Community activists in Miami are calling for a systemic change following the police shooting of a man during a mental health crisis, as per reports from CBS News Miami. The incident, which occurred on March 7, involved 40-year-old Donald Armstrong who was reportedly high on drugs and behaving erratically, according to responding officers.
Witnesses captured the confrontation on video where Armstrong was seen with a sharp object in hand. Miami police utilized stun guns on him twice before gunfire was heard on the footage. Armstrong's mother's desperate pleas can be heard during the altercation, as she begged officers not to take her son's life. "They tased him twice. I guess that's not what they wanted. They didn't see the reaction they wanted so maybe like 10 to 15 seconds later the squad of police began to fire," said Preston Baldwin, a witness who spoke to CBS News Miami. The man was shot seven times and is currently in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Chief of Police Manuel Morales acknowledged the shooting has impacted the whole community and vowed for transparency and accountability while an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and an internal review are underway; details which are mentioned on CBS News Miami. "I pledge to ensure that our department does better in addressing calls involving mental and behavioral issues. I am asking all of us to pray for Mr. Armstrong and his family during this difficult time," Morales stated in a press release.
Local residents are shaken, with one balcony observer, Dan Davidson, according to Hoodline, “I was up on my balcony. I was petting my cats and stuff, you know, looking over, chilling out, and all of a sudden I hear like six gunshots, at least six gunshots, one right after the other, ‘boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.’” Armstrong's apparent failure to succumb to non-lethal measures led to the officers' decision to fire. "They did deploy the Taser, so they had the non-lethal, but the weapon that they used it, it had no effect, so then that officer made the determination to fire for everyone’s safety," remarked Miami Police Capt. Freddie Cruz.
Amidst the outcry, a coalition of activists from the Healing and Justice Center is demanding policy reforms regarding police intervention in crises involving mental health. "Police are socialized to see every call as a potential threat. When they are called to the scene, they treat it as law enforcement officials, not as mental health experts," Rachel Gilmer, Director of the Healing and Justice Center, expressed in a statement obtained by CBS News Miami. A news conference is scheduled for Thursday in Armstrong's neighborhood to propose the launch of a non-police, crisis response team in hopes of preventing similar events in the future.
