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By Jaedda Armstrong
NORFOLK
New details emerged Monday in the fatal weekend shooting of a 17-year-old girl by city police, and the girl's mother contended the shooting was "uncalled for."
Police, however, said the girl had fired shots during a standoff, a factor prompting officers to enter her home, and that she had pointed a weapon at them. Officers were "forced to take action," police said in a news release.
Police did not release the name of the teen.
Her mother, Catrina Jordan, said she was Tameika. She was a few weeks shy of her first day of college, her mother said.
Police received a call around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, reporting a girl barricaded inside her home on the 2200 block of Maltby Ave., said Norfolk Police spokeswoman Karen Parker-Chesson. In a news release, police said the Emergency Operations Center had received a report that an armed person had threatened to kill a family member.
Police set up a perimeter around the apartment building and crisis negotiators, special operations teams, a bomb squad and Norfolk Fire-Rescue were brought on scene. Negotiations went on for six hours but then "broke down," police said in a news release.
"Based on events at the scene, to include shots fired by the subject inside the residence, a decision was made to enter the apartment," the release said. The girl had fired several rounds, Parker-Chesson said.
"Upon entry officers were confronted by the juvenile female aiming a weapon at them, and were forced to take action," the release said.
The teen was pronounced dead at 5:15 a.m.
Initially, police said the girl had been holding two other women hostage during the standoff and that they had been released uninjured. They later said the women actually had been outside of the home during the standoff.
The homicide squad is investigating, and the commonwealth's attorney will review the findings. The officer involved has been placed on administrative duties, police said, which is standard procedure.
Prior to the standoff, the girl was involved in an argument, Christopher Jackson, a neighbor, said Monday. He said police fired tear gas into the apartment before entering.
Catrina Jordan said her daughter had been working full-time for the past two years at a restaurant, and she had recently earned her General Education Diploma. She had plans to attend Tidewater Community College in the fall and wanted to transfer to Virginia Tech.
Jordan said Tameika got depressed sometimes, but "she was a beautiful girl. She was on her way to college."
Jordan and her family are furious with how the police handled the situation, she said.
"My family is in turmoil. Nobody is expected to bury their child, especially at the hands of the police," her mother said. "She was only 17. She was only 17. And now I have to bury my baby."
Carlos A. Howard, the president of a group called the Hampton Roads Leadership Council, sent a letter Monday to Police Chief Bruce P. Marquis asking that the department provide the public with more information. Howard said releasing more facts would help avoid casting a cloud over "the good work" that police do.
The police news release said the department "understands the community's need to know the circumstances surrounding this incident" but that a "thorough investigation must be conducted to prevent the release of inaccurate information."
Pilot writers Alicia P.Q. Wittmeyer and Patrick Wilson contributed to this story.
Jaedda Armstrong, (757) 446-2346, jaedda.armstrong@pilotonline.com
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Non-Lethal
Seems to me that talking with someone on a phone to try and get them to leave a barricaded position, and then firing numerous tear gas canisters into that position are two viable nonlethal options. Why did the police have to enter the position? What would the lynch mob have to say if the story reflected that an individual died from asphyxiation by tear gas after refusing to come out? They would blame the police for not entering the home and removing her from the contaminated environment.
Who is really gullible mary
Submitted by marym63204 on Fri, 08/15/2008 at 9:03 pm.
So *every* time someone disputes a police account, you believe that person, no matter *what* their prior credibility might be? Do you know what the word "gullible" means? Cheers, MGM
Didn't really understand which side you were comming from. If you meant one should look at the credibility of those complaining about a police action, then I have to agree with you. If the record of poilce shootings are reviewed, most have been justified. I don't remember any that the officers involved have not been hung by the lynch mobs that pop up everytime something like this happens. Each and every shooting is investigated by police, and then other authorities if needed. Believe me, under threat of being sued, non of these cities will cover up a bad shooting.
responsible parents
Don't have 17 year old children shooting at police or anyone else. It's really that simple!
Sister jas on Tamikea
I am glad Sister jasmyne spoke the truth. The amount of bullets entered her body 9 to be exact did not constitute that there were any chance of bring her out alive. Those who were there know the facts, but because of a biased media that always uphold Norfolk police as they did in the numerous deaths of Blue-on-Black murder victims in Hampton Roads, the amount of time the officers allowed no one in the house nor did they move the body showed signs of police-cover-up. The public should be aware thathere are racist avenues in all police departments and they do not evaporate when some prominent Blacks agree with the police reports and not look at the real truth. of all of tyhe Black persons killed by Norfolk Police. all have been justifiable even when there is evidence to support a conviction of use of excessive deadly force.
Patience; A Need For Full Investigation & Disclosure
As a former officer of the law, (with numerous relatives, as police, federal agents, & judges, also), I know that police work is difficult & often under appreciated. Yet I am aware, that, there have been times in which officers have not made the right or best decisions, when in actual or potential conflict. There are, early, contrary, statements, made by all parties involved. This isn't unusual. Let the investigation be thoroughly done, with full disclosure. Any one doubting the need for this, should remember cases such as the shooting, 57 times, of an unarmed son of a former local,(Hampton Roads), judge, by Maryland police. He was handcuffed,(hands behind back), after being patted down,(he was only wearing swim trunks), in the backseat of the patrol car. The officers, after a so-called investigation, were cleared.
Be responsible parents
Being a police dipatcher for over 20 years and the wife of a police officer, I must say I'm proud of every police officer who stands behind that badge and all the dispatchers that help them make it back home to their own families at the end of each shift. All of you who believe this is a racial issue and those who believe there is always some hidden adjenda behind police motives are the same ones who call the on the police for everything from a simple larceny to repeated domestic abuse! I will say this as a reminder to ALL parents in this world...the cure to crime begins in the high chair, not in the electric chair!
It starts when they are infants, not when they are 17 years old. Obviously, even Mr. Carlos Howard understands that.
Watcher . . .
So *every* time someone disputes a police account, you believe that person, no matter *what* their prior credibility might be? Do you know what the word "gullible" means? Cheers, MGM
Protect Us From The Police
Throughout Hampton Roads we must live in fear of the blood thirsty law enforcement officers that the cities hire to protect us. Time and time again as in this story, we read of people being shot by the police even though they were not capable of harming anyone. In the August 9 story about the Va Bch officer who was shot and killed, a neighbor said he didn't feel the shooter was capable of doing such a thing because he was kind and played with neighborhood kids. Does anyone question who the guilty parties were when the Va Bch officer gave his life. It's kind of crazy how people have come to think someone else is always to blame for the bad or good things we bring upon ourselves. I realize that all police officers are not good, just as I realize they are not all bad as well. I also can not recall a shooting in Norfolk where police were involved that it wasn't twisted to be there fault.
really?
"Enough said at this time."
So who made you the moderator?
"everyone else should want to know"
I couldn't care less.
You don't have to agree with me
but it is of the utmost importance to find out where our youth are getting guns from. If we every want to put a dent in juvenile crime we need to address this problem along with many others. The fact that I ask the qustion over and over as you claim, which is a fact, I do want to know and everyone else should want to know also. How you feel about this is up to you and your opinion will not stop me from asking that same question over and over. Enough said at this time.