The woman, Talisa Coombs, told Delaney she’d just gotten into what she alleged was a physical altercation with her granddaughter’s mother, Maria Pike, and called 911. Independence police’s response to that 911 call ended with the shooting death of Pike, 34, and her two month old daughter, Destinii Hope — who were identified Tuesday by authorities from the Police Involved Investigative Team, or PIIT, a team of eastern Jackson County detectives called in to investigate police shootings and use-of-force incidents.
The officer who fired his weapon was “a long-tenured veteran of law enforcement,” Dustman said. That officer and another two who were at the scene are on administrative leave.
I hate how much the police worries more about their egos and asserting authority than de-escalation and service to the community. They seem more emotionally unstable than the people they are supposed to help.
If that’s the response from an experienced officer, then there are serious issues with the whole system. There’s a baby on the scene and still their first impulse is to pull the trigger. Fuck them!