Early-morning gun battle involving NOPD leaves family, community with questions

5th March 2012   ·   0 Comments

An early-morning exchange of gunfire that claimed the life of a 20-year-old New Orleans man and left two NOPD officers wounded has led to a litany of questions from relatives of the shooting victim and other members of the community who are still trying to make sense of the incident.

The fatal shooting victim opened fire on officers during a traffic stop Thursday, wounding two policemen, authorities said. The officers returned fire, killing the man and injuring his brother.

The shootout happened at about 5:30 a.m. after officer Jason Giroir stopped a car with the brothers inside. Police superintendent Ronal Serpas refused to say what the violation was.

Giroir, working overtime for the Mid-City Security District, became suspicious during the stop and called for backup, Serpas said.

When officers Anthony Mayfield Jr. and Michael Asevedo arrived, one of the brothers, 20-year-old Justin Sipp, got out of the car and started shooting a handgun, Serpas said. The officers were hit but fired back. Justin Sipp was killed and Earl Sipp, who was driving, was hurt.
Serpas said the officers needed surgery and remain hospitalized. Both had multiple wounds.

“They are in stable condition,” Serpas said. “But they will have a long road to recovery.”

“Today these two officers showed the greatest amount of heroism,” Mayor Mitch Landrieu said Thursday “It reminds us again every day that police officers are in a profession that sometimes requires the ultimate commitment.”

Earl Sipp, a 23-year-old college student who was shot in the leg, was treated and released from a hospital. He was later issued a citation for driving on an expired license, Serpas said. He was not charged in the shooting.

Terry Smith, a manager at the nearby Burger King restaurant, said Justin Sipp was an employee there who was being driven to work by his older brother.

As the restaurant’s employees sobbed nearby — not far from where the body lay as police investigated — Smith described Justin Sipp as a reliable employee and “a good guy.” She was skeptical that he was involved in wrongdoing.

“It’s the wrong man,” she said.

Tiffany Champ, the older sister of the Sipp brothers., told FOX8 News that the stories her family is hearing about what happened don’t make sense. “All I know is my little brother was on his way to work with his brother who is a college student that works full-time as well, never committed any crimes except one of them was arrested before and I know that’s what’s going to be publicized, not the fact that he was unjustly murdered by the police,” she said.

Champ said the fact that Earl Sipp was released after the incident and not arrested raises even more questions. “So if he was a suspect in some sort of crime, after he’s injured, why would he go home and not to jail?” she told FOX8 News.

Attorney Glen Woods itold FOX8 News that he met with Earl Sipp and listened to his account of what happened Thursday morning. Woods says Sipp’s release says one thing: “It means that Earl didn’t do any shooting,” said Woods. “I’m just beginning to investigate this matter, but if he was released, it’s obvious he didn’t shoot anyone.”

Jerome Simon told WWL-TV that his nephews were not troublemakers by any stretch of the imagination. “They are homebody individuals,” Simon said. “They go to work and come home, seriously. That’s a fact.”

“They respect the law.,” Simon added. “I really, truly believe they won’t try to harm anybody.”

Both Sipps had arrest records, police said, although in at least one case the charges were dropped before it went to trial.

“I thought it was interesting that police said that both of the men had arrest records since they said a couple of weeks ago — after the so-called ‘Good Samaritan’ in Algiers with a criminal background was killed — that they would no longer release that information to the public,”Ramessu Merriamen Aha, a former Congressional candidate and New Orleans businessman, told The Louisiana Weekly. “But here we go again. The NOPD didn’t waste any time in releasing this information. It was like they wanted to make it clear that the Sipp brothers had criminal backgrounds before anyone began to question the excessive force used by police in this case.”

Although it is department policy for officers to wear protective vests while on duty, and they are issued to all officers, the wounded men were not wearing them, Serpas said.

“They chose not to wear them that day,” the chief said.

Larry Champ, an older brother of the Sipps, had a message for Mayor Mitch Landrieu: “Mayor Mitch Landrieu, if you can hear me call me (at) (337) 532-5546. Talk to me, man. Your police force has to be corrected.”

“We still don’t know who shot first or why>” the Rev. Raymond Brown, president of the New Orleans chapter of the National Action Network, told The Louisiana Weekly. “All we know is what the police told us and we know from both the recent Danziger and Glover murder trials and last year’s Department of Justice report about the New Orleans Police Department that this is an agency with a lot of problems.

“Why should we believe a police department that still racially profiles Black people and has yet to take responsibility for the many ways it violates the constitutional rights of Black people?

“What’s also interesting is that while the police chief said Thursday that the department is still investigating the incident, Mayor Mitch Landrieu wasted no time in calling the two officers who were shot ‘heroes,’” Brown added.

“That brings to mind that dark day several years ago when hundreds of cops and supporters held up signs that read ‘Heroes’ for the Danziger 7 cops when they turned themselves in to authorities.

“As the community waits for the NOPD to be reformed, people are watching this case very closely and demand that every possible effort be made to get to the bottom about what happened. We won’t accept anything less.”

This article was originally published in the March 5, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper