Monday, 9 December 2013 - 04:31
Rishi's fatal moment
The police officer, who shot and killed the 17-year-old Rishi last year on a The Hague train station, will be tried on Monday for manslaughter. The NOS made a reconstruction of the fatal last minute, based on parts of the investigation reports and interviews with people involved.After officers received a report that Rishi reportedly threatened somebody, claiming he was armed, they ran up the platform where Rishi was standing. Rishi was standing in the vicinity of the restrooms, facing the tracks, and must not have heard the officers coming up the stairs. Possibly they called out something like: 'Stop, police,' because the camera footage shows Rishi turning around. It is possible that Rishi first spotted the officer in plain clothes, with his gun drawn, because he took off running. He glanced over his right shoulder once.
Almost immediately an officer in uniform fired, hitting Rishi in the neck. Rishi fell down, face first. The officers are seen on camera, slowing their pace. It was over in less that thirty seconds.
The officers in plain clothes was the first one to get to Rishi. Still it took over a minute before he urged another to start resuscitation. A few hours later Rishi died in the hospital.
In the description of the camera images in the police report, an officer stated Rishi had a dark object in his hand. Sources of NOS, who also saw the images, claim that is not noticeable.
It is clear from the images that the officer who fired the fatal shot, was still walking. This goes against policy. The officer should take a stand, with both feet on the ground, and aim for the suspect's legs. In cases of self defense, the police is allowed to aim at the entire body. Given the fact that Rishi was running away, self defense is out of the question. Rishi was only carrying a blackberry and a bunch of keys.