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Utica, NY Man Shot and Killed by Police
by Maslauskas
maslauskas@riseup.net

http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/11/1780163.php

In Utica, NY, resident Walter Washington was shot
and killed by a Utica police officer. The details
surrounding the events of that night are shady at
best and bizarre at worst. Many questions are still
unanswered and Mr. Washington’s friends and
family live in a state of uncertainty as they attempt
to find the truth of the events surrounding his death.
Walter Washington headed over to his girlfriend
Patricia’s house. Patricia and Walter had been a
couple for 20 years and parented three children.
He was very upset, and with reason. Recently,
Walter had caught Patricia in the middle of the
act of cheating on him. Two days prior, he had
slashed the tires of the car owned by the man
Patricia was now seeing.
Though he had a key to the house, he decided to sit on the porch to have Patricia
come out to talk. Patricia called the police, complaining that an unwanted person
would not leave her residence.
Right when the police arrived, Walter Washington exited the premises. The police
conducted a search and finding no one, left the residence.
After they left, Washington went back to his girlfriend’s porch and waited there for
her to come out. Patricia called the police again at around 11:50 with the same
complaint. The same patrol car responded to the call and arrived at the house, pulled
up to the driveway and parked next to the porch where Mr. Washington was sitting. He
ran down the steps, went down a sidewalk which ran along the house to the back, and
proceeded to follow that sidewalk, taking a sharp right around the back of the house.
At this time, Utica police officer Samuel Geddes followed him, while the NY State
Trooper who was in the car with him, Trooper Haver, went around the front of the
house to meet Geddes in the back.
Patricia and her three kids, along with another child of Patricia’s from another
relationship, were in the house at this time. They did not hear any noise from either
the police or Washington outside until two rapid gunshots rang out. Patricia and the
kids ran out of the house and down the path which Washington had taken earlier.
Washington’s son looked around the corner of the house and saw Officer Geddes under
some trees, getting up from a kneeling position, his gun aimed where Mr. Washington
presumably was. Geddes yelled at Patricia and the children to get back inside the
house.
Mr. Washington’s girlfriend is still in a state of disbelief and grief over the
matter. When asked why she called the police in the first place, she said she did not
feel threatened but wanted her boyfriend to leave because it was late at night. “If I
had known [the police] were going to shoot Walter, I would never have called them.”
By the time the EMTs arrived it was already too late. When they arrived Mr.
Washington had a faint heart beat, but the bullet’s path through his aorta and lungs
made it impossible to save him.
Patricia and her children were whisked away to the police station to be questioned.
Washington’s brothers and parents were notified about what had happened, but were not
allowed into the hospital to see him for quite some time.
Officer Geddes was placed on administrative leave for a week, with pay. The DA’s
office, claiming that they would leave “no stone unturned” in their investigation,
concluded in one week’s time that the actions of Geddes “were a reasonable and
justifiable use of deadly physical force.” Geddes was put back on the job. Within a
week some citizens complained about Geddes’ belligerent behavior towards black youth
in the inner-city. It is interesting to note that Geddes has been accused in the past
of racial profiling.
Patricia noted that throughout that entire week, no one from the DA’s office came to
her house until the day before the final DA report came out. DA Michael Arcuri made
conclusions in this investigation without a trajectory report, looking at the autopsy
report or at the NY State Police report on the actions of State Trooper Haver (which
to this date has not been concluded and is still under investigation).
The report also mentions that after Walter was shot and had slumped to the ground,
gloves were found on the scene, as well as a pellet gun and a pocket knife which were
both on the ground. Although it was not mentioned in the report, the DA made later
statements that the gloves were on Walter’s hands that night.
DA Arcuri and police ran with several different stories of how events unfolded that
night. In public statements and reports, they made several changes in the position of
Geddes and Haver and the actions and position of Washington. The police even ran with
a story that tried to lay the blame of the shooting on an unidentified man whose
physical appearance happened to be that of a typical black man in the neighborhood.
The story they chose to run with was that Washington had a gun and aimed it at
Geddes. It turned out that, according to the police, the weapon was a pellet gun.
It was immediately following the shooting of Mr. Washington that Geddes saw that
there was a witness to the shooting and asked her if she had seen a man with a black
hooded sweatshirt run away. This story was aired on the local morning news WKTV, but
was soon abandoned after the police realized that bullets from Geddes’ gun were
lodged in Mr. Washington’s body and the house where the shooting took place and this
evidence would not be so easy to cover up.
According to Arcuri, the officers told Mr. Washington to stop running “several times”,
to put his hands up and to put the gun down “several times.” Patricia, her four
children and neighbors never heard any of this. They were all in perfect hearing
distance.
The neighbor of Patricia, who shares the same building, was in a room directly above
where Washington was shot. After she heard the gunshots, she looked outside to see
Washington on the ground looking up in her direction. She confirmed that she did not
see any gun either in Washington’s possession or in the area surrounding him. She
also noticed that while this scene was unfolding, Trooper Haver was off to the side
throwing up.
The autopsy report shows that Washington was shot in his left side – his left upper
chest cavity to be exact. Which leads to the question: how was Mr. Washington shot in
his left side if, according to the DA’s office his front was facing the police as he
was backing away from them, gun pointed, and he was right-handed?
The bullet that was used to kill Walter was of a hollow-tipped point black talon
design.
The unique design of this bullet enables the tip to expand in size as it enters an
object, or any mass. The tip spirals out and becomes larger the farther it travels
through a mass. These bullets have been ironically called “cop-killers” because they
can shred through materials such as Kevlar. The DA claimed that Geddes did in fact
shoot to kill as he had taken careful aim at Washington’s “central mass” (where his
heart, lungs and vital organs are located).
What is perhaps even more disturbing than the bullet used to kill Washington was the
position of Washington’s body after he was shot.
According to Patricia and her son, the heels of Washington’s shoes could be seen
sticking out of the side of the house where Washington fell. This means that his body
was to the back of the house. He was lying on his right side. The witness who looked
out the window above Washington and saw him confirmed this position as well. But when
the EMTs arrived they found Washington lying on his wound (his left side), with his
back facing the house. This means that somehow between the time Washington was shot
and the time of the EMTs’ arrival, Washington’s body was moved 180 degrees. The EMTs
also stated, contrary to the DA’s report and the police reports, that Washington’s
pocket knife was not on the ground at all. It was in Washington’s pocket. The EMTs
also noted that Washington indeed had gloves, but they were in his pocket as well
when they arrived. This also runs contrary to the DA’s story claiming Washington was
wearing gloves that night. If the DA’s story is true then it would partially explain
why there were no fingerprints whatsoever found on the pellet gun. Perhaps the gun
came from elsewhere. When questioned about the entire story Barrie Gewanter, Director
of the Central NY Civil Liberties Union, stated that she was “disappointed that the
DA released a report without questioning witnesses, neighbors, or the EMTs.” She also
said, “Given no clear evidence on whether or not Walter [Washington] was wearing
gloves, and the fact that there were no fingerprints on the pellet gun, this raises
questions as to where the gun came from.” The next door neighbor claimed that after
Mr. Washington was shot, Geddes ran over to his car to retrieve something from his
trunk. He then brought that item to Washington’s body. The scene in Utica began to
change following Mr. Washington’s shooting as well.
State Trooper Haver was with Utica police officer Geddes in the first place because
they were working at the time under Operation IMPACT (Integrated Municipal Police
Anti-Crime Team). Operation IMPACT was first announced to the public by Governor
Pataki in his State of the State Address in 2004. The purpose of the program is to
combat blue collar crime, illegal drugs and guns. The program has developed in
numerous cities throughout New York and it links local law enforcement with state and
federal agencies. This program abruptly ended in Utica 9 days after Walter Washington
was shot and killed. Officer Geddes acted as star witness in a number of cases
brought to court that involved Operation IMPACT. One can only imagine the difficulty
Arcuri would encounter if his star witness was taken off the police force for
unjustifiably shooting and killing someone.
Arcuri did note that the investigation would not go to a grand jury and would instead
be undertaken solely by his office because it would spare Geddes from being
rigorously investigated by a grand jury if he did in fact act properly. Furthermore,
Arcuri attempted to either silence or write off people in the community giving
different accounts of the story. One active member in the community who helped
organize a community group called Justice For Walter was surprised to find the DA
pull up in her driveway one day. He told her to “keep quiet” because his office would
take care of the matter. He also added that it was an election year and did not want
any disturbances. She ignored the DA and pointed out that Arcuri’s “credibility has
been shot since day one” because of past cases he was involved in where he withheld
exculpatory evidence.
Arcuri also accused citizens of playing the race card whenever they brought up the
fact that a white cop had killed a black man.
The future is uncertain for the Washington family in their search for truth and
justice. However, there is some hope. Lawyers have offered help as well as the ACLU.
A woman at the Department of Justice was appalled that there was no federal
investigation into the matter and that checks and balances have been non-existent.
Mr. Washington’s parents filed a lawsuit against the city. Aside from creating the
Justice For Walter group, some residents have talked about implementing a Cop Watch
program to police the police.
Hopefully, the truth will be revealed and Walter Washington’s family will receive
some justice. Perhaps the social justice groups forming in the area as a response to
the killing of Mr. Washington will find some form of justice the Washington family so
desperately needs.
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I intend to last long enough to put out of business all *****-suckers
and other beneficiaries of the institutionalized slavery and genocide.

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"The army that will defeat terrorism doesn't wear uniforms, or drive
Humvees, or calls in air-strikes. It doesn't have a high command, or
high security, or a high budget. The army that can defeat terrorism
does battle quietly, clearing minefields and vaccinating children. It
undermines military dictatorships and military lobbyists. It subverts
sweatshops and special interests.Where people feel powerless, it
helps them organize for change, and where people are powerful, it
reminds them of their responsibility." ~~~~ Author Unknown ~~~~
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