A custodial death report on Christa Kay Markwell shows that she died at the hands of Lubbock, Texas, police on November 15, 2020. Reportedly, Ms. Markwell had called the police to report criminal mischief in her apartment complex. When officers arrived, they noticed that she was armed with a hatchet, ultimately leading to her being shot in an act of self-defense due to non-compliance.

Many questions come up on occasions when citizens die as a result of police shootings. In Texas recently, police officers approached a 22-year-old man about a felony warrant. Newspaper accounts say that the man ran away from the police and was shot in the back. A gun at the scene was found near the suspect, according to witnesses at the scene. The deceased’s family urges that anyone who has their back to the police is defenseless.

One U.S. police department outside of Texas has suggested changing department policy for the purpose of reducing the number of homicides. “Shoot to incapacitate” is an approach being discussed, but this does not change the deadly force policy already in place. Rather, the chief of that department suggests that the body parts aimed at should be changed. Instead of targeting a person’s “center mass,” shoot at the pelvis, abdomen, or legs, when possible. Training is ensuing along those lines. 

See Part 1 and this ongoing series.

There is at no time any intention on this website to make an implication of wrongdoing having occurred on the part of any persons or institutions. Posts are added here to assist prisoners now or previously detained in a Texas county jail.

–Guest Contributor