Nearly three weeks after Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office deputy Steven Gorman fatally shot Ebin “Kumar” Lamont Proctor in the early morning hours of May 30, Verde Valley residents still question how an unarmed Cottonwood 18-year-old stopped for a routine traffic violation wound up dead.
Protestors, mainly teens, friends and parents who knew the victim and his family, have occupied street corners in Cottonwood demanding “Justice for Kumar” and that Gorman be held accountable for his actions in the shooting of a former Mingus Union High School student.
Others in the community affirm that Proctor ran from police allegedly because he was on felony probation after pleading guilty to attempted aggravated assault on Chino Valley police officer.
They allege the deputy was in fear of his life and shot Proctor during a struggle for the deputy’s gun after nonlethal methods failed.
The community demands justice be done, but we need answers first. Only then can investigators, the community and the courts determine whether Gorman’s shooting of Proctor was justified or not. The Arizona Department of Public Safety is conducting the investigation, which will determine what Gorman and witnesses say happened, how many shots were fired and how many struck the teenager.
The March 20 fatal shooting at Walmart in Cottonwood involved a different law enforcement agency, yet the events of that night are far easier to decipher. There, Cottonwood police car dash cameras recorded most that incident with the Gaver family. Police only fired after one officer, pinned on his back, had already been shot in the thigh with his own gun.
The video has been seen more than 2 million times across various YouTube pages.
DPS has yet to release results of its investigation of the Gaver family shooting, which could shed light about what happened and whether drugs, alcohol, mental illness or other extenuating circumstances contributed to the start of the violence. Even with a report, it is hard to imagine prosecutors need to much more than hit “play” on a DVD player and subsequently rest their case.
Unfortunately, no video of the Proctor shooting appears to exist, so the DPS investigation and witness statements will shape the narrative about the events of the night. Body cameras are becoming standard issue in many police agencies nationwide, but until they are implemented on local law enforcement agencies, residents should have no fear in videotaping police in the performance of their duties.
The Constitution protects citizens’ rights to photograph, record and videotape police in public in all 50 states. Photographing and videotaping should be done “openly and not surreptitiously” and in such a way that their recording or photography doesn’t interfere with police doing their duty or contaminating a crime scene. Police officers cannot search the phones of bystanders nor delete content.
Even suspects’ smartphones cannot be searched by police without a warrant, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously last June.
In the Proctor investigation, residents should withhold their judgment until the facts are revealed. That being said, DPS should accelerate efforts to complete these investigations swiftly and accurately, as every day of delay only allows rumors to spread and community frustration to grow.
Christopher Fox Graham
Managing Editor
