Editor’s note: over 18 months ago an indigent Haitian neighbor in Mt. Pleasant, with serious mental health issues, was shot at close range in the bathroom of his home by a young police officer while sharp shooters and SWAT teams converged on Mt. Pleasant closing down the street for over four hours. Initially the news was there were hostages in the apartment and later that although there were no hostages the suspect was armed and dangerous. It turned out he had a simple kitchen knife in his possession and was very scared and depressed. He locked himself in the bathroom and when they broke the door down he lunged at the officer and grazed his arm. They killed him on the spot.

Jean Louis was known to us as an eccentric Haitian neighbor of 30 years who sometimes had depressive episodes and would walk the streets speaking patois and sometimes stopping traffic in the street. He was not violent and was well known in the neighborhood. Subsequent to his death Metrodiversity.com was the first public media to publish a story about the incident. We’re very proud of that story part of which you can read here.

Our friend Terry Lynch from the Downtown Cluster of Congregations took up the cause and over 18 months later University Legal Services has issued a report on the incident demanding an investigation into what happened. Herein lies the ULS’s story.