The small town of Wyoming in Ohio is a tranquil place. Almost 9,000 people live in the Cincinnati suburb, which is now the focus of public interest. The reason: Another case of possible police violence in the United States.
In the city on Monday, 28-year-old Joe Frasure junior was shot dead, the information about the circumstances of his death differ greatly. The police said they thought Frasure was a burglar who tried to ram the police while trying to flee. The 28-year-old’s family, on the other hand, explained that he and his sister only cleared out the apartment of their grandmother, who died in January.
According to the “Cincinnati Enquirer”, a report was received by the police on Monday. A neighbor had therefore seen two or three people in the house. “It’s supposed to be empty, but I see people doing suspicious things and maybe someone should come and check,” said the emergency call that police made public on Wednesday. The house itself had been checked several times by the police in the past few months. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that there were 33 operations between October and January in the mostly empty building with four apartments.
Police said Frasure and another person were trying to flee the home Monday when officers arrived. Frasure got to his car and didn’t listen to the police officers’ orders to stop him. When he fled, he “almost rammed a police officer, who then opened fire with another officer,” the Guardian quoted the police report as saying. Frasure was hit at least once in the head and taken to a hospital, where he died on Tuesday. The TV station “WLWT5” reported that the coroner had given the cause of death as a shootout with the police. “The minivan turned around, hit a tree and headed towards our officers at high speed,” Wyoming Police Commissioner Brooke Brady told NBC News. After the shots were fired, the van rammed the house, the police officers freed Frasure from the car and provided first aid.
According to the Frasures family, the police are trying to cover up the incident. “I don’t care what they say, but the car didn’t go their way,” explained Frasure’s father, Joe Sr. Frasure’s brother Joseph also made serious allegations against the police. “He was shot three times in the back of the head. If you’re shot in the back of the head, that means you’re not a threat,” Frasure told ABC. “He didn’t do anything wrong. This was his grandmother’s apartment and he was allowed to be there,” Frasure’s uncle Arthur Tucker lamented. The family now has hopes for the publication of the video images from the bodycams. These have already been handed over to the responsible public prosecutor and, according to various media reports, are to be published on Friday.
The incident in Wymoning joins a chain of possible cases of police violence. Tire Nichols’ death had only come to public attention in the past two weeks. The 29-year-old was brutally beaten by five police officers during a police check. A few days after the incident, Nichols died as a result of his injuries in hospital, and the five police officers were released and arrested. The pictures of a surveillance camera and bodycams of the police officers published a few days later show the brutal attack.
