Dear Source:
My concern is the killing of one of the escaped inmates, Eduardo Carmona, Jr., who was just 19 years old. Was Mr. Carmona carrying a deadly weapon that he threatened the police officer with when they were trying to capture him? Did these police officers see him with a gun to facilitate them using deadly force? If Mr. Carmona was just running away from the police to avoid being captured, and did not have a weapon, why did they shoot him, even if it was in the leg.
The femoral artery and vein, that carries blood to and from a person's leg, if severed by a bullet, a person can bleed to death in a matter of minutes. So these police officers must have hit the femoral artery when they shot Mr. Carmona. Even so, people do survive from that type of wound, if they receive Immediate help in staunching the bleeding and have surgery to repair the artery. I wonder how hard these officers worked to save this 19-year-old boy.
Regardless of what he was incarcerated for, this use of deadly force which lead to the death of Mr. Carmona, is unacceptable, unless those officers were in danger of losing their lives. It would be interesting to know if Mr. Carmona received the shot to his leg from behind or from the front? If he was fleeing, how could he be threatening to the officers to use this kind of deadly force. True tragedy.
Arnette McNamara
St. Thomas
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