Jan 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 1

earth and started fumbling while
trying to unholster and turn on
the Taser - as well as trying to
catch up to where Ms. Schwab
was.
Officer Pampinella then yelled,
“Stop” and “Stop! Or you are going
to get shot!”.
OIS
Ms. Schwab then started to run
towards Officer Pampinella. She
took approximately three to four
“running strides” and got within
8-10 feet of Officer Pampinella.
It was at that point that he
utilized deadly force and fired
three rounds at Ms. Schwab. Ms.
Schwab sustained fatal injuries.
Mental Health Response
There has been some criticism
and question as to why police
officers were dispatched to this
call and not mental health professionals.
First, any issue, criticism, or
problem that you have with who
is dispatched to a call for service
lies with the politicians who
manage police departments -
not the men and women who
suit up and respond to the calls
they are sent.
There are police departments
that have “mobile crisis teams”.
These teams are typically made
up of an officer (who has CIT
or ECIT training) and a mental
health clinician. I am a fan of this
model.
But. Even in agencies that have
these “mobile crisis teams” - the
mental health clinicians are not
in play until the call is deemed
“safe”. A situation where someone
was still armed with a knife
would always dictate that armed
police officers respond first and
then call the mental health professionals
once the individual is
in custody and the knife is secured.
TASER
I do not know where the breakdown
occurred here, but the
police managers in Morris better
figure it out.
Officer Pampinella told Officer
Price to go “non lethal”. If she
did not know what to do - her
partner gave her the answer. All
she had to do was follow directions.
Once Officer Price made the
decision to finally draw the Taser
- she had difficulty unholstering
the weapon and turning it on.
If she had this much trouble
with basic manipulations - my
guess - if she had deployed the
Taser - it would have missed Ms.
Schwab.
JUSTIFIED
Ms. Schwab was advancing on
Officer Pampinella (who was
backing up) while armed with
a 9” knife. If anything Officer
Pampinella likely let her get too
close before firing his weapon.
This is obviously an objectively
reasonable and lawful use of
deadly force.
The Grundy County District
Attorney has also stated that the
use of deadly force was within
the law.
A plaintiff’s attorney (working
behalf of the Schwab) family
said that the officers were in no
danger because the knife was
“pointed downward in a nonthreatening
manner”.
It is impossible for a 9” knife
to be held in “non-threatening
manner” when you are chasing
someone with it.
This is an easy statement to
make from the safety of a law
office. Only those that hold the
dishonest privilege of viewing
everything through 20/20 hindsight
make such idiotic comments.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Think about this. There was
a point in this incident where
Ms. Schwab was advancing on
Officer Pampinella with a 9 inch
knife. And Officer Price stood
back, watched, and allowed this
to happen without drawing her
Taser or firearm. This is unacceptable.
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16 The Blues - January ‘24