Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Dec. 17, 2015, edition 1 / Page 3
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Community wants answers in death of man killed in custody of WSPD BY TEVIN ST1NSON FOR THE CHRONICLE It has been a week since 31 -year-old Travis Page died in the custody of four police officers and citizens are growing impatient waiting for video footage of the incident to made public. The Ministers' Conference of Winston Salem and Vicinity (MCWSV) held a press conference to urge elected officials to recommend that the District Attorney's Office and the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation (NCSBI) release body camera footage obtained from the officers present during the incident. . According to a police report, Corporal Robert Fenimore, Officer Christopher Doub, Officer Austin Conrad and Officer Jacob Tuttle responded to a reported discharge of firearm at 4404 Old Rural Hall Road. Upon arrival, officers attempted to detain Page, who matched the description of the reported gunman. After a brief struggle with Page, one of the officers used pepper spray in order to gain con trol and place him in hand cuffs. At that time, Page became unresponsive. The officers performed lifesaving efforts but were unsuccessful. Page was pronounced dead at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. WSPD has confirmed three of the four officers involved were wearing body cameras during the time of the incident. During a recent town hall meeting held at Shiloh Baptist Church, a number of citizens said while although they continue to hear talks about transparen cy and being open, it seems they are being left in the dark. "When they have video footage of what happened and they don't make it pub lie, it seems like they are hiding something," said Chris Hunter., "We have seen this same situation play out too many times across America, and we deserve to know what hap pened that night." A number of citizens took to social media to voice their frustrations as well. Many referenced video footage of Laquan McDonald in Chicago that took over a year to be released. "They can release the video if they wanted to," Linda Ingram wrote. "The people of this city should not have to wait a entire year before we know what really happened, we are not going to stand for it." Chairman of the Public Safety Committee James Taylor said he and other city officials take the situa tion very seriously. He also encouraged citizens to remain calm as the justice systems takes it course. Taylor mentioned he has not seen the video but has urged the NCSBI to complete their investiga tion as quickly as possible. "We must let the inves tigation take its course. I urge the citizens of Winston-Salem to not jump to conclusions," he said. "I've met with the adminis tration of the police depart ment, the mayor, as well as other members of the city council and we take this issue very seriously." Council Member Derwin Montgomery encouraged citizens to con tact the Forsyth County District Attorney's Office and request the video be made public. Although the case is currently under investiga tion, the release of the video is under the control of District Attorney Jim O'Neill. A number of residents reminded those who attended the town hall meeting that there are a number of local and nation al organizations who can help persuade the district attorney's office to make the video footage public. "I am thankful for everything council mem bers Montgomery and Taylor are trying to do, but there are numerous groups that we all know about that can help us with this issue." Vincent Wilkes said. "I'm not disregarding city council members or police officers. All I'm say ing is, we can look inside my community filled with strong men and women, and we can do the same thing." I Residents want answers after 31-year-old Travis Page became unresponsive in the custody of four police officers on Wednesday, Dec. 9 near the 4400 block of Old Rural Hall Rd. Police chief urges calm and patience after Page's death CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT The City of Winston Salem has released a state ment about the actions of Police Chief Barry Rountree regarding the death of Travis Page, who was in police custody when he died. Rountree was away on personal business during the time of the incident. While away, Rountree ini tiated a number of actions after being notified of Page's death. According to a docu ment that was made public Tuesday Dec. 16, Rountree has personally reached out to State Bureau of. Investigations Special Agent in Charge Scott Williams, The Ministers' Conference of Winston Salem and Vicinity, and Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neill. He also mentioned that he has met with Page's mother to discuss the investigation process. During a news confer ence, Rountree insured the public that the police department is fully cooper ating with the district attor ney's Office and the SBI. "I know there are a lot of conspiracy theories floating around in the com munity about evidence, the body camera footage, and other things, but I assure the public all evidence both physical and digital has been preserved." Rountree also applaud ed the members of the community for demanding answers but urged them to remain calm. "I am grateful we have people in the community who want to look into this incident and protest." he said. "But, I am asking the people of the community to do so peacefully." Third Vice President of The Ministers' Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity Rev. Alvin Carlisle addresses members of the media during a press conference on Friday, Dec. 11 at Emmanuel Baptist Church. We're powering future rock stars. And those Tm-really-proud-of-her, but-that's-really-loud" moments. That's why we're investing in new, innovative technologies to keep our systems smarter, cleaner and always improving for today, and tomorrow. Because we know what we're delivering is more than just electricity. It's power - for your life. v' . ' . h ? !' Y^duke TT ENERGY. Power for your life. Quick fact: We recently completed a decade-long, $9 billion program to modernize our power plants and retire almost 4,500- megawatts of older coal-fired units. DQfQa Message paid for by Duke Energy shareholders.
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