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Friday, September 20, 2013

Man Dies In Police Standoff After Losing Custody Of Son


A distraught North Carolina father who became suicidal after losing his son in a messy custody battle was killed earlier this week during a police standoff where he threatened to take his own life before reportedly turning the gun on police.


A man shot and killed by Durham Police Tuesday had recently lost custody of his son, a close friend of the family said.

Officers were called to the area of the Bronze Bull statue on Corcoran Street in downtown Durham Monday after an apparently distraught man brandished a gun around 4:19 p.m.

Durham Police negotiated with the man for about an hour when he pointed the gun at officers, which prompted an officer to fire at him.

The man, who was identified by a family friend as 26-year-old Derek Walker, died shortly after being transported to an area hospital.

Just a day prior, Walker had taken to his Facebook page saying, “Don’t call me and don’t talk to me because I’m not responding. I hope I die very soon and a fast death because this world I live in is sorry.”

In the post, Walker, who was a mortician at Hanes Funeral Home, painted a bleak picture of a man who had lost custody of his son following a bitter custody battle.

“I can’t take [what] my son’s mother is putting me through,” Walker wrote. “She has filled [my son's] head up with so much false stuff. He has told me I’m a bad father, I’m not a good dad.”

He continued, “I’m ready to die because I have no reason to live right now.”

What a horrible story to have to explain to this little boy, who now has to grow up without his father.


Jonathan Ferrell, Unarmed Man, Shot 10 Times By Officer


"An unarmed man seeking help after a car crash over the weekend was shot 10 times by the Charlotte police officer who's now charged in his death, investigators said Monday. The release of the information supporting the voluntary manslaughter charge came at the end of a day that also included the first public remarks by victim Jonathan A. Ferrell's family. 

A family attorney and representatives of the NAACP questioned whether race played a role in the shooting of the black man by a white officer. Ferrell's family said the former Florida A&M University football player moved to Charlotte about a year ago to be with his fiancee and was working two jobs. He wanted to go back to school and eventually become an automotive engineer...".* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.