APD answers questions in Rocha's death?(Voice Of The Austin Majority will be circulating a petition to demand the resignation of Police Chief Knee.)Once again, the police didn't have their camera's on!DO YOUR PART...GET INFORMED!Watch the forumThe community forum held on the police shooting of Daniel Rocha, 18, at the Dove Springs Recreation Center will be placed on News 8-on-Demand, Time Warner Cable VOD Channel 1308. (News 8-on-Demand moves to channel 1458 on Tuesday, June 21.)
Exactly one week after 18-year old Daniel Rocha was shot to death by an Austin Police Department officer, a crowd of angry neighbors addressed city leaders.
The community forum was held at the Dove Springs Recreation Center Thursday night.
"My stomach turned when I heard about it. The first thing I thought was, 'How could this be?," Yolanda Alvarez, a concerned Austin resident, said.
In the crowd sat three mothers who've lost children to Austin Police Department shootings.
"How could you justify taking someone's loved one?" the mother of Sophia King, Brenda Elendu, asked.
Last Thursday, Officer Julie Schroeder shot Rocha in the back, killing him.The crowd reacted to new information released that says only one of the three responding officers was videotaping the incident that resulted in Rocha's death.
"Why didn't the two officers have their cameras on?" Daniela Rocha, the victim's mother, asked.
No cameras
Many people questioned why police dashboard cameras weren't rolling when three units pulled over a Suburban in which Rocha was riding in last Thursday.
Officers say they witnessed a drug deal involving the SUV. When Rocha exited the vehicle, police say, he got into a struggle with Officer Julie Schroeder.
An autopsy shows he was shot in the back. The toxicology report showed Rocha did not have any drugs or alcohol in his system.
Austin Police Department Chief Stan Knee said Schroeder used deadly force to defend her partner. Rocha appeared ready to fire a Taser at Schroeder's partner, Knee said.
Knee says cameras should have been rolling, but there were technical problems.
APD is continuing its internal investigation and Schroeder could still face disciplinary action, Knee said.
Right now she's on restricted duty, which is standard procedure. The FBI is also investigating.
"In one of the cars, the officer did not check out a tape. In the second one, she did not entirely turn it on, " APD Assistant Chief Rudy Landeros said.
"Schroeder? Is that the officer?" Rocha asked.
"Yes Ma'am," said Landeros. The mother of Jessie Lee Owens, a teenager killed in 2003, called for Police Chief Stan Knee's resignation.
"I've spent two years paying attention, and I question whether or not you can regain the trust of the community, because you do not have mine," Barbara Shorts, Owens mother, said.
Knee and other city leaders tried to assure the crowd justice will prevail.
"We make no decision to say whether this was an appropriate or inappropriate use of force. The Grand Jury will do that. In addition, the finest federal law enforcement in this nation, the FBI, will also look at these facts," Knee said.
But those words offered no peace for a crowd of neighbors angry and demanding change.
"It's not about this one night for us, it's about the rest of our lives," Shorts said.
The meeting wrapped up just after midnight. City leaders said afterwards there's a lot of work ahead.
CHIEF KNEE HAS GOT TO GO!!!!
