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of David K. Li and Phil Helsel
The St. Louis police chief on Thursday ordered the commanders to closely monitor the officers on the ground after a Service officer allegedly killed a colleague off duty while playing with a firearm.
The announcement was made the same day that the police department had issued an "allegation of professional misconduct" in which two officers, including the one accused of firing a fatal blow at a colleague, were drink during their service.
St. Louis police chief John Hayden said his department was upgrading officers' laptops in the field to help their supervisors keep track of their whereabouts.
"Supervisors and / or commanders monitor the time of the location of each officer working in the relief field, using both the radio system and available GPS technology," Hayden told reporters. his first public comments since the arrest of the agent Nathaniel Hendren.
Hendren, 29, was charged with involuntary manslaughter related to the murder. Agent Katlyn Alix, age 24, who was on leave at that time, January 24th.
Alix was with Hendren and another officer on duty at the suspect's apartment early in the morning of January 24, authorities said. Hendren and Alix would have alternately turned a revolver loaded against each other and pulled the trigger, according to a statement of probable cause.
During a brief preliminary hearing, a judge raised Hendren's $ 50,000 bond to $ 100,000 only. The affiliate of NBC, KSDK, reported that after the hearing, someone had signed the 10% guarantee of his release. He will be under house arrest and will have to give up all weapons and his passport
After this hearing, Chief Hayden held his press conference to announce the new officers policy on the ground and to respond angrily to the suggestion of prosecutor. that the way in which the police proceeded to test the agents "appears as a tactic of obstruction".
Constable Constable Kim Gardner sent a letter to the Chief of Police and the Director of Public Security questioning the investigation and the lack of blood tests, which she says are more accurate as the breath and urine tests. Gardner also blamed the police for initially describing him as an accident.
"Let us be clear: the accusation made at least by the district attorney was both offensive and insulting to the force's investigative unit and myself" said Hayden. 19659009] In the hours following the murder of Alix, Hayden calls it "an accidental firearm dump".
But on Thursday, the chief said that he was only repeating preliminary information that he knew at the time.
"I later learned the circumstances surrounding the shooting were far more reckless or dangerous than I thought," he said.
"At no point did I share my initial understanding of the circumstances that led to the death of Agent Alix, suggesting that any conclusion would have been drawn."
Also On Thursday, a document released by the St. Louis police indicates that it is alleged that Hendren and the other guard officer drank alcohol in the performance of their duties.
The allegation of misconduct by an employee Henderson and his officer Patrick Riordan allegedly consumed alcoholic beverages in the performance of their duties.
A lawyer from Riordan stated St. Louis Post-Dispatch's message that he had "blown up all zeros" while undergoing a breathalyzer test, and told investigators that he had "taken a few sips of beer." "at Hendren's house. "He poured the rest into a kitchen sink, leaving the tin can near the sink, and this should be confirmed by pictures of the crime scene," said attorney James Towey. the newspaper.
A statement of probable cause indicates that the other officer on duty is on duty. with Hendren told investigators that he had told the other two officers that they should not play with guns and that he had started to leave when Alix had been shot. The statement does not identify the second officer on duty, but Riordan's lawyer told the later dispatch that he was there.
A spokesman for circuit prosecutor Gardner said Thursday that the prosecutor had subscribed to his previous criticism of the police investigation. "It is time to focus our efforts on finding the truth about this case so that justice is done in Katlyn Alix and the community," Gardner said.
Alix's husband and other family members were present in court on Thursday. Some said that they just wanted answers.
"This world has lost a lot," said the father of the officer, Ron Alix, this week. "When we lost Katie, we lost a lot."
"She will miss us so much … I do not … I do not know what else to say," he adds.
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