Pubdate: Tue, 15 Apr 2003
Source: Marietta Daily Journal (GA)
Copyright: 2003 The Marietta Daily Journal.
Contact:  http://www.mdjonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1904
Author: Michelle Graff, Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)

CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP EYES POLICE SHOOTING

ATLANTA - An Atlanta-based youth civil rights organization has stepped into 
the fray regarding a shooting death of a 28-year-old black man by a Cobb 
County police officer last week.

Services were held Monday in Macon for Ervin Bernard Maynard of Marietta, 
who was shot to death at his Lincoln Hills apartment on Wednesday while 
officers were trying to arrest him for a parole violation.

Police said Maynard was told repeatedly by officers to show his hands and 
was shot after he made "threatening and aggressive movements toward 
officers in the doorway."

An investigation into the shooting later revealed that Maynard was unarmed.

The Rev. Markel Hutchins, president and CEO of the Atlanta-based National 
Youth Connection, said the shooting death of Maynard concerns the organization.

"It is our position that, first of all, this is not a squeaky-clean 
situation," he said. "Mr. Maynard had a troubled past. But that does not 
mean that trigger-happy police officers have the right to pre-empt any 
future he might have had."

Maynard was paroled in November 2001 after serving six months of a 
five-year sentence for two counts of possession of cocaine, state records 
show. In November, he was arrested for possession of crack-cocaine after 
being pulled over for erratic driving on Terrell Mill Road, according to 
state records. He posted bond in February, was placed on electronic 
monitoring and enrolled in substance abuse classes.

Heather Hedrick, spokesperson for the state board of pardons and paroles, 
said the warrant officers were attempting to re-arrest Maynard on Wednesday 
for continued substance abuse problems and being out of touch on his 
electronic monitoring.

Hutchins said there were more than enough police officers present to 
diffuse any danger Maynard might have presented to officers. A total of 
seven officers - four Cobb County and three from the state - were on the 
scene, according to police.

"They could have shot him in his leg and disarmed him," he said. "They did 
not have to shoot him in the chest and destroy him."

But Cobb County police spokesperson Cpl. Brody Staud said this is not how 
officers are trained.

"We're not taught to shoot people in the leg," he said. "You're taught to 
shoot to center mass because that is the biggest part of the body."

He said that technique is used to avoid hitting innocent bystanders and 
because that is the surest way to stop the threat of the individual.

"We're shooting to stop the threat," Staud said. "It's how we're trained. 
It's how most all law enforcement officers are trained throughout the 
United States."

Hutchins said Maynard's family is scheduled to be at a press conference today.

"We think we have a moral obligation to raise questions and that's what we 
intend to do," he said.

Previously, the NYC participated in rallies protesting the shooting death 
of 18-year-old Corey Ward in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood. Ward was shot 
in July by Atlanta police officer Raymond Bunn, after Bunn tried to arrest 
Ward and five of his friends because he thought they were trying to steal 
an SUV.

Bunn said he shot Ward in self-defense after Ward tried to run him over, 
but Ward's family said Bunn never identified himself as a police officer.

Bunn had a history of complaints of excessive force with the Atlanta police 
department, according to news reports. The officer involved in Wednesday's 
shooting in Cobb has no history of discliplinary problems with the 
department, Staud said.

The press conference is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at NYC headquarters in the 
West End of Atlanta on York Avenue off Interstate 20.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom