Family Wants Answers After Garland PD Shot Son
WYLIE (CBSDFW.COM) - Serious questions linger after an investigation into the police shooting of a chase suspect. That suspect was killed after being shot at more than three dozen times. The shooting happened in Garland two weeks ago, but the internal investigation was released Tuesday.
Now, the family is demanding answers. "I just want what's right for Michael, that's all," Randy Allen said.
Randy and Stephanie Allen of Wylie said that their son, Michael, who everyone called "Mookie," didn't deserve to die in a barrage of bullets fired by one Garland police officer. "I don't see anybody else reacting like that, normal. Forty-one shots. I mean, with the other police officers just standing there. I can't believe someone didn't tackle him and say, 'Stop! That's enough!'"
Investigators said that the Garland officer, identified as P. Tuter, chased Allen into a Mesquite cul de sac at around 1:00 a.m. on August 31.
"Michael was terrified by police, first of all. That's why he evaded arrest. And he's done it before," said Randy Allen.
Michael Allen had eluded Sachse police in his pickup truck just three days earlier. On August 31, Garland police officer Tuter spotted the pickup with Allen and his girlfriend inside. He chased Allen to Mesquite. Though Garland police said that there were four to five officers on the ground at the scene, Tuter was the only one who fired.
The service weapon, a semi-automatic Glock, contains a magazine that carries 15 bullets. Officer Tuter reloaded twice. It would have taken at least 21 seconds to fire and reload both times. "I don't understand what kind of rage he had or hate he had. But to me, it seems like he had to, there was something else there that me and you don't know," Randy Allen said.
"I would only hope they'd killed him the first shot. If he had to sit through 41 shots, I can't imagine how scared he was," added Randy Allen.
Randy Allen said that the pickup truck was registered to his father, but was his to use. His son, Michael, also used it. Allen saw news video of the pickup truck from the scene of the shooting. "There's bullet holes all the way across it. Then, there's bullet holes all the way up," he said. "I don't understand how that girl was in the truck and didn't get hit."
The Allen family is still waiting to pick up the medical examiner's report. "The only wound we know of was right in the face," Randy Allen said, pointing to a spot between his eyes. The funeral home was able to fix it for an open casket funeral service.
Michael Allen fired no shots that night. His parents said that he had no weapon. He leaves behind a 4-year-old daughter named Natalee, who does not understand that her father is gone.
Michael Allen had an arrest record for evading police and possession of illegal drugs. But his family wants everyone to know that Michael wasn't the bad person he was originally portrayed as. "Michael wasn't a bad person at all," Randy Allen said. "He lit the room up when he walked into it. Everybody liked him. He worked with me. I was with him all the time."
Mesquite police are continuing the criminal investigation into the shooting. Garland police officer P. Tuter is on restricted duty. He's not allowed to do anything in law enforcement on or off duty. The Allen family said that neither department has called to apologize.
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