Chavis Carter, dead in Arkansas: shot himself in the temple, with his hands tied behind his back. In Arkansas. The deep south. Now what do YOU think?
Reproduced from Think Progress, written By Aviva Shen on Aug 1, 2012
Police in Jonesboro, Arkansas have launched an investigation into how 21-year-old Chavis Carter was shot in the back of a patrol car Saturday night.Carter, who died at the hospital, was in the passenger seat of a pickup truck that was pulled over by police just before 10 pm, reports WREG.
According to Officer Keith Baggett who was on the scene, Officer Ron Marsh found “some marijuana” and several new plastic baggies when he searched Carter. When they ran his information through dispatch, they found that he was wanted on a warrant in Mississippi, where he lived.
The cops then handcuffed him, searched him again, and put him in the back of the patrol car. While Baggett searched the vehicle, he claims he heard “a loud thump with a metallic sound” on his trunk and saw Ron Marsh motion to him.
The thumping noise, according to the cops, was Carter shooting himself in the head.
The police report attributed the death to a self-inflicted gunshot, though when the two officers opened the squad car door, they found Carter’s hands were still cuffed behind his back. The gun, they said, was somehow missed in both searches.
“Any given officer has missed something on a search, be it drugs, knife, razor blades, this instance it happened to be a gun,” Jonesboro Police Sergeant Lyle Waterworth said after the bizarre incident. The police believe that Chavez managed to pull out a hidden gun and shot himself in spite of the handcuffs.
Carter’s grieving mother, Teresa, however, suspects foul play: “I think they killed him, my son wasn’t suicidal.”
According to Teresa, Carter called his girlfriend while he was pulled over to tell her he’d call her from jail. She also said her son was shot in his right temple, when he was left-handed.
The two officers involved are now on administrative leave until the investigation concludes.
WARNING: Research shows that carrying a small amount of marijuana in Arkansas can make you commit suicide in the back of police cars. If you’re, you know, a n*****, that is.
Related articles
- Chavis Carter case: Officers released 2 others before alleged ‘suicide’ (thegrio.com)
- Handcuffed Man Found Shot in the Back of Police Car, Police Claim It’s a Suicide (clutchmagonline.com)
- Chavis Carter handcuffed-shooting case now under supervision of FBI (guardian.co.uk)
- Death in Jonesboro patrol car believed suicide (sfgate.com)
As a person that has been handcuffed once or twice, it would seem one would be quite the contortionist to get off the shot .
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Exactly. Please spread the story, Fred, so it gets properly investigated.
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“Worst case of suicide I’ve ever seen.” – punch line of very old, very un-funny joke. No, it’s not new. Hard to believe it’s still happening, not because attitudes are any better, but because now the world is watching, and it invites federal action.
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Let us hope the Feds keep the locals honest. Please spread the story so the outrage mounts and at least we get a proper investigation.
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Just when you think American’s can’t get any worse, we somehow manage to pull a stunt like this. I really hope that this gets enough attention to keep the investigation honest. Too many people get away with crap like this due to corrupt investigations.
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I read somewhere the FBI are looking at it – hopefully they will at least keep the locals up to the mark. I do wonder if Americans ralise just how bad something like this makes the whole country look … a case like this should cause utter outrage.
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To the cops – if you don’t know how to lie, don’t f***ing do it. And get your ugly ass out the of police, you are a disgrace to the name of a police officer.
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Very much reminded me an absurd political case in my home country, when a virtually blind woman who couldn’t see one inch away from hew nose was convicted in murdering a political leader. Guess what? We are not turnips, and our IQ is still above 100.
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And which country is that, Anna?
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