SLAIN MAN'S FAMILY WANTS POLICE SHOOTING RE-EXAMINED

They say he didn't have gun in confrontation

The family of a man who was gunned down by a Tulsa police officer last week
is calling for a new investigation into the shooting, saying he was unarmed.

Police Chief Ron Palmer said that claim was "ludicrous" and that the
officer was only trying to protect himself when he fatally shot Edwin
Levall Vines, 31.

"We are sorry for their loss," he said. But "I re-reviewed the case and
found nothing to indicate that a person was slain in cold blood. It was
obvious Vines was armed."

Police said Vines, a Fresno, Calif., resident, was outside a reported "drug
house" Friday when officers approached. Vines ran, and when officers
pursued him, he pointed a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol at Officer Jeff Little,
they said.

Little shot Vines twice, and he died later that night in a hospital.

His family, backed by the Tulsa chapter of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, wants an investigation by the city's
Citizens Review Board.

Palmer said he would welcome an investigation by another law enforcement
agency but that he thought a citizens' review would be inappropriate.

The slain man's brother, the Rev. Eddie L. Vines, said the family wants
another investigation because some witnesses said Vines was not armed and
had his hands in the air when he was shot.

"My brother was not a saint, but he did not deserve this," the North
Carolina minister said.

Family members said police were trying to cover up their mistake by saying
Vines had a gun, and they hinted that the shooting might have been racially
motivated. Vines' father, Elijah Vines, went so far as to call the shooting
"murder."

Palmer said no witnesses had come forward to back up the family's claim.

District Attorney Chuck Richardson declined to file criminal charges
against Little. He called the shooting "justified."

Palmer said: "The district attorney has reviewed this case and cleared the
officer. I stand behind my officer and his decision to make that shot."

Richardson encouraged any new witnesses to come forward but said he hadn't
seen anything backing the family's claim.

The witness statements came from people who "were in the area at the time,"
Richardson said. "There was nothing in any report or from any witness that
said anything about anyone being shot in cold blood. One person said they
didn't see the gun, not that there wasn't one."

Another witness identified the 9 mm semiautomatic gun that Vines allegedly
pointed at Little as a weapon that Vines had been showing to people several
days before his death, Richardson said.

Vines had been wanted by authorities.

Sgt. Wayne Allen said a warrant for his arrest had been issued in a 1997
slaying in Fayetteville, N.C.

Vines had also been arrested in another state on numerous complaints,
ranging from firearms counts and assaulting a police officer to lascivious
and lewd acts with a child under age 14, Allen said.

Richardson said he didn't let Vines' criminal record influence his
decision.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski