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Public Safety | 13
JUNE 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
Police killing of suicidal man was
self-defense, chief says
BY EVELYN ANDREWS
evelyn@reporternewspajjers.net
The recent killing of a suicidal man
by a Sandy Springs police officer was a
case of self-defense proven by video, ac
cording to the police chief. The police de
partment has declined to release that vid
eo, and the man’s sister declined to speak
to reporters pending a consultation with
her attorney.
Erick Cruz Ramirez, 32, was shot to
death by one officer March 21 on North-
wood Drive. The police report contains
only a single sentence about the inci
dent and makes no mention of an attack
on police officers. 911 call logs obtained
by the Reporter say Ramirez had a knife,
was “violent” and “not completely alert,”
and apparently had already stabbed him
self in the abdomen.
Police Chief Ken DeSimone defended
the killing in comments at a May 7 City
Council budget meeting. The shooting
was captured on 10 different police car
and body cameras, DeSimone said while
discussing the department’s use of body
cameras.
“That’s why there’s no public outrage
about it,” DeSimone said of the killing.
“Because you pull it up, and a guy was
trying to kill a police officer with a butch
er knife and he got real close to doing it.”
“We were lucky on that one,” he said.
The police video of the incident has
not been released to the public. A Report
er request for a copy of the video was de
nied, with the department citing an Open
Records Act exemption pertaining to an
open police investigation.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation,
which is conducting an independent in
vestigation of the killing, said in its press
release about the incident that shots
were fired after Ramirez did not comply
with verbal commands. No officers were
injured in the incident, the GBI Said.
The GBI regularly investigates offi
cer-involved shootings. Once its investi
gation is complete, the findings will be
turned over to the Fulton County District
Attorney’s office for review.
The March 21 incident began when
police responded to a 911 call around 6:15
a.m. reporting an armed person outside
145 Northwood Drive, a condo complex
off Roswell Road near 1-285, according to
the GBI. The 911 call log said that Ramirez
had a “stab wound to abdomen, holding
a knife.” The following entry says that
shots were fired at 6:22 a.m. Ramirez was
transported to a local hospital, where he
was pronounced dead.
Police spokesperson Sgt. Sam Wor
sham said that non-lethal force was not
used “because a suspect armed with a
knife is a deadly force encounter.” The
call log said Ramirez was violent, threat
ening suicide and “not completely alert.”
He was initially reported to be holding
a knife to his throat, the call log said. The
log later reports that a man was running
around the location and asking the offi
cer “not to shoot him.” The call log also
stated someone was screaming that her
brother is killing himself.
Ramirez’s sister, Karina Ramirez,
speaking through a translator, declined
to be interviewed and said she needed to
consult with her attorney before speak
ing with reporters. Worsham said in a
written statement that no outside attor
ney has contacted the department about
the shooting, and no complaints have
been filed.
-Laura Plummer contributed
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