A local news report on the killing of James BoydOn March 16, two members of the Albuquerque Police Department fatally shot James Boyd, a homeless man reportedly suffering from schizophrenia. The 38-year-old wasn’t a terribly sympathetic figure—he had also been arrested a dozen times, usually for violent assaults, including attacks on law enforcement officers—but the details of his death are still troubling. On the day of the shooting, he was confronted by cops for camping illegally and wouldn’t put down a pair of knives, which resulted in a three-hour “standoff.” Eventually, Boyd began threatening to kill the officers and ranting in an unhinged manner about the Department of Defense. Cops first used a flash-bang grenade and beanbags against Boyd, but they didn't incapacitate him, so the police shot an unknown number of live rounds at him, at least one of which struck him. (Officers Dominique Perez and Keith Sandy, who fired their guns, are now on leave. Sandy was previously fired from a police job for fraud.)
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