So I heard about a police shooting not very far from that shop, and it kind of startled me. I looked it up online and read several different accounts, and it's a very sad story. I thought I would bring it up tonight. I think it's a story that should be known. At first it's not going to depress you, but by the end you will understand why this story should be known at a national level.
The VP police responded to a 911 call that there was a person outside a halfway house waving a gun around at 2 am. They rushed out there to find Haven Bailey on the lawn, and sure enough, Bailey had a gun. They demanded that Bailey drop the gun, but Bailey refused. One of the officers, "fearing for his life," shot Bailey four times. FOUR. MOTHERFUCKING. TIMES.
I don't care how scared you are. You are a trained police officer. It is your job to keep a cool head when everyone else is going off the rails. One shot would have been sufficient for anybody. ANYBODY. But this officer freaked out--very unprofessional--and shot Bailey four times.
But that's not the point of this. I couldn't let that fact slip by without saying something.
When the gunfire cleared, the cops tried to save Bailey's life. I imagine it was a lot like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube. It's unclear as to whether or not Bailey was already dead or died on the way to the hospital.
It's not the only unclear thing. The cop thought he was shooting a woman with a gun. It turned out that the gun was actually a pellet gun made up to look like a real gun. And the woman turned out to be transgender. It's such a point that every news story I read was conflicted with this one. Some called Bailey a woman. Some called Bailey a man. There is one that didn't even bother to figure it out and just called Bailey a "person." In one disgusting instance, the halfway house owner's statements were "corrected" from "she" to "him."
Bailey was transgendered and was gunned down by a Villa Park police officer.
But that's not even the sad part. Let's rewind. Who called 911? Anyone care to guess? A nosy neighbor? The owner of the halfway house?
No. Bailey called 911. Bailey made the pellet gun look like a real gun. And then Bailey went outside and waited for the cops to arrive.
I'm lucky. I was born into a body that was right for me. I have no idea the troubles and sorrows that come with being transgendered. I have no idea what kind of struggles Bailey had to go through. Rewind a bit more, and you discover that Bailey had borderline personality disorder and was bipolar. Bailey's struggles with addiction could not have helped matters. Bailey lived at that halfway house in an attempt to get through all that ugly shit.
They call it "suicide by cop." But the story gets even sadder. Rewind just a little bit more. One last time, I promise.
Bailey had a few run-ins with the law, so the cops who showed up that night should have known better. Especially since Bailey admitted to them on several different occasions that she was suicidal and wanted "death by cop."
So Officer Fearing For His Life showed up and obliged her.
And that's the saddest part.
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