2010-03-19 17:42:35
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Developments continue to emerge in the shooting death of a man by a Grand Rapids police officer on Thursday.
33-year-old Gabriel Hood was shot and killed around 5:30 Thursday on Center Street, but new information suggests that shooting could have been avoided.
Police say an officer pulled over Hood when he was riding on a moped with another person, which is illegal. When the officer asked for identification, Hood took off running, fleeing up an alleyway towards a fence. When he couldn't get over the fence, he pulled a gun and moments later, shots were fired.
The officer is currently on administrative leave, which is routine for a shooting investigation.
Now, details are emerging on Hood's rather long criminal record.
Ed Buitendyk saw the situation developing just outside his door, when he saw Hood take off towards the fence he took cover inside his house but listened intently.
“I think I heard 'drop your weapon' then heard one shot and then three after that,” said Buitendyk.
Those shots, presumably fired by a 15-year veteran of the Grand Rapids Police Department, killed Hood.
Now, documents obtained by Newschannel 3 show that Hood was a wanted man. Hood was wanted on drug charges, carrying a concealed weapon, and for domestic violence against the mother of his child.
Friends of Hood brought flowers to the scene of the shooting on Friday and expressed anger over his death.
“He didn't have to shoot him, he could have shot him in the shoulder, in the legs,” said one friend. “This is what I was taught, police told me when I was arrested, we shoot to kill, we are trained to shoot to kill.”
Police say Hood raised a gun at the officer, which provoked the officer to fire his weapon.
“Well-trained,” said Chief Kevin Belk of the officer. “We continuously train in all critical skills areas, a very good veteran officer.”
Hood had just been paroled from state prison when he was shot, but hadn't been in contact with his parole officer, presumably because he was trying to avoid the prospect of going back to prison on violations of that parole, all of the pending charges against him.
Hood was potentially a fourth-time felony offender, he had armed robbery and drug convictions in his past, but corrections officers say he wasn't released early for his last conviction, in fact he spent one more year behind bars than he should have.
Leaders at the Department of Corrections confirmed on Friday that a mistake was made by the Kent County Sheriff's Department after the arrest of Hood and it turns out that the officer-involved shooting could have been prevented.
The whole scenario begins with the arrest of Gabriel Hood in Kent County on a drug charge in 2005. He was convicted and sent to prison for the third time at age 29.
Hood was sentenced to one year behind bars, but spent two years in prison since the Department of Corrections wasn't comfortable releasing him.
When Hood was ultimately let go in February of 2008, he was supposed to go on parole for two years. In October of 2009 Hood got in trouble at a hotel in Cascade Township. He was arrested by the Kent County Sheriff's Department for domestic violence on the mother of his child.
Documents show that Hood was arraigned on domestic violence charges, but corrections officers say they were never notified that he was formally charged. If his parole officer had known about those charges, state leaders say Hood could have been sent back to prison.
“We could have the individual detained, we could put out an arrest warrant detainer where we can go and hold the individual,” said John Cordell of the Department of Corrections. “There are a lot of options, when we know.”
Instead, Hood was released on a $500 bond and took off. That was the last contact police had with Hood until Thursday's fatal shooting.
In the interim, Hood was wanted for even more charges, drugs and weapons charges for an incident that happened two days after he was arraigned on the domestic violence charge. Hood was on the run until police met up with him on Thursday.
Investigators believe Hood may have pulled the gun on the officer Thursday because he was desperate to avoid going back to prison.
“It's not the parole officer's fault, or the police officer's fault, or the judge's that this offender is deceased,” said Cordell. “It's the offender's actions that caused that to become reality.”
Newschannel 3 contacted leaders at the Kent County Sheriff's Department to find out how Hood apparently slipped through the cracks and how his parole officer was not notified about his charges.
We have yet to get a response.
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