In a spine-chilling incident - which raises questions about the competency of law enforcers - an officer from Southaven department of Police shot and killed a man who didn’t even have a warrant against him. The deceased in question was a 41-year-old resident of Mississippi called Ismael Lopez, who was an auto mechanic by profession.
On the fateful night of the incident, the police officers were in the area of Southaven after they got news of an alleged report of domestic violence from another group of informants. The officers couldn’t locate the address of the suspect and ended up going to the house, which was right across the street.
What did the prosecutor say?
According to prosecutor John Champion, Lopez had no Arrest Warrant against him and it was a sheer misunderstanding, which led to the unfortunate event that led to him losing his life. The officers gave a statement that they opened the door and were immediately attacked by a vicious Pitbull, who was shot down by one of them. As soon as they turned around, they saw Lopez pointing a gun at them. The cops kept on commanding him to put the gun down. When even after several warnings Ismael didn’t put his gun down, they had to shoot him for their own safety.
Champion’s office is collecting clues and running the investigation and determined that a gun was recovered from the site where the incident took place.
There is no footage of the incident since Southaven Department officers aren’t provided with a body camera.
Contradictory statements galore
Lopez’s wife was in no state to talk and, thus, Jordan Castillo, who is a family friend was acting as the family’s spokesman. Ismael’s wife told Castillo a lot of things, which were totally contradictory from the official statement.
Lopez was a father figure for Jordan who helped him overcome his troubled past.
Lopez owned two guns. One was a Glock pistol, which was usually kept in the bedroom of the Lopez residence and another .22 Calibre rifle, which was always placed in the front room. Last time the slain man’s wide checked, both the guns were unmoved from their respective places.
Another contradictory statement made by the officers was that Lopez was standing at the front door pointing the gun at them and even after giving multiple orders to put it down, he did not. Ismael had stayed in the US for 13 years and had no difficulty in understanding English so there shouldn’t have been any misunderstanding in comprehending the commands.
Lopez’s wife said that there were no commands given from the other side of the door. She could hear men walking toward the door. As soon as the doorknob turned, there was a shot which killed her husband. Champion said that the cop was given an administered leave while the investigation is taking place. Home and Wells is a law firm, which the Lopez family has hired to investigate the case.
