Man killed by off-duty cop "haunted by violence"
The shooting of Marine veteran Tyrone Brown (far left) by off-duty Baltimore Police Officer Gahiji A. Tshamba quickly became a sensation -- an out-of-control cop with a questionable past linked to drinking had unloaded his gun into an unarmed man who had groped a woman outside a Mount Vernon night club.
The 15-year-veteran officer had led a turbulent career -- shot a man while drunk, crashed his car into a gas station, and was being pursued by creditors and ex-girlfriends. After the shooting, which he says is self-defense, he briefly disappeared, leading to an unprecedented police manhunt for one of their own [read all stories related to the shooting].
But now, as his murder trial nears, new information is emerging about the victim -- a man himself haunted by a violent past in combat, having shot a child, and struggling with vodka and marijuana. He was being treated for depression and suffered post traumatic stress disorder.
None of this may have anything to do with why he got shot that June night, but the officer's defense lawyer wants to use these newly disclosed psychiatric records to try and convince a jury that the victim had aggressive tendencies. The lawyer hopes that will make the officer's self-defense story more credible.
Read a full account of Brown's past in this chilling story by The Sun's court reporter, Tricia Bishop. And read for the first time some of the witness statements:
— Trillane Hill, 35, no relation to Brown or Tshamba
"I saw the guy with the black t-shirt with his hands up backing away from him [Tshamba, saying] 'man, it's not that serious, wait a minute, wait a minute,' and just all of a sudden, out of nowhere he [Tshamba] pulls out a gun."
— Jacqueline Hill, 45, no relation to Brown or Tshamba
"[My brother Tyrone] said 'I like this girl, she's cute' and he grabbed her behind… then the young man in a white t-shirt, white tank top [Tshamba] said 'don't do that, that's disrespect'… then he pulled out what appeared to be a nine millimeter gun."
— Chantay Kangalee, 30, Brown's sister
"She came over, the girl with the short shorts on that he [Brown] touched and slapped him in his face, and then, next thing you know, the guy in the white t-shirt [Tshamba] started running his mouth… and the next thing we hear, 'pop.' He was, he shot, he shot Tyrone."
— Tammy Dodge, 27, friends with Brown
"He [Brown] was running after him [Tshamba] and when Gahiji had gone ahead and said he was a police officer, the guy [Brown] ran towards him and tried to grab the gun, so, he was, he was a lot taller than Gahiji."
— Tina Gill, 35, friends with Tshamba
"Somebody from behind me just smacked me on my ass real hard… I swung, the guy tried to swing back at me and that's when Gahiji was like 'get on the ground' … the guy, he started, he was like coming towards Gahiji and that's when Gahiji pulled his gun out… and the guy started chasing Gahiji."
— Crystal Ramsey, mid-20s, friends with Tshamba, assaulted by Brown
"The guy charged forward as he was trying to take the gun and Gahiji ran from him, and the guy chased him, and then I heard shots were fired."
— Kya Atkinson, 36, friends with Tshamba
Categories: Downtown, Police shootings
Comments
WHEN DOES THE STATE OF MARYLAND HAS A SELF DEFENCE LAW. POLICE IN BALTIMORE CITY HAVE COME TO BE A GANG JUST AS MUCH AS BLOODS, CRIPS OR ANY OTHER GROUP, THEY FOLLOW THERE OWN SET OF RULES .THAT WAS VERY UNNECESARY FOR HIM TO UNLOAD HIS FIREARM.A COUPLE ROUNDS IN THE LEG MOST LIKELY WOULDHAVE DID THE TRICK. AND DID SHE REALLY NEED HIS HELP LOOKS TO ME LIKE SHE HANDLED IT PRETTY WELL HER SELF .WAS HE REALLY SCARED FOR HIS LIFE OR WAS WAS HE FLEXING HIS MUSLES.
Posted by: A REAL mAN | March 23, 2011 3:20 PM
The victim was not perfect in every way, walked on water or glowed in the dark? So what? He patted a woman on the ass and to his misfortune the woman had a cop for a boyfriend. An out of control, drunk, trigger happy cop who, true to his nature and past actions unloaded on the unarmed man, killing him in cold blood. There is no justification whatsoever and for a scum lawyer (pardon my redundancy) to use such a pitiful ploy as to accuse the victim of some possible culpability shows how low police, their lawyers, and our society has denegrated to. If the jury is out more than 10 minutes, I will be shocked.
Posted by: Jimster 1856 | March 25, 2011 12:19 AM