home Sunday afternoon, the father of the 7-year-old girl killed earlier
that day gazed at photos of his only daughter at her sixth birthday
party.
“She had a lively, free spirit,”
He then bent over, burying his face in his hands as he wept.
The scene Sunday outside
gathered to try to make sense of a shooting death they said was caused
by over-aggressive law enforcement.
Police said they, too, are deeply upset by the second-grader’s death and are conducting a full investigation.
The shooting — which happened during a raid to catch
a murder suspect who was found and arrested at the home Sunday — is the
latest high-profile death in a city where there is a growing sense that
violence is spilling out of control.
Police Brutality, called Sunday’s shooting the worst he has seen in 14
years of working to stop police abuse.
But some said it’s too early to point fingers.
“Things go wrong, and things happen that you didn’t necessarily plan for,” said retired
It’s a chain of events triggered at
Blake was gunned down “in particularly brutal fashion in front of a store — and in front of his girlfriend,” said
Investigators identified the suspect as a 34-year-old man, and obtained a search warrant for a home.
“Because of the ruthless and violent nature of the
suspect in this case, it was determined that it would be in the best
interest of public safety to execute the search warrant as soon as
possible,” Godbee said in a statement.
Outside the home, the department’s
Police said they threw an incendiary device known as a flash bang through a front window of the home to create a distraction.
After entering, a
The police gun went off. Aiyana was killed.
According to family members, Aiyana was sleeping on
the couch, which sat near a window that faces the street. The explosive
device the police threw in landed on that couch and burned her, said
her father,
“I heard Boom!
Aiyana’s dad,
he rushed into the living room after hearing the explosive and gunshot.
He says police made him lie face down on the ground, his face in
shattered glass and the blood of his daughter.
“Blood was coming down her mouth,” said Mertilla Jones. “They killed my grandbaby.”
The girl was rushed to
Godbee said he along with other ranking members of the department went to the hospital.
“This is a tragedy of unspeakable magnitude to
Aiyana’s parents, family and all those who loved her,” Godbee said. “We
cannot undo what occurred this morning. All we can do is to pledge an
open and full investigation and to support Aiyana’s family in whatever
way.”
“We have executed countless high risk warrants where children have been present,” Godbee later told the
Activists such as Scott say such devices are
military-style tools inappropriate for civilian settings — especially
where children are present. But police say they use to distract
suspects that are potentially violent and hostile.
Police did find and arrest the man they came for.
Charges had not been filed as of Sunday night. Godbee said police found
a car and moped that matched descriptions of vehicles involved in the
fatal shooting of Blake.
Aiyana was described by family members a lively girl who loved to sing and dance. She was especially fond of teen pop stars
In photos shared by family on Sunday, Aiyana was
seen at her 6th birthday party blowing out candles on a cake frosted
with the image of Montana.
In another, she posed for the camera, beaming.
“Everybody loved her,” her father said, “and she loved everybody.”
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