Man shot in Indianapolis by cops after calling police to report a robbery

Early Tuesday in Indianapolis, an African American woman was being carjacked in front of her home in her working class neighborhood. She ran back in the house, told her husband, who is also Black, and they called the Indianapolis police to report the robbery. That seemed the correct thing to do, right?

As the woman’s husband opened the garage door, the police shot him on sight, in the torso.

Couple’s experience with the Indianapolis police

Police claim they believed he was the robber and that because he had a firearm of his own, they shot him in self-defense.

He, of course, was the not the robber. According to reports, police have not yet confirmed if they caught the suspect. After doing fingerprints of the car, the actual person who committed the crime got away and the person who didn’t do the crime is sitting in the hospital fighting for his life.

“I think that’s really crazy. What do we have, trigger-happy police officers out here now?” asked Angela Parrot, who lives in the neighborhood told the Indy Star.

This case solidifies the real fear many African American families have about calling the police for help.

My horror story

I remember while living in Neptune, NJ, in 2004 I was having chest pains related now to my complications of Lupus. My father was fearful to call 911, not because he feared they wouldn’t help me, because of previous incidents that we’ve seen happen in the community. This is 2004. I told him I could not make it by car and that he would have to call the 911, where police normally respond first.

I felt terrible. He did not want the police in our home. As soon as the police walked into our home, the officer looked around at the marble tables, leather couches, glass wall unit and the baby grand piano. Instead of asking what is wrong, he “jokingly” asked is this all ours. He was more concerned of possibly pinning criminals instead of my health issues.

My parents were not criminals. They worked hard for everything in that house. My father was a computer scientist, my mother who had already passed then, was an accountant.

At that moment, I understood my father’s fears. I told the police I no longer needed help. I did the best I could to get myself to the car to get that police officer out of the house.  My father would always say to me, you can call the police and have the gun turned on you. My father is still right 12 years later.

I know many black Americans who will not call the police for this simple reason here. This man in Indianapolis did nothing wrong for carrying a legal gun to protect his family. He is now fighting his life.

Far to often, we see reaching for a wallet can cause you to get killed or having a gun in your back pocket can you get shot.

Agree with me or not, but Houston we have a problem.