Tragic:
With toys strewn on the lawn outside a three-story house on Lillibridge, neighbors and family gathered in disbelief, wondering:
How could Detroit police, storming the house to arrest a murder suspect Sunday morning, end up killing 7-year-old Aiyana Jones?
“I seen the light go out of her eyes,” her grandmother, Mertilla Jones, 47, wailed outside the home Sunday afternoon after being released from police custody.
Jones was in the living room with Aiyana about 12:40 a.m. when a flash went off and a loud noise was heard.
Police rushed in, guns drawn.
Assistant Chief Ralph Godbee said Jones got into a tussle with the first officer in, causing his gun to go off.
A bullet pierced Aiyana’s head and neck. Police are investigating the incident, and Chief Warren Evans is said to be cutting short an out-of-country vacation to return to Detroit today. Jones was too distraught to comment to the Free Press about what happened.
But then there’s this twist:
The investigation will most likely include a focus on why the police used a flash-bang grenade device. The device typically is used in highly volatile situations such as disorienting a barricaded gunman so that police can enter and stop a threat.
Current and former Detroit officers said today they wonder why such force was used, especially with children in the house. One former homicide detective said the usual tactic is to assign officers to watch the house and arrest a suspect in a less aggressive manner, such as when that person leaves the home.
Additionally, Detroit Police spokesman John Roach has said that a film crew with A&E’s “The First 48” was taping with officers from the police department’s special response team during the incident. Officials with A&E have not yet returned calls for comment.
Ron Scott of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality said sources are telling him using a flash-bang in such a situation was highly unusual.
“We’ve never heard of this happening,” Scott said of using a stun grenade to make a homicide arrest. “I think there needs to be some serious look at policy in relation to how this situation happened.”
Scott also called having the TV crew tag along on the raid “unfortunate,” and said that may have added to the danger for civilians and the police.
Was the flash-bang grenade used because it makes for good television?
