Kansas City reacts on social media to guilty verdict in the killing of Cameron Lamb
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Police shooting of Cameron Lamb
Eric DeValkenaere fatally shot Cameron Lamb, 26, on Dec. 3, 2019. The police detective was charged with involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action. He was the first white Kansas City police officer in 80 years to face a criminal trial in the shooting death of a Black man. A bench trial began Nov. 8, 2021, before Jackson County Judge J. Dale Youngs, who will deliver his verdict on Nov. 19.
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Kansas Citians took to social media Friday afternoon after Kansas City police officer Erik DeValkenaere was found guilty of manslaughter in the killing of Cameron Lamb, a 26-year-old Black man.
Erik DeValkenaere fatally shot Lamb four times in 2019. The officer’s trial began Nov. 8 and has attracted attention from leaders around the metro area and beyond. Judge J. Dale Youngs of Jackson County’s 16th Circuit Court read aloud the verdict at 1 p.m.
At 6 a.m. on the morning of the verdict Mayor Quinton Lucas tweeted that he would respect the outcome of the trial and urged others to do the same.
Other community leaders also took to social media in anticipation of the verdict.
After the verdict, several local leaders expressed relief.
The Lamb family’s attorney also took to Twitter.
Members of the community watching the verdict largely celebrated the news on social media.
Some shared that the verdict was a step toward justice.
Some noted that no matter what the verdict was, a family and community was still grieving and sent their condolences to those who loved Cameron Lamb.
A grand jury indicted DeValkenaere for first degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action about six months after he fatally shot 26-year-old Cameron Lamb in the torso and chest.
Lamb was backing his red pick up truck into the garage on the rear side of his home at the 4100 block of College Avenue when the officer fired shots on Dec. 19, 2019.
During the bench trial, prosecutors and defense attorneys painted starkly different pictures of DeValkenaere and the actions that transpired nearly two years ago.
DeValkenaere shot Lamb after officers investigating a crash reported a red pickup chasing a purple Ford Mustang. Officers in a police helicopter spotted the truck Lamb was driving and followed the vehicle.
Prosecutors said there was no evidence that anyone had dialed 911, that anyone was hurt or that a crime had taken place when DeValkenaere and another detective arrived at Lamb’s home at 4154 College Ave.
Lamb was fatally wounded as he was backing a pickup into his garage, prosecutors alleged, saying it took DeValkenaere nine seconds from the time he walked from the front of the residence to the back of the house before he opened fire on Lamb.
DeValkenaere’s conduct was “reckless,” prosecutors said, and violated the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.
“The state of Missouri finds it absolutely unreasonable that he did this with a loaded gun,” said assistant prosecutor Dion Sankar. “We find it unreasonable because there was no reason to enter the private residence with a gun, because there was no pressing reason pressing him to move. That was his choice.”
During the trial, prosecutors also alleged the crime scene was staged and evidence was planted.
At the time that DeValkenaere shot Lamb, Lamb was not armed and the gun that police said he had with him was actually inside of a staircase near the garage, prosecutors said.
DeValkenaere testified that moments before the shooting, he saw Lamb reach with his left hand for a handgun from his waistband and point towards his partner Troy Schwalm.
“My focus moves from that weapon to the center of his chest,” DeValkenaere said. “I bring my weapon and drive it towards him. And as I acquire the front sight, I discharge a round to his center mass.”
DeValkenaere said he had a duty to protect Schwalm.
He also denied planting evidence, having any other officer alter evidence or change their report of the shooting.
Defense attorney Dawn Parsons said that DeValkenaere was given no choice when he shot Lamb.
She also said DeValkenaere and Schwalm did not need a search warrant, probable cause or consent to go on the property to investigate saying under “the totality of the circumstances, they can do that.”
“Eric did what any reasonable officer would do,” she said. “He shot Mr. Lamb to save Troy’s life.”
Steven James, a retired assistant Springfield police chief and expert on police practices, testified that DeValkenaere had “reasonable suspicion” and acted appropriately when he walked into the backyard of the residence to investigate a possible crime.
Lamb’s name, along with other Black men killed by Kansas City police officers, was evoked last year throughout racial justice protests in Kansas City.
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 3:46 PM.
