Pubdate: Sun, 06 Feb 2000
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2000 by The Baltimore Sun, a Times Mirror Newspaper.
Contact:  http://www.sunspot.net/
Forum: http://www.sunspot.net/cgi-bin/ultbb/Ultimate.cgi?actionintro
Author: Tim Craig

SUSPECT SHOT, KILLED DURING DRUG ARREST
City Officer Says Unarmed Man Struggled With Him; Conflicting Accounts;
Incident Occurred 4 Blocks From Police Shooting Friday

A Baltimore police officer shot and killed an apparently unarmed man
last night during a struggle as he was being arrested for allegedly
selling drugs.

The death came a day after an officer and drug suspect were injured in
a shootout four blocks away. Last night, a crowd of East Baltimore
residents walked the streets shouting "O'Malley is a killer,"
referring to Mayor Martin O'Malley, and "This was police revenge."

It was the seventh fatal shooting involving police since January
1999.

Police said Officer Craig Klein was sitting in a house in the 1600
block of Lansing St. about 5: 30 p.m. when he saw what he thought was
a man selling drugs. Klein, on the force three years, chased the man
into an alleyway that leads to the 1600 block of Federal St., where a
scuffle began, said police spokeswoman Agent Ragina L. Cooper.

The officer and the suspect wrestled in a half-foot of snow for
several minutes, and the man pinned the officer to the ground and
said, "Don't make me use my stuff," Cooper said.

Fearing for his life, Klein fired once, striking the victim in his
neck, police said.

O'Malley, reached late last night, called the shooting "tragic" and
responded to the crowd's criticism. "Our officers get shot at, and I
only have to take insulting words," he said. "I think their job is a
lot harder than mine."

Police did not release the suspect's name last night, but relatives at
the scene identified him as Ralph Chambers, 34, of the 1600 block of
Lansing St. Relatives said he had three children younger than 10.

"This is a disgrace," said his brother, Paul Chambers. "O'Malley made
it clear it was not going to happen like this. They don't have to kill
them to get them off the corner."

Cooper said police found 30 capsules of suspected cocaine on the
victim, and relatives acknowledged that Chambers sold drugs "because
he could not get a job."

Tavon Powell, 18, who identified himself as a friend of Ralph
Chambers, said the officer had no reason to shoot.

"They don't use Mace anymore, they don't use club sticks, they just
pull their guns out and shoot people," Powell said. "I think it's
retaliation."

That sentiment was repeated last night by people who claimed they had
witnessed the shooting and said the victim was shot as he tried to run
from the officer.

"He was fleeing," said Robert Sparks, 33, of the 1500 block of
Broadway. "He got up to run, got several feet away and then I heard"
the gunshot.

Sparks said a brief struggle occurred before the shooting.

Cooper said several witnesses were taken to the city's homicide unit
and at least one corroborated the police officer's version of events.

A group of about 20 huddled not far from the crime scene minutes after
the shooting and shouted threats of retribution against Police
Commissioner Ronald L. Daniel and O'Malley. At least one plainclothes
detective retrieved a handful of handcuffs, but Cooper said no arrests
were made at the scene. The onlookers had dispersed by 11 p.m.

Neither Daniel or O'Malley visited the shooting scene last night, but
when reached at home, the police commissioner said, "People direct
hostility at me all the time, and it's not unusual."

Daniel said that based on preliminary information, it appears the
officer acted in self-defense. "I don't know enough about what
occurred, but certainly I have been given a preliminary briefing and
understand the officer was in a struggle and defending himself,"
Daniel said.

Daniel said he did not visit the scene because he might have to review
the case.

"We need to support these officers because they are risking their
lives every night out there," said Gary McLhinney, president of the
Fraternal Order of Police. "The Eastern District is a very dangerous
district. The price for making Baltimore City safe is going to be paid
for with our blood."

O'Malley said he did not know all the circumstances last night, but
acknowledged police often face difficult decisions.

"If officers are attacked or pinned to the ground, officers have a
right to defend themselves," O'Malley said. "It's a very tough job."

Eastern District Major James L. Hawkins downplayed residents' reaction
to the shooting because of their heightened emotions.

Friday night, Eastern District Officer Jerry Kevin Weaver was shot in
the right arm in a struggle while police were trying to arrest a drug
suspect in the 1700 block of N. Chapel St.

The suspect, identified as Samuel Keith Thompson, was shot in the foot
and thigh when Weaver's partner, Officer Louis Holley, returned fire.
Hawkins and Daniel said that incident and last night's police shooting
highlight the neighborhood's drug problem. Police officials said they
are seriously attacking the problem.

The incident last night was the second fatal shooting by police this
year and the first in the Eastern District since Larry Hubbard was
shot and killed in what some say was a racially tinged shooting in
October.

Cooper said Klein will be placed on administrative duty while city
homicide detectives and the state's attorney's office review the shooting.

O'Malley said observers should base their opinions on
facts.

"I don't think any thinking person would look at the circumstances in
this case and jump to a wild conclusion that there was anything
retaliatory about this," he said. 
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