Baltimore ministers and the NAACP are calling for better police training after an unarmed woman was shot Thursday morning in South Baltimore’s Cherry Hill neighborhood.
“Everyone I’ve spoken to is saying it’s incredulous,” said the Rev. Johnny Golden Sr., president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, who described people as “outraged.”
“Everyone is saying, ‘It could have been me.’ ”
Marvin “Doc” Cheatham, president of the Baltimore branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said police officers who don’t live in Baltimore need to understand the community better.
“Unless they learn to understand the community, they can’t understand people,” Cheatham said Friday. “You’ve got to be able to read people’s body rhythms. Unfortunately, some people in the community curse and raise their voices, but they aren’t being threatening. That’s just the way they talk.”
Baltimore Police Department spokesman Sterling Clifford said Friday that the agency spent $2 million in the past year on “use of force” training that includes “ethical use of force.”
“There are certainly unanswered questions about the shooting, but that’s why we do investigations,” he said.
Cheatham compared the Cherry Hill shooting to the Jan. 30 fatal shooting of Edward Lamont Hunt, 27, in Northeast Baltimore. Officer
Tommy Sanders was indicted on manslaughter charges in that case and is facing trial.
“I don’t think there can be any doubt about the department’s willingness or ability to investigate these shootings,” Clifford said.
Residents in Cherry Hill neighborhood began immediately questioning the shooting — even as police said the woman refused to show her hands to the officer.
Around 9:30 a.m., a patrol sergeant responded to a call for an armed person selling drugs on the 1700 block of Cherry Hill Road near bus and light-rail stops, and found a woman who fit a description of the suspect, Clifford said.
The woman, who is in her early 40s, was carrying several items, including a backpack, and her arms were tucked behind her back, Clifford said.
The officer repeatedly instructed her to show her hands and she refused to comply, Clifford said. The officer felt threatened, drew his weapon and fired a single shot, striking the woman in the torso, according to Clifford.
She was taken to a nearby hospital, but there was no word Friday on her condition.
Golden said the shooting brings up “grave concerns” and plans to ask Mayor Sheila Dixon for a meeting.
“We applaud the officers in general,” he said. “But when we see situations like this, we have to say ‘something’s wrong,’ and we need an explanation to the community. The police investigation should lead to better training.”
Officers in Baltimore have shot 17 people this year, killing 12.
