Candlelight vigil in Headland a call to action

HEADLAND – A candlelight vigil for an unarmed Headland man fatally shot during an altercation with police doubled as a call to action.

Organizers said people need to organize and work with the police and the city to keep more tragedies from happening.

Opatrick Fitzgerald Humphrey, 33, was shot by Headland police responding to a medical call about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday.

“She (Opatrick’s mother) called them and said ‘my son is schizophrenic, I’m having problems and I need ya’ll to come and take him to the hospital,’” the Rev. Kenneth Glasgow said at the vigil Thursday evening. “She didn’t say, ‘I need ya’ll to come kill him.’”

Glasgow, founder and executive director of The Ordinary People’s Society headquartered in Dothan, characterized it as police not following procedure, leading to the death of Humphrey, who is black.

According to police, Humphrey assaulted two paramedics and a Headland officer outside a home in the 200 block of Hollon Street.

Humphrey had two gunshot wounds, one that grazed his chest and a fatal wound to the abdomen. He died that afternoon at Southeast Alabama Medical Center.

Two police officers were also taken to SAMC for treatment, one for minor cuts and bruises and the other for emotional distress.

The Alabama Bureau of Investigation has taken over the investigation because it is an officer involved shooting, Police Chief Mark Jones said Tuesday. He said both officers have been placed on paid administrative leave, which is department policy.

Glasgow said police didn’t have to go to the extreme of shooting and killing Humphrey.

“We have to realize this is a human life gone,” Glasgow said. “It don’t matter what color he is. It matters that it was a human being that’s gone by improper procedure that should have been followed.”

Glasgow said people in the community don’t need to turn it into a black and white issue.

“When we address them, let’s address them by the policy and the procedure, not whether it’s black or white, because when it comes down to that paper in the legal system, what matters is what goes down on that paper,” Glasgow said.

“According to the paper, when you have a distress call for somebody that’s sick, when you have a distress call by a mother that’s crying out for help for her child, when you have a distress call by a mother that’s trying to get you to come get her son and take him to the hospital, it’s not like you don’t know what the situation was when you came,” Glasgow said.

The crowd that gathered in front of the Hollon Street home observed 33 seconds of silence, one for each year of Humphrey’s life.

Glasgow said Opatrick’s mother was pleased by the number of people who gathered. “Even in her grief, she’s sitting here happy because she sees support,” Glasgow said.

But Glasgow said people should not become complacent. He said they should start having meetings, including meetings with the police department because Headland has no citizens review board.

“Let’s do things very orderly, let’s do things very, very well organized,” Glasgow said. “Have two or three people that you’re going to get to speak and let’s stand up there and address these issues.”

Organizers encouraged people to attend next Tuesday’s meeting of the Headland City Council, which meets the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 6 p.m.

Glasgow said the people in Headland, white and black, need to stand up and make a change.

“What are we going to do to come together now?” he said. “Are we going to allow this to continue? We have to stop it now. It starts with Pat. It could be your son tomorrow if we don’t stop it right now.”