away, maybe a sgt shot him....

one less hood rat !

[LeanG]

You guys are bad. He didn't have a gun. I was there. He didn't shoot at the officers. He was always harassed by the police. He never committed a crime in his life. When he was 5 years old, he witnessed his brother get killed. He vowed for the rest of his life, he would find the murderers. So from age 12 until his time of death, he spent every possible minute in the company of thugs, drug dealers, and hood rats in an attempt to gather intel on the true enemy. He learned the drug trade and pretended to be friends with the enemy. He allowed himself to get incarcerated on major offenses, such as armed robbery and drug charges so that he could have "street cred". This got him closer to the guys that were involved. His family knew this. On the night in which he was killed, he was on his way to meet the alleged leader due to the amount of drugs that he (unwillingly) sold so he could bring down the whole organization. But the police shot him unjustifiably. sad Oh well.

[ftlaudcop]

2nd major aticle day = 2

Conflicting evidence: Deputies say they shot teen once; autopsy reveals two wounds

By Brian Haas and Macollvie Jean-François
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted June 16 2007


An autopsy Friday revealed that a murder suspect who died in a shootout with deputies had two gunshot wounds. But the Broward Sheriff's Office says their man fired only a single bullet.

"The Broward Sheriff's Office only had one person who fired one shot," said Elliot Cohen, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office. "If Taylor was hit by more than one bullet, the only other person that I'm aware of that was firing a gun was Taylor himself ... Beyond that, I would wait for any official determination as to where the second shot came from."



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Relatives of Michael Lee Taylor, 19, angry at the Sheriff's Office after the shooting, declined to discuss the second wound, other than to say it couldn't have been intentionally self-inflicted.

"Michael wouldn't do that," said Taylor's aunt, Nikita Rolle. "He's been going to church since he was a baby, that's against his religion."

The Fort Lauderdale Police Department declined to discuss the details of the case or name the deputy who shot Taylor because they are still investigating the shooting. But the Sheriff's Office gave a detailed rundown of the events leading to Thursday's shooting.

They also said the sole shooter, a patrol sergeant, has been placed on administrative leave, as is routine in police shootings. Cohen also declined to name the sergeant, saying it was Fort Lauderdale's case. He did say the sergeant is a six-year veteran with an "exemplary" record at the agency.

Taylor's autopsy was finished Friday morning by Lance Davis, assistant medical examiner. Davis said he couldn't say where the second bullet came from or whether the two were of a similar caliber.

"Both of the bullets went completely through, so I don't have any bullets to compare," Davis said. "We're still waiting for some other tests to come back."

Authorities say Thursday's shootout stemmed from the June 9 shooting death of Freddie Lee Edwards along the 3100 Block of West Sunrise Boulevard last week. One of two men who were with Edwards later picked Taylor out of a photo lineup as the shooter, Cohen said. Detectives also have a witness who saw Taylor fire shots at Edwards and the others, Cohen said.

Detectives obtained a murder warrant and went to find Taylor, who was on probation for battery on an emergency official, resisting arrest, burglary and grand theft, corrections records show. On Thursday, their search took them to Taylor's grandmother's house in the 1400 block of Northwest 7th Terrace.

Cohen said detectives saw Taylor's car in the driveway and called for backup, thinking he was at the home. Nine deputies staked out the area, he said. As three detectives walked up to the house, they heard gunshots coming from behind them, Cohen said.

"They turn around and they see Taylor with his gun pointed at their direction, firing at them," Cohen said.

Cohen said the sergeant, recently trained in a new Sheriff's Office rifle program, fired one shot from a police AR-15 assault rifle, striking Taylor. He said detectives later recovered a semi-automatic handgun and four shell casings from the street near Taylor's body.

Taylor lay dying less than one block from his grandmother's home, where relatives heard the shots. They raced toward the corner of Northwest 14th Street and Northwest 8th Avenue where a shouting match escalated into a small fracas with pushing, pepper spray and batons.

"It was like war, for a good 30 minutes," said Taylor's god-sister and neighbor Nishea Graves, 29, who said she was among those pepper-sprayed.

The neighborhood was quiet Friday afternoon where Rolle lay flowers near where Taylor died. She said deputies shouldn't have killed her nephew.

"There has to be another way," she said.

Brian Haas can be reached at [email protected] or 954-356-4597.

[BrickCop]

What kills me is the media constantly lets the "he was a good/innocent boy" statements go unchallenged. If a cop shot an unarmed grandmother in the back 25 times I doubt the media would allow the Chief to dismiss it by proclaiming "he is a good officer".

[JTShooter]

Yeah, never mind about the nice sheet on him and the fact that he's 19. He was still a good boy who went to church. I'm so sick of hearing this crap all the time.

Good on the Sgt who got him. I hope he's doing well coping with the shooting.

[NYCRJmajor914]

Im not trying to be racist here... but doesnt it seem like black ppl always do that? They always say its the cops fault and that they are racist and everything? i seriuosly dont understand this thats so low that its not even funny. If they hate it here so much why dont they move back to africa or something. sorry again i didnt mean to sound racist becuase im not i have many friends who are black.. i played on my high school football team and i was only 1 of two white guys. But everytime on the news thats all i see