Stacey Grosh
April 12, 2007 06:44 pm
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stacey.grosh@heraldbulletin.com
In the light of a new day, the story of the police-action shooting is changing.
A gun is not a gun.
A head wound is non-existent.
And the father of three is dead from four gunshot wounds as the investigation of what really happened Wednesday night on West 34th Street continues to unfold.
Cheyenne Lee Miller, 27, died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen, said Ned Dunnichay, Madison County coroner, following an autopsy Thursday at Ball Memorial Hospital, Muncie.
It was first reported that Miller was shot in the head. It is unclear how that mix-up in communication occurred. Even his mother, Patty Smith, was unaware of how her son died from two shots to the chest and two to the abdomen. The Herald Bulletin was the one to release this information to her. Dunnichay could not say if each of the shots was considered fatal.
Anderson Police Department Patrolman Lincoln Brooks has been placed on administrative leave with pay pending the completion of the investigation, standard procedure in a police-action shooting. Brooks is a nine-year veteran of APD. This is the first time he has fired his gun in the line of duty.
“They didn’t have to shoot him,” sobbed Smith. “He never had a gun. He never has.”
Turns out the gun Miller supposedly pointed at Brooks was not a gun at all.
It was a knife “that strongly resembles a gun,” said Anderson police Detective Joel Sandefur.
In the heat of the moment, in the darkness of the garage, the gun-shaped knife did look like a handgun, he said. Brooks stood within eight feet of Miller and had to make that decision.
Now members of Miller’s family are left in turmoil and filled with unanswered questions.
“We asked if we could see what it was they thought was a gun,” Smith said of her visit to the Anderson police headquarters Wednesday night. “They said it looked like a pocket knife that was in a holster. They wouldn’t show it to us. We don’t know of him to have anything like that. He’s been in trouble, but he’s never done anything violent.”
It was at first thought that Miller was connected to numerous burglaries in the Meadowbrook area.
“He wandered himself into an area we’ve been watching,” Sandefur said. “We don’t suspect any involvement in any of those issues.”
Miller had some recent run-ins with the law for disorderly conduct, battery, theft, driving while intoxicated, contempt of court, domestic battery and several drug-related charges. The civil warrant for his arrest on Wednesday night was for contempt of court.
“I know that he had run away from work release last fall and was running all this time,” Smith said. “Family members have been trying to persuade him to turn himself in. He didn’t. He was alluding police for months.”
Trouble often found Miller because he was an alcoholic, said his mother, a Summitville resident.
“He was a loving son,” Smith said, “who struggled for many years with alcoholism. He had brief periods of sobriety, but the disease always pulled him back into it.”
Miller’s blood-alcohol level from the night he died is unknown. The toxicology results will be available within four to six weeks.
“He was loved by friends and family,” she said. “He was a sweet boy who was just wrapped up in an insidious disease.”
Miller grew up in Pendleton. He attended Pendleton Heights High School, but never graduated. He was a member of New Hope Christian Church. His children are ages 6, 3 and 2.
He was an Alexandria resident, but it was unclear what exactly he was doing Wednesday night in Anderson when police tried to arrest him.
Police had received an anonymous call that Miller and Jonathan Usry — who both had active warrants out against them — were in the 400 block of West 34th Street. Brooks and Patrolman Mark McCann entered the home while Miller and Usry bolted out the back door, Sandefur said. A foot chase ensued. Miller doubled back into an open garage at 402 W. 34th St. Brooks followed.
“The light was off,” in the garage, said Sandefur. “Initially, it was thought it was on.”
Police say Miller pulled the knife on Brooks. In that darkness, the glint of a blade seemed to be the barrel of a gun.
McCann and another officer who responded to the scene arrested Usry. Brooks blocked Miller in the garage. McCann, a 12-year veteran of the police force, went to assist Brooks.
“(Miller) had no where else to go, no avenue, no escape (out of the garage) except for through the officers,” Sandefur said. “They shined the flashlight on them twice telling him to show them his hands. Sometime during that point, he pulled it out of pocket or sheath, produced this knife and pointed it at Brooks. ... At that point, it was still considered a gun by officers and for all practical purposes, it was a gun to them.”
Brooks shot Miller four times. McCann did not shoot his gun.
“(McCann) would have been justified in shooting as well, but he withheld his fire because he didn’t have a clear view of Cheyenne Miller’s hands,” Sandefur said. “There was an implied threat of weapon, but he held great discipline (in not firing).”
Usry, 27, was in police custody while the shooting was occurring. The Anderson resident was arrested on a battery against a person causing bodily injury and contempt warrant.
The mix-up on identifying the type of weapon Miller allegedly brandished was quickly cleared up. The weapon had been kicked away from Miller’s body, and it slid under some debris. Police later uncovered it and realized the gun was not a gun.
“With the short distance to them and their suspect, knowing that it is a knife doesn’t change the threat level any,” Sandefur said. “At that distance, an armed suspect could fatally injure them.”
The next step for Brooks is to await completion of the investigation. The incident will be reviewed by a shooting review board made up of a shift commander, a lieutenant appointed by the executive staff, one lieutenant of Brooks’ choosing, Fraternal Order of Police president and a department training sergeant. They will review facts of the incident and, as is standard, pass the findings of investigation on to the Madison County prosecutor’s office for review.
“We don’t shoot to kill, don’t shoot to wound. We shoot to eliminate the threat,” said Sandefur. “We do a training in fire arms training with scenarios with that type of situation with that short of distance.”
The training teaches officers to shoot in “two bursts.”
“When you get in that type of situation, you have to rely on training, rely on muscle memory to get through situation properly.” Officers are taught to shoot at a suspect’s torso.
“They are to stop what is happening and eliminate the threat,” Sandefur said.
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Police shooting rare occurrence
Last police shooting
Year: 2001
Incident: Cleon Brown was shot by Anderson police officer Ryan Geer after police were called to Brown’s brother’s house Jan. 2, 2001. An altercation took place, with Brown continuing to physically struggle with Geer after being sprayed with pepper spray and then hit with a baton, according to police. While Geer was lying on the ground, Brown rushed the officer and was shot in the stomach.
Last fatal police shooting
Year: 1973
Incident: Several people tried to rob Matthew’s Supermarket, where Harvest Market is now located on Columbus Avenue and 32nd Street, on May 3, 1973. All Madison County agencies responded including the Indiana State Police. One suspect, Luther Russell of Chicago, was killed by police.
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