South Bend police praise crisis intervention before incident

SOUTH BEND – South Bend police have released bodycam footage of a June 11 homicide in which a South Bend police officer shot and killed a South Bend resident during an incident near East Race.

The police department released information about the events leading to the death of 69-year-old John Charles Neiswender in its critical incident report on June 27.

The department provided an incident report of the 6:34 a.m. 911 call, which police said was made by a South Bend Parks employee. The caller said in the recording that the suspect seemed “a little dangerous” and that he also threatened a woman.

South Bend police officers Joseph Carey, who has 13 years of service with the SBPD, and Randall McMurray, who has 10 years of service, responded to the call.

“All South Bend Police officers have completed de-escalation training, implicit bias prevention training and a minimum of required annual training,” said Ashley O’Chap, SBPD communications director.

McMurray is a crisis intervention instructor. O’Chap said several officers at the SBPD are trained in crisis intervention. McMurray trains those officers.

“In terms of expertise and knowledge,” she said, “he is one of the most knowledgeable people in the department when it comes to CIT.”

SBPD Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski said he attended one of McMurray’s trainings and called him “one of the best we have.”

Before McMurray used his Taser three times, police say, he used de-escalation techniques on Neiswender. The breakdown of events in the news release shows that McMurray had his Taser drawn and Carey had his gun drawn while McMurray was talking to Neiswender.

According to body camera footage, McMurray could be heard saying, “I’m just trying to talk to you, okay? That’s the thing. It’s no big deal. You just need to talk to us so we can figure out what happened. We want to hear your side of the story.”

Carey said in the video that Neiswender threw a knife at him, which is why he wanted to handcuff Neiswender before he could hear his side of the story.

Neiswender spoke out against being handcuffed and threatened the officers with death, the press release said.

McMurray replied, “Hey, hey, focus on me. Okay, focus on me. Hey buddy, focus on me. All right. We talked.”

As the video shows, Neiswender asked them not to point a gun at him.

South Bend police break up Taser incidents

At 6:54 a.m., investigators reported that Neiswender came out from behind a dumpster and raised his right arm with a clenched fist. McMurray used a Taser on him.

South Bend police had previously reported that the Taser failed to disarm and arrest him. The St. Joseph County District Attorney’s Office said Neiswender was wearing six layers of clothing. South Bend police added that he was also wearing a heavy coat.

O’Chap described the events of the tasting:

■ 6:54:08 a.m. Neiswender approaches the officers

■ 6:54:12 The first taser cartridge is fired

■ 6:54:40 Second cartridge is inserted

■ 06:54:44 Neiswender approaches the officers a second time and then the taser is activated or “started” again.

“The offender walks away from the officers,” O’Chap said, “takes a knife and then approaches the officers a third time.”

Ruszkowski said the entire department is trained in the use of the Taser.

“We conduct actual training with the Tasers at least twice a year,” Ruszkowski said. “We also conduct classroom training, hands-on training and at least seven other variations of scenario-based training that utilize the Taser and other munitions we have.”

Police listed five reasons why a taser might fail:

● ineffective/non-existent contact through probes

● poor probe propagation

● loose or heavy clothing

● defective cartridges

● Drug use, intoxication or impairment

When Neiswender approached Carey and McMurray a third time, Carey fired six shots and McMurray immediately radioed, “Shots fired, call paramedics,” as seen in the video.

Police showed the two officers’ body camera footage side by side. Of Carey’s six shots, three hit Neiswender, with Carey 15 feet away, and 17 hit McMurray, O’Chap said.

Ruszkowski commented on the distance between the officers and Neiswender. He said taser probes are 7.5 meters long.

He called it “proven science” when it comes to seconds or milliseconds that are crucial for reactions, decisions and the actions actually taken.

“All of this happens at intervals of half or quarter of a second,” said Ruszkowski.

Internal police investigation

The St. Joseph County and Mishawaka Police Departments have completed their criminal investigations. Now the SBPD will conduct its internal investigation based on the evidence provided by investigators.

“Per protocol, our Internal Affairs Division will review this incident to ensure their actions were consistent with our department’s policies and training,” O’Chap said, adding that the officers could return to duty once they were cleared.

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