The shooting death of a 16-year-old girl by police is among a spate that's upset Anchorage residents
The shooting death of a 16-year-old girl by police is among a spate that's upset Anchorage residents
A spate of officer-involved shootings has made Anchorage, Alaska, the latest in a long list of American cities to wrestle with how police use force.
Easter Leafa was sitting under a blanket on her balcony with a knife when Anchorage police arrived, responding to a call for help from her family. Instead of showing her hands as told, they said, the 16-year-old girl stood and approached them with the blade.
Two officers opened fire simultaneously, one with a less-lethal foam projectile and the other with real bullets, killing her two days before Leafa was to start her junior year of high school. She had recently moved from American Samoa to get a better education and was still learning English, her family said.
Leafa was among seven people shot by Anchorage police since May, the most recent a homicide suspect critically injured after officers said he opened fire on them Friday afternoon. That is more than twice as many as the department typically shoots in a year. Four of the subjects were killed.
The spate has made Anchorage the latest in a long list of American cities to wrestle with how police use force and prompted an apology to Leafa’s family along with promises of reform from the city’s new mayor.
“This cannot be our new normal,” Mayor Suzanne LaFrance told a news conference after Leafa’s death.
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Why are cops so fucking scared all the time? Are they trained to be that way?
On bodycam vids on YT, they are absolutely afraid when they have to clear a car or home. They bring in a shield (if they can) and worry about every corner.