Oak. Mayor: "I Don't Want Anybody Killed"

(CBS/ AP)  In grainy cell-phone videos played over and over on the Internet, police officers force an unarmed black man to the ground and hold him face-down on a crowded train platform. Suddenly one of the officers draws his gun and fatally shoots the man in the back - then looks up.

The New Year's Day death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant has led to violent street protests amid allegations from the family's attorney that some of the officers used racial slurs.

Click here to see footage of the shooting. (Graphic Video: viewer discretion advised.)

The officer remains free and has not been charged with any wrongdoing. And some experts have questioned whether he fired his gun deliberately or mistakenly believed he was using his stun gun instead.

At a rally Wednesday attended by hundreds of people, Shawanda Thomas held a fluorescent yellow sign that read: "Oscar Grant: Murdered! The Whole Damn System is Guilty."

Extra police were posted Thursday at Bay Area Rapid Transit stations after a group of angry demonstrators smashed storefronts late Wednesday, set fire to cars and clashed with officers equipped with riot gear and tear gas in downtown Oakland. More than 100 people were arrested and about 300 businesses were damaged.

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums called for calm. "Even with our anger and our pain, let's still address each other with a degree of civility and calmness and not make this tragedy an excuse to engage in violence," he said. "I don't want anybody hurt. I don't want anybody killed."

Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson told BART directors Grant's death "appeared to be an execution,'' and he called for BART to hold a public meeting that allows the community to understand the policies and procedures in which police officers shoot people, reports CBS station KPIX-TV.

The Rev. Amost Brown was even more blunt: "It was murder. Not trying to explain away, not trying to explain whethere he had his taser or he had his gun. The evidence was there. And we should all say, that was murder. And this gentleman needs to be brought to justice."

Oakland City Councilwoman Desley Brooks said BART appeared to be trying to cover up the incident and alleged, "There was a failure to communicate and acknowledge the taking of a life,' KPIX reports.

At the mayor's request, the Oakland Police Department launched an investigation into the shooting Thursday. Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff, whose office also is investigating, said he probably would decide within two weeks whether to file charges.

Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle was initially placed on paid leave. He resigned from the BART police force Wednesday, but officials say he has refused to speak with the transit agency's investigators. He has not spoken publicly about the incident.

Mehserle's attorney, Christopher Miller, declined to comment on the investigations.

Grant's family has filed a $25 million wrongful-death claim against BART, the San Francisco Bay Area's commuter rail system, and relatives want Mehserle to be criminally charged.

"They want justice, but they don't want any more violence," said John Burris, an attorney for Grant's family. "That officer hasn't been prosecuted ... That's why people don't have confidence in the system right now."

Local African-American leaders expressed outrage Thursday at the shooting. And some Oakland residents have alleged it was racially motivated. Burris said he does not have any evidence that Grant was shot because he was black.

"There were racial slurs made by other officers to the group that Oscar Grant was with, but I have no evidence that this particular officer directed racial slurs toward Oscar Grant," Burris said.

BART officials said the agency is trying to conduct a thorough investigation, but that the public appears to be making judgments about the case based on raw video they saw online or on television.

"They see the answer before them playing out over and over on TV, but we have to follow the process and have to turn over evidence to the DA, and the DA decides what to do from there," said BART spokesman Linton Johnson.

The shooting unfolded in front of dozens of train passengers who were returning home after New Year's Eve celebrations.

Police officers arrived shortly after midnight on New Year's Day at the Fruitvale BART station following reports of young men fighting on a train. Grant was one of several who were ordered off the train, questioned and then restrained by Mehserle and other officers.

Videos shot by onlookers show Grant being pushed onto his stomach shortly before Mehserle fired his gun at Grant's back. The bullet ricocheted off pavement and pierced his lung, killing him.

The video footage has led to debate over whether the officer knowingly shot Grant, as the victim's family alleges.

Reports of police officers mistaking a handgun for a stun gun are rare, but not unheard of. In 2006, a sheriff's deputy in Washington state accidentally shot and wounded a disturbed man after mistakenly using his .40-caliber gun instead of his stun gun.

Bruce Siddle, a use-of-force expert who viewed the video clips, theorized that Mehserle was working under stress in a hostile situation and did not realize he was firing his pistol.

"I suspect he thought he was reaching for his Taser," said Siddle, founder of PPCT Management Systems, an Illinois company that trains law-enforcement officers in the use of force. "If he was under stress, he would not be able to distinguish between a Taser and his firearm. You have video footage that seems to suggest that this officer made a tragic mistake."

But George Kirkham, a professor of criminology at the Florida State University who also viewed the footage, said he finds that hard to believe because most Taser stun guns do not look or feel like pistols, and the officer fired in a manner consistent with a handgun, not a Taser.

Kirkham, who works as an expert witness in criminal cases, speculated the officer fired because he thought he saw something in Grant's waistband or pocket that appeared to be a gun or other type of weapon.

"It's not believable that any officer can mix up a Taser and a firearm," said Kirkham, who has examined almost 500 police shootings over the past 30 years. "It's like looking for your steering wheel on the right side of your car rather than the left side."

Outrage over the shooting has been fueled by raw video clips posted on YouTube and various news Web sites.

Over the past week, video of the shooting has been viewed more than 500,000 times on the Web site of KTVU-TV, which has posted exclusive clips of the incident, said Bill Murray, who manages the station's Web site. That is about twice as many video views as the site typically sees in a full month.

"Once a story gets national momentum, people want to come to it," Murray said. "There's always been a certain voyeurism to online video. I think people want to see for themselves."

[scienceman1-2009]

To those who think this was a racist shooting reamember the COP is not Caucasian.

[spredbury]

It''s a bit of a streach to compare the KKK with the police. I certainly am not doing that. The KKK is considered by most rational individuals a group of racist thugs who are criminals. The cops on the other hand are suppose to be the ones that protect us from people like the KKK. When a person is killed by someone with any similarity to the KKK that person is arrested, jailed and tried by a jury of his peers. When a cop shoots someone under questionable circumstances other cops and DAs, which are just like cops, review the act in some secret ceremony and decide if the cop did anything illegal and should be prosecuted. And I am not saying all cops are blood thirsty. I am saying too many cops are out of control and few if any are held to account. When cops stop treating all citizens as criminals I will stop treating all cops as bad. My friend, the days of respecting cops is over. Cops rule by fear. Remember when we followed directions of law enforcement because of respect for their position. Now we follow their orders, which are usually yelled or screamed at us, out of pure fear. Like I said, I fear the man in blue or camo.

And for my2centss...Just to keep the record straight, The bullet passed through Grant and then ricocheted off the concrete floor back into Mr Grant''s lung.

[my2centss]

"The bullet ricocheted off pavement and pierced his lung, killing him."

If he meant to shoot him, it wouldn''t be a ricochet shot. This city cannot allow the mob to force them into not giving this man an fair trial.

[purpmeup]

Ok Mr. Mayor. you dont want anyone hurt or killed dont get any answers soon and you will see whats going to happen. You are dealing with a new generation her and a cop is a enemey plain and simple. let that have been a relitive of yours and then we will see how fast the situation would be handle. Mr. Mayor please

[purpmeup]

MrNegrodamus Hit me up. need to halla at ya.
[e-mail]

[purpmeup]

Lets just get real about the whole situation on Oscar Grant. The young man was shot and killed and left behind a child and other family members and friends. Basicly it seems that now its going to be some sort of cover up to justify what this rookie cop had done.

I wonder if they have taken the words of the other young men that were there at the time of this officer actions. How much could this young man have done to any of the officers be in the position that he was in. How could you not no and feel the difference between a taser dun and a 9mm. How could you not no the weight defference between a taser gun and a 9mm. How could you have officers standing there and not see that this officer had pulled his 9mm out. Why is it taking so long for actions to be taken against this rookie officer. Why wasnt this officer arrested at the time of the crime. I think the book needs to be re written. I see why 2pac felt the way he did about police I see why the Panthers organized. I see why *** is about to start behind this. Like 2pac said WE MAY FIGHT AMONGS OURSELF BUT CROSS US UP WE WILL BURN THIS *** DOWN BELIEVE IT.

[spredbury]

To MrNegrodamus...

How can you imagine any possibility where the killing of this man was just? Watch the videos, where is the doubt? It doesn%u2019t matter if he was attempting to use his taser or if he meant to draw his gun. The cop screwed up and killed this man. This is not an %u201Cops%u201D, not a %u201Cmy bad%u201D, not a minor mistake. It is the killing of a human being. A human being that had just as much worth as the cop. Why is this cop not in jail? Why has he not been charged? Let me answer the question%u2026..because he is a cop. Cops can kill and are given a paid vacation just like this cop was. Where is the justice? The cops and the DA are delaying the investigation to build a story they think will support the cop. The DA will do his best to protect the cop and all the other cops involved will swear up and down that the shot was justified. The DA and the cops will go out of their way to demonize Oscar Grant. They will investigate the heck out of Grant and reveal every piece of dirty laundry in this man%u2019s past and make him the bad guy.

And as far as who would I call if I were in trouble, I assure you it would take a catastrophic event for me to call the police. I fear the cops more than the criminals. I can protect my self from the criminals; I can%u2019t protect myself from the uniformed criminals.

Additionally, I have no disdain for authority. I disdain for abuse of authority. That%u2019s what we have here. Unadulterated abuse of authority.

[scienceman1-2009]

To all who wonder why the cops that do this stuff are not in JAIL its because They police - ( GET THE BENEFIT OF DOUBT ) and we the public don''t.

[scienceman1-2009]

To tj217 your probably a closet perv and just wan''t as many available low class men as possible.

[tucson23]

If the mayor doesn''t want anyone killed, he''ll start treating cops who commit crimes just like any other accused criminal--by arresting them when they kill people for no reason. Last night in Bel-Air, another cop shot an unarmed man who was fifteen feet away from him, for no apparent reason. I don''t care what his excuse is; if any non-cop did what he did, they would be in jail looking at a murder rap. This cop is at home having a beer and watching TV. Does anyone need any more evidence that we''re living in a police state, in which cops can get away with murder? Cops think everyone is guilty and that they don''t make mistakes, which is why they get so mad when courts let people go. Therefore, they feel that they have to be judge and jury in order for justice to be done, because they can''t depend on courts to find every accused person guilty, as they must be. Yet when cops commit crimes, they get off scott free. All of our freedoms are in danger from this, and it''s time for us to take back our communities from the tyranny of these paranoid, armed thugs.