August 04, 2011|By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun
City officials said the Police Department would "promptly" release the investigative file related to the Select Lounge shooting. Though the investigation is now formally closed, a Police Department spokesman said the city is withholding the surveillance tape of the incident until it can privately screen the video for the victims' families. It was unclear if or when that would occur. At least one of the families has retained a civil attorney.
Bernstein underscored that his office's review did not include whether the officers followed their departmental training, whether they should face administrative charges, or whether they could be found liable in civil court.
Recommendations on possible policy changes will come from the blue-ribbon commission appointed by Rawlings-Blake, though a timetable for completion of the commission's work is unclear. The city police union recently advised officers that they did not have to participate because the commission does not have subpoena power.
"We're pressing them [to finish]. We know that they've been requesting information, and we're trying to work with them to better coordinate so we can get them what they need to finish," Rawlings-Blake said Thursday morning at a community event. "They're doing important work, I'm impressed with what they're talking about so far … and my hope is the work that they're doing, the work that they're completing will save lives for years to come."
At a news conference at the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse, Bernstein provided additional details of the shooting.
He said Torbit was on duty when he was among 33 officers — seven of whom were working plainclothes — who responded to the disturbance at the Select Lounge. Torbit helped clear the inside of the club, and was assisting with crowd control outside when several fights began. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans, with a badge around his neck, and his service weapon and handcuffs at his side, Bernstein said.
Normally an officer on such an assignment would not be working crowd control, but he had been called to the scene after dispatchers put out a "Signal 13." That code, for an officer in distress, typically draws scores of officers looking to help.
Two witnesses interviewed by The Baltimore Sun in January said they saw a group of women walking to their cars outside the club when a vehicle began to pull out and almost hit one of them. Bernstein identified that woman as Jasmine Graves, 24, and said she became angry at the driver and hit the car with her shoe.
Bernstein said Torbit directed the driver to leave, which angered Graves and led to an argument.
"In the meantime, Sean Gamble, standing just a few feet away, makes a comment to Mr. Torbit about how he is treating and talking to Ms. Graves," Bernstein said. "The two begin arguing, which escalates into punches being thrown."
After a friend of Gamble punched Torbit in the head, they fell to the ground and others "joined in the fracas" and kicked and punched Torbit.
Bernstein said Pawley was closest to Torbit and used pepper spray, which dispersed the crowd. He then saw Torbit lying on the ground firing his weapon. Pawley fired at Torbit, and the other officers followed.
Graves, the woman who was arguing with the driver of the vehicle that grazed her, was shot in the head as she ran from the scene, the prosecutor said. Two other women, Katrina Harris, 23, and Jamie Jordan, 24, were also struck by ricocheting bullets, Bernstein said.
"Confronted with a life-threatening situation to both themselves and the people around them, by virtue that they saw an individual lying on the ground with a weapon in his hand, they acted reasonably to protect both themselves and the other people in the area," Bernstein said.
Asked about the officers mistaking Torbit for a civilian gunman, Bernstein said "people are not charged criminally with making mistakes. To the extent that these officers may or may not have made a mistake, that is something to be addressed in a different forum."
Such "friendly-fire" shootings are rare but not unprecedented. In 1926, Officer Henry Sudmeier was shot by fellow officers as he investigated a burglary in a Mount Washington church. He died from his injuries eight years later. In 1959, Patrolman Richard H. Duvall Jr. was killed when his partner's gun accidentally discharged.
Off-duty Officer Norman Stamp was killed in 2007 when officers responded to a fight at a bar where he was a patron. But in that case, police said, Stamp had gone after the officers wearing brass knuckles. A civil jury sided with the officer who had shot him.
justin.fenton@baltsun.com
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