Update on fatal police shooting in Brooklyn
Police today said that a 52-year-old musician was sitting on his bed in his room when he was fatally shot Sunday night by a city patrol officer after refusing to drop a weapon that turned out to be a pellet gun.
The agency identified the officer as Joseph Schanamann, a four year veteran who has been involved in one prior shooting - in 2009, when he shot a police dog that attacked him, according to reports at the time. Schanamann is on routine administrative suspension as detectives investigate the shooting.
There's been an outpouring of grief among friends of victim Steve Mach, stretching from Baltimore to New York City, where he worked for years as a lighting tech at the famed CBGB's rock club. Before that, he played in a few glam rock bands, including a local group called The Vamps.
"It's a shock to us all," said Jackie Luther, who worked with Mach at CBGB. "He was a very gentle person. I can't see this happening - it's very out of character."
Luther said Mach had moved back to Baltimore a few years ago after the death of his mother. He was an animal activist who worked with BARCS, the South Baltimore animal rescue shelter, and owned several cats, she said. He did not have a criminal record here.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said officers were called to Mach's home in the 3600 block of St. Victor St. after his roommate called police to report that Mach was armed and said he was fearful for his own safety. Officers entered the home and went upstairs, where they found Mach sitting on his bed. The officers demanded that he drop a weapon he was holding - police describe it as a pellet gun that resembled a .45 caliber handgun - and fired at least one shot when he refused to comply.
"You have to follow police commands, especially when you're holding a weapon in your hands," Guglielmi said.
Friends have scheduled a candlelight vigil for Mach tonight (Wednesday) in front of his home.
Categories: Police shootings, South Baltimore
Comments
In his own bed? Wow. Did the police forget that it is legal to carry a gun (or even a pellet gun) in your own home concealed or in the open? Yes, that's right folks, I can legally put an AK-47 on a sling and sit on my front porch all day long and can not be charged with a crime unless I show criminal intent to commit a crime with it (i.e. aim it at a pesky neighbor because they annoy me). I can legally conceal a handgun while mowing my lawn. I cannot, however, leave my property (or the property that I rent) with that weapon unless I follow the proper transport laws (to and from a gun range or hunting, unloaded, and so forth).
The roommate does have a right to safety, but i'm going to play monday night quarterback here, the police have the right to protect all people. In this case the officer was the judge, jury, and executioner. I'm sure the roommate left the house when they felt unsafe thus removing the chance for them to get shot by the pellet gun.
Posted by: Phillip | October 5, 2011 3:04 PM
Mr. Guglielmi:
This is the problem with YOU and the BCPD you represent when speaking on their behalf. Where is the training for police officers in dealing with someone who may be having a mental health issue?
The man is in his bedroom when confronted by this officer. A person not experiencing a mental health crisis will comply, but when someone is having a issue, they do not think and rationalize these commands.
This is another case of many nationwide that result in UNNECESSARY DEATHS instead of someone getting mental health treatment.
Did the guy even point the weapon at the officer..no. Was the roommate out of danger...yes, no longer in the house.
Shame on this officer....and the training within BCPD in both city and county and many other areas.
Posted by: Len | October 5, 2011 10:07 PM
Unless you have been in a situation as this, you really have no legitimate opinion. Been in many of these situations and everyone is different. The training n the department has never been the issue, but the the chronic whining by the politicians, local activists and church leaders. All of whom have no clue. My advice to Len & Phillip lis to eave your cell# with the BCPD 911/Communications Division so that they can call you two to handle the next armed subject call!!
Posted by: BrianS | October 6, 2011 10:22 AM
So, if your roommate wants to get you out of the house all he has to do is call police and forget to mention that he knows the victim well, has lived with him for awhile, he is a gentle man who would never hurt anyone, the victim was experiencing a crisis and may need mental health assistance. No, instead the roommate forgets to mention these important things and the police do not ask questions. Instead, the roommate leaves the house and sets in motion a very tragic ending for a man who was so loved by many and never knew what was coming.
Posted by: Anne Mohn | October 6, 2011 10:54 AM
Considering that Baltimore City has had five home invasionss in the last few months have been carried out by police impersonators the local citizenry has no way of determining whether an intruder is a police officer or armed bandits with badges and police teeshirts. Around here it could be either. I'm not so sure I'd be so quick to put my gun down either. Simply yelling out "Police" and demanding that a person in their own bedroom put down a weapon doesn't do anything confirm who anyone is or isn't.
Posted by: Cham | October 6, 2011 11:03 AM
Hey let's not over look the fact that the guy had a hand gun and did not drop it when police told him to...if u had a family to go home to you would have done the same thing that police officer did if you have a brain in ur body
Posted by: Anonymous | October 6, 2011 2:14 PM
Brian S:
I don't profess to being an expert in resolving a situation with someone in possession of a weapon, but I do have a piece of information that you do not. The way the stairway is built in that home obstructs the view that anyone has coming down the stairs until they are halfway down. I know, because I've walked down them many times. I also think that fact would've been obvious to anybody with any type of paramilitary training, like a Police Officer. That said, why didn't the Officers announce themselves from the first floor, and order him downstairs without the pellet gun?
Posted by: Bruce Willmore | October 6, 2011 11:09 PM
This is so sad...
I guess it is just in movies when police officer shots somebody's hand, or leg in case a person refuses to follow the order ..... In a real life US police officer will shoot US citizen in his own bedroom on his own bed without any tend to check what is really going on in his house ... just blindly based on what another person has stated ... WOW
My question is in this case WHO broke the law?
I didn't see in this report that "roommate" told plice that Steve threatended him/her with the gun.... Roommate informed that Steve had a gun (in his own house) and a roommate didn't feel safe. So whose fkg problem is that?! Who has a right to be a judge?! Who has a right to KILL?!
Unfortunately Steve doesn't have a right to live this life any more.
I never had a chance to meet him in person. But I heard a lot about him from my cousin Maria whose first love he was many years ago and the closest friend he was to the last day of his life. And I know he will remain in her heart.
"People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did...but people will never forget how you made them feel."
Well, his fans and friends will remember everything... the music, personality, kindness, creativity, humor, love and friendship ...
R.I.P.
Posted by: Anna Hanks | October 7, 2011 5:08 PM
No one ever said being a police officer is easy. But to me that is like a steel factory worker complaining that it is hot around were he works. If you want a job where people respect you and don't consider you to be an asshole, don't become a cop. I worked with Steve one day recently. He seemed to be a nice laid back guy. Sorry folks, a situation with a guy waving a gun around in the street is quite different than a man holding a gun in his own house if he was indeed actually holding a gun. If he was intoxicated and didn't know the police had been called, he may have been startled into reacting the wrong way. Maybe the decision was not an easy one for the police. Anyhow, Steve is dead and his right to live was canceled. That's right you robbed a man of the next 20 or 30 years of being alive. Most cops are just people who got picked on in high school getting back at society.
Posted by: Don Smith | October 13, 2011 4:23 PM
Steve was a quiet mellow guy, somehow something just doesn't seem right with this. RIP Stevesocieties
Posted by: ROX BOSS | November 2, 2011 6:08 AM