Tshamba's turbulent past
The Baltimore police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man who slighted a woman has a long history of questionable behavior both on and off the force.
Today, the Baltimore Sun documents part of this officer's life that includes two other shootings -- one that earned him an award for saving a colleague's life, another committed while drunk and angry over getting cut off in his vehicle. He also has a string of personal and financial problems (he's at left, in a WBAL photo).
Police have turned their investigation over to prosecutors and are pushing for charges soon. But word is prosecutors might push the probe into next week, saying they want to conduct more interviews and gather more evidence. Meanwhile, the public seethes as the officer continues to work a desk as questions rise over whether he's being shielded from arrest because he's a cop.
And questions still are being asked about why Tshamba kept his job -- with only an 8-day suspension -- for shooting a teenager in the foot while being off-duty and drunk. That shooting seems to fit the pattern what happened Saturday in Mount Vernon.
In both cases, the officers appears to have gotten angry over personal slights -- in Mount Vernon, the former Marine patted the officer's female companion on the rear-end, and in the 2005 shooting, a group of young men shouting racial slurs cut him off. And each time, Tshamba took it upon himself to act instead of calling for help.
Police in 2005 ruled the shooting of the teen justified but suspended him for being drunk with a firearm. It's hard to imagine that the police force still wanted him around when he's shooting while drunk (his blood alcohol was .12 percent). We still haven't gotten answers from commanders on that questions (it was a different police administration at the time).
We've obtained the letter sent by prosecutors to police in the 2005 shooting, indicating they declined to prosecute. This is for the purposes of criminal prosecution, not adminstrative sanctions, which would come later and result in the suspension. Still, I would think the fact the officer was legally drunk when he opened fire might play a role in whether he was neglegent:
Comments
So wht you're saying Peter, is that this man should have been charged at a minimum with DUI ans WASN'T? They had a statement about when he was in the car and a BAC reading. Pat had an open and shut case of at least DUI and dropped the ball big time. If the officer had been convicted of DUI, he probably would have lost his job. He was out there last Friday night with his service weapon only because Pat Jessamy allowed him to stay on the force by not prosecuting him. So, Pat Jessamy helped kill that fine youg Marine by DOING NOTHING about this guy in the past.
Posted by: Cantonian | June 10, 2010 8:08 AM
If, as you say Peter, “word is prosecutors might push the probe into next week, saying they want to conduct more interviews,” it sounds like they are buying time for the public fervor to die down.
It isn't going to die down.
A jury should be pondering the facts of the case, not civil servants. That's the way the system is supposed to work.
Posted by: Dana LaRocca | June 10, 2010 8:43 AM
I hope our esteemed media will follow this case along with other police mis condcut cases in Maryland (PG Cops beat college student, MD State police pull gun on motorcyclest, ect). There is a disturbing trend across MD police agencies that protect and serve themselves first and the citzens second. We can't live in a state where the police live by a different standard or laws than the rest of the citezens. Make sure they are not stalling, forgetting then forgiving of the officers in question. We can not allow the ends to justify the means state.
BK, we've had a story in the paper every day about this case since it happened. We first reported on his 2005 shooting in which he was intoxicated and his punishment in that case, and all of the other details you see here. We're following it closely. -JF
Posted by: BK | June 10, 2010 1:40 PM