Ex Bengal RB Shot Dead

[CloakNNNdagger]

The circumstances leading to the shooting appeared to be that he was purchasing beer for under-aged teens. The question now seems to be, was deadly force appropriate.

Ex-NFL player dies after early-morning fight with Sheriff's officers
BY JAMES BURGER, Californian staff writer
jburger@bakersfield.com | Sunday, Jul 10 2011 01:54 PM

Last Updated Sunday, Jul 10 2011 09:40 PM

David “Deacon” Turner was a star running back at Shafter High School, Bakersfield College and the San Diego State University before he played three seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals from 1978 to 1980.

But he’d been down on his luck since then — out of work and repeatedly in trouble with the law throughout the ‘80’s, 90’s and 2000’s according to Kern County Superior Court online records.

On Sunday morning, the man that his former Bakersfield College coach Gerry Collis said looked like boxer Joe Frazier, got into an altercation with Kern County Sheriff’s deputies that ended when Deputy Wesley Kraft fatally shot the former NFL player outside an east Bakersfield convenience store.

“He’s the best running back I coached at BC, but heck I only coached there 27 years,” Collis said.

Collis, who’d kept in touch with Turner and tried to help him get on his feet, said his former player was hoping to get some sort of retirement from the NFL.

“He was a marvelous kid. I loved that kid,” Collis said. “He called me a couple times and I didn’t get back to him. I wish I had now.”

Turner’s brother, Moses Turner, Jr., said his brother was a humble man who focused on using his time in the NFL to care for his family back in Kern County.

When David Turner was inducted into the Bakersfield College hall of fame, there were many people there to honor him that Moses Turner had never met.

But that was, he said, the kind of person David Turner was — he brought people together, brought towns together and kept his family together.

David Turner’s nephew, Kevin Turner, said his uncle was an inspiration.

“He was the backbone of our family. He was our knight in shining armor,” Kevin Turner said.

He said David Turner was the person who would call everyone in the family and keep in touch.

“When I heard the news I was in shock. I didn’t have a word to say,” Kevin said. “I’m waiting prayerfully for some video footage.”

The family, Moses Turner said, is focusing on who David Turner said and doesn’t plan to speak about what happened Sunday morning until they are able to talk to a lawyer.

Sheriff’s reports state that shooting occurred after deputies responded to reports of 10 to 15 juveniles asking adults to purchase alcohol and cigarettes for them at the busy store at the corner of Niles Street and Mt. Vernon Avenue.

According to Sheriff’s Lt. Bart Camps, the Fastrip is the only store in that neighborhood that is open that late and can be very busy at night and early in the morning.

When deputies arrived at the store they encountered David Lee Turner, 56, coming out of the store with his 19 year-old son, a 16-year-old juvenile and bags of items Turner had just purchased, including alcohol.

Deputies detained Turner and the two teens while they investigated the situation. According to reports, Turner first complied with deputies’ directions but then attempted to leave the area.

When deputies tried to stop Turner from leaving, he fought with them, Sheriff’s reports stated.

During the scuffle Deputy Aaron Nadal, who has worked for the Sheriff’s Department for three years, was reportedly hit in the back of the head with a bag containing two 24-ounce cans of beer.

Deputy Wesley Kraft, a four year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, responded by drawing his handgun and firing at Turner twice.

Turner was struck and fell to the ground.

He was rushed to Kern Medical Center nearby, where he died around two hours later.

Collis said the situation just didn’t sound like the David Turner he knew.

“It is not like him. He was not a trouble-maker,” Collis said. “The deputy must have provoked him.”

Nadal was taken to Memorial Hospital where he was treated for his injuries and released.

Sheriff’s reports state the incident is under investigation by Sheriff’s detectives and Kraft has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

 

[cuppacoffee]

"When deputies arrived at the store they encountered David Lee Turner, 56, coming out of the store with his 19 year-old son, a 16-year-old juvenile and bags of items Turner had just purchased, including alcohol.

Deputies detained Turner and the two teens while they investigated the situation. According to reports, Turner first complied with deputies’ directions but then attempted to leave the area.

When deputies tried to stop Turner from leaving, he fought with them, Sheriff’s reports stated."


What situation?

Exactly what was Turner doing that was illegal? The bag was in his possession, not the juvenile's. Bastids had no right to detain him. Probable cause my arse. Typical abuse of power.

Bought two 24 oz cans of beer, that's a capital offense now?

People who are not doing anything illegal justifiably resent being hassled by idiots with guns. Cops do it just because they can exert their power / will over you without serious reprecussions.

Sound like the thug (cop) jumped to conclusions and used the first excuse he could find to shoot / kill someone.

What's next, shooting people coming out of the bank with money in their hand? Probable bank robber?

Cop should face a grand jury, second degree murder. Get him out of society.

Tyrannical bastids. I hate cops.

 

[Ckw]

"When deputies arrived at the store they encountered David Lee Turner, 56, coming out of the store with his 19 year-old son, a 16-year-old juvenile and bags of items Turner had just purchased, including alcohol.

Deputies detained Turner and the two teens while they investigated the situation. According to reports, Turner first complied with deputies’ directions but then attempted to leave the area.

When deputies tried to stop Turner from leaving, he fought with them, Sheriff’s reports stated."


What situation?

Exactly what was Turner doing that was illegal? The bag was in his possession, not the juvenile's. Bastids had no right to detain him. Probable cause my arse. Typical abuse of power.

Bought two 24 oz cans of beer, that's a capital offense now?

People who are not doing anything illegal justifiably resent being hassled by idiots with guns. Cops do it just because they can exert their power / will over you without serious reprecussions.

Sound like the thug (cop) jumped to conclusions and used the first excuse he could find to shoot / kill someone.

What's next, shooting people coming out of the bank with money in their hand? Probable bank robber?

Cop should face a grand jury, second degree murder. Get him out of society.

Tyrannical bastids. I hate cops.

I agree with you completely. This kind of stuff ticks me off to no end.

He shouldn't have been fighting the cops, but the cops should have never stopped him in the first place. While reading the story, I at least expected it to say the cops rolled up on him as he was handing alcohol and cigarettes to minors, but no. It says he walked out with his son and his son's friend. WTF?!?

So what if cops get a call at a store I happen to be at with my daughter, and I walk out with alcohol. Have I just broken the law and am I going to get shot in the face?

This crap sickens me.

 

[Blake]

But he’d been down on his luck since then — out of work and repeatedly in trouble with the law throughout the ‘80’s, 90’s and 2000’s according to Kern County Superior Court online records.

Collis said the situation just didn’t sound like the David Turner he knew.

“It is not like him. He was not a trouble-maker,” Collis said. “The deputy must have provoked him.”

lol. A guy that had repeated run ins with the law is not a trouble maker.

OK!

 

[Allstar]

Wait, so he bought some kids beer (allegedly) and resisted the cops, hit one of them with beer, then gets shot to death? WTF?

 

[Ckw]

lol. A guy that had repeated run ins with the law is not a trouble maker.

OK!

He probably is but considering what the story says in that he was walking out with a 19 year old and 16 year old, it doesn't sound like he was doing much of anything wrong.

 

[Hervoyel]

You know, fighting with the police is never a good idea. Nothing good ever comes from that. The police were investigating what exactly? A bunch of minors trying to get adults to buy them alcohol? Is that correct?

I understand why the officer stopped him. When the police tell you that they're not done and you aren't to go anywhere what do you do? I sure don't go until they tell me I can go whether I'm right or wrong. If I'm wrong then trying to leave is just going to make things worse. If I'm right I'll get my day in court and if I'm really, really right (and they're really, really wrong) then I might be looking at getting a lawyer and taking them and their city/county to court.

I'm not going to try to leave and then fight with them. That's idiotic.

Whether the deputy was right or wrong to shoot him I just don't know. I wasn't there and have no idea how the altercation went. Neither were any of you. I'm pretty certain that he's dead though because he grew impatient, lost his temper, and decided to get into a fight with a man who had a gun.

 

[Texecutioner]

He probably is but considering what the story says in that he was walking out with a 19 year old and 16 year old, it doesn't sound like he was doing much of anything wrong.

If he attempted to walk away from the police while they were trying to investigate what he had been doing and refused to comply with them to the point where he hit the officers with a beer can which is what is stated, then he asked to get shot. I wasn't there, and I would assume that shooting him probably shouldn't have been the first reaction from an officer, but you don't get to decide that when you take matters in your own hands with a cop. Once you assault them, you have waived any dictations on how that situation can go at that point. I think the amount of threads that seems to pop up over and over again on situations like these are good examples of that. You start attacking or putting your hands on police you get what you may not expect. I learned this stuff in HS and in some cases it didn't matter and I personally still had police put their hands on me, but if I've got to fight a battle with a cop, I'll do it after the fact either with a lawyer, through the news, or whatever creative way I can seek justice, but I won't ever challenge them physically. When you do that in many cases your putting your life on the line.

I'm pretty certain that he's dead though because he grew impatient, lost his temper, and decided to get into a fight with a man who had a gun.

And it amazes me time and time again at how common sense doesn't kick in with so many people in these situations especially after the gazillion stories from the news where you hear about people getting either shot, killed, or badly assaulted by police all because they think that they don't have to follow orders from police and that they can fight with them as if they are regular pedestrians.

 

[Wolf6151]

At first reading it sounds bad, but lets remember that none of us were there at the time and we're only getting one side of the story told to us by someone else who wasn't there at the time. As for probable cause, yes the deputies had probable cause. They were called to the scene and it's their responsibility to investigate the allegations and part of that is detaining folks on the scene.

 

[hot pickle]

trigger happy cop. join the army if you wanna shot people bro

 

[Allstar]

There's gotta be more to this. It's too bizarre otherwise.

 

[steelbtexan]

At first reading it sounds bad, but lets remember that none of us were there at the time and we're only getting one side of the story told to us by someone else who wasn't there at the time. As for probable cause, yes the deputies had probable cause. They were called to the scene and it's their responsibility to investigate the allegations and part of that is detaining folks on the scene.

While I totally agree with your post.

I'm sure you would've handled this differently.

Experience is the key.

What's wrong with young police officers today?

It seems like there's a testosterone problem.

 

[CloakNNNdagger]

This story has turned even uglier.

Sheriff’s Department says deadly shooting of ex-NFL player was justified


A week after a police officer shot and killed ex-Cincinnati Bengal David Lee Turner, the Kern County Sheriff’s Department has concluded its investigation and said the shooting was within department policy.

ABC 23 News in Bakersfield reports that the Sheriff’s Department says Deputy Aaron Nadal was justified in using deadly force because Turner struck him in the back of the head with a bag containing two 24-ounce beer cans.

Even if it’s true that Turner hit Nadal with a bag containing beer cans, the conclusion that Nadal was therefore justified in killing Turner is troubling. And at least one witness says Turner didn’t hit Nadal, and that the Turner only raised the bag he was carrying in response to police officers hitting him.

“I saw the stuff flying because they kept hitting him, and they made the bag fly up because they kept hitting him, but he didn’t hit anybody. He didn’t do anything; he just followed their rules,” said Phyllis Elijah, who was at the scene of the incident. “So then deputies just shot him — execution-style is what I call it. I later hear people screaming, and I heard somebody say, ‘Why did you shoot my dad for no reason?’”

We hope this is not the end of the investigation of the shooting, which took place in front of two of Turner’s teenage children. The Sheriff’s Department shouldn’t be the final arbiter of whether its deputy acted appropriately in killing David Lee Turner.

 

[Texecutioner]

You've got two sides to a story here. Hard to really make a judgement off of that. However, I don't see why the police had to execute the guy if they felt they needed to shoot him. Couldn't they just have shot him in the leg, in the foot? I'm guessing they put one in his skull or his chest. Why didn't they use their pepper spray or bust his legs from underneath him with a billy club? They need a very thorough investigation here.