Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
HEATHER CORY / HOME NEWS
Zyber Selimaj dabs his eyes Thursday during the coroner’s inquest into the police killing of his wife, ice cream truck driver Deshira Selimaj, on Feb. 12.
Friday, April 11, 2008 | 2 a.m.
Eyewitness Melanie Nelson demonstrates during testimony how she observed Selimaj waving a knife in the air.
Henderson Police Officer Jeffrey Wiener, during testimony Thursday at the inquest at the Regional Justice Center, shows how he pointed his gun at Deshira Selimaj. Though Wiener did not fire at Selimaj, he said he nearly shot her because he thought she might harm her son.
Sun Topics
Arber Selimaj didn’t know how to spell his last name, and whispered most of his answers to a woman who, in a private room of a Henderson Police station, asked the 5-year-old boy what he remembered from the day he watched his mother die, and whether she had a knife — another word Arber didn’t know.
What he called the knife sounded like “seeka.” Perhaps, given that his parents speak Albanian, he used the Albanian word for knife, “thikë.”
At the end of Day One of the coroner’s inquest into the death of Deshira Selimaj, the Henderson ice cream truck driver shot by police on Feb. 12, it was this half-whispered testimony that stood out as the most haunting, and the most controversial.
Police interviewed Arber Selimaj and his 11-year-old brother, Alban, hours after both boys watched their mother shot by Henderson Police Officer Luke Morrison. The police didn’t ask their father, Zyber, who had been incarcerated after the shooting, for permission to interview the children. As prosecutor Christopher Lalli explained it, the police didn’t have to.
Jim Jimmerson, an attorney for the Selimaj family, objected even though, technically, he had no standing in the inquest to object. He called the police interviews of the Selimaj children “the worst of all ambushes.”
So Jimmerson and Deshira’s family members heard Arber and Alban interviewed by police for the first time, over a loudspeaker, in court. It was one of several firsts in the afternoon’s testimony, which came from the two boys, their father, three police officers and three passers-by — Terry Tibbs, Melanie Nelson and Ian Campo.
The other “firsts” came in the form of information, details revealed for the first time in court by police officers admonished to keep quiet until the inquest. Some of the more notable information:
• Two people decided to shoot Deshira Selimaj at the same time — Morrison with his firearm, and an officer who used a Taser.
• Deshira had knives in her ice cream truck, despite her husband’s insistence otherwise. The knives were in an empty Skittles bulk-sized candy box, one clearly identifiable as something along the lines of a kitchen knife, and the others somewhat obscured by other items.
• A Taser initially fired at Deshira by Officer Anthony Pecorella did not work because one Taser prong did not connect with the 42-year-old mother’s body.
• Officer Patrick Gilmore, the traffic cop who first pulled over Zyber Selimaj, told the jury that officers are trained to always fire two shots. In this case, however, only one gunshot was fired.
The entire afternoon was dominated by discussion of the knife — whether Deshira had one, and what she did with it. Gilmore testified that because a knife is a deadly weapon, police must respond with a deadlier weapon — a gun.
For Joe and Jane Citizen, who have been critical of the case, that logic doesn’t always compute, and jurors appeared to ask questions to the effect of: Was the use of a gun a necessary response to a kitchen knife, especially when the knife was being held by one relatively small woman who was surrounded by policemen?
Testimony from the children had been recorded the afternoon of the shooting and was played aloud for the jury, which strained to hear the audio recording of younger Arber and the video recording of older Alban, who cried when he described how his mother threatened to kill herself when she confronted Henderson Police.
He also cried when he was asking where his mother was, and what hospital she had been taken to. It appeared he was unaware she had died.
Henderson Officer Jeremy Lovell testified that police normally ask parents for permission to do an interview with such a young minor. Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, was outraged to learn that, this time, police did not ask.
Peck was not the only one who was outraged. On one side of the courtroom, friends and relatives of the Selimaj family — Albanian men in suits, sweatshirts, gold chains — spent much of the afternoon with their arms clasped tightly across their chests, leaning over to whisper to one another and shake their heads.
On the other side of the room, the police and their law enforcement entourage were collected and calm, relaxed in the certainty that Morrison, and their department, were in the right.
Officer Jeffrey Wiener testified that Deshira Selimaj had come out of her ice cream truck yelling profanities and threatening to kill the officers. Later, she threatened to kill herself and her children, Wiener said. He said at one point he was prepared to shoot her in the head because he thought she might try to kill her son. He also said he nearly shot her a second time, a split second before Morrison shot her and another officer simultaneously shocked her with a Taser.
Wiener said an officer put his foot on Deshira’s back to hold her because she was still struggling after she had been shot and shocked.
Henderson Police Chief Richard Perkins said he looked forward to media coverage after Morrison is cleared.
There are still more than 20 witnesses slated to testify, however, before Perkins does, or doesn’t, see his officer cleared.
Of all the afternoon’s testimony, father Zyber Selimaj’s was the most strained, filtered through jags of half-crying and an Albanian interpreter whom Selimaj couldn’t help but interrupt with an occasional answer in English.
When Lalli, the prosecutor, started questioning Selimaj about his wife, and whether she had a knife when she was shot, the Albanian father’s attorney cut across the courtroom floor to deliver him a tissue.
This distraught Selimaj seemed to echo the man Gilmore described when recounting the ice cream man’s reaction to being pulled over for traffic violations. Selimaj was so emotional at the prospect of getting a ticket that in between his sobbing he said he might as well kill himself, Gilmore reported. It was that kind of statement that prompted Gilmore, Wiener and their fellow officer Alan Olvera, a trainee, to decide Selimaj should be taken to the hospital for a “Legal 2000” — a 72-hour hold for people deemed mentally ill.
Though the officers could have taken Selimaj in a police car to the hospital, they didn’t want to, Gilmore said, because department policy would require handcuffing the distressed father. Instead, the officers called for an ambulance, only to learn it would take an hour to arrive at the scene. They made Selimaj wait, sitting on the ground and crying, and said nothing to him until Deshira arrived.
If Selimaj was distraught enough to be taken to the hospital before the shooting, he certainly was emotional enough afterward. But police changed their minds about the Legal 2000 and took the father to jail, in handcuffs, in a police car, on obstruction charges instead.
Selimaj says he was never told he needed to go to the doctor. He also told the jury that police asked whether they could get a recorded statement from him at the scene, in a police car. Selimaj refused.
Out in the hallway, his Albanian relatives asked person after person, through the interpreter hired by the court, whether it was OK in America for police to interview children without a parent’s permission. No one knew.
So now that we know the police were telling the truth ... when will the Sun, and other commentors, apologize for attacking the Henderson PD as liars and murderers?
I'd also like to know why the Sun hasn't reported that the husband has two convictions for beating up young children. Was it an attempt to keep him painted as a victim?
Bottom line is the "witnesses" have never had a story that jived with each other, or the husband. Now we find out that there was a knife, the children confirmed she was making threats of violence, and every other detail the police told the public was true. There was no cover up here, or any critical evidence the police withheld. This is exactly what the police told us happened in their public statements. This article was informative, but was also a shameless attempt to blame the police for the Sun's horrible and misleading coverage of this case.
I can't understand a reasonable person accepting the police officer's decision to shoot her. The rhetorical question asked in the article is the relavant point: For Joe and Jane Citizen, who have been critical of the case, that logic doesn’t always compute, and jurors appeared to ask questions to the effect of: Was the use of a gun a necessary response to a kitchen knife, especially when the knife was being held by one relatively small woman who was surrounded by policemen? My only conclusion is that the officer wanted desperately to finally be able to get to use his gun and shoot somebody. I hope the Feds intercede and prosecute these psychos. I'm a 6'4" man and have absolutely no fear of a 100 lb woman threatening me with any kind of knife. The next time the Henderson police are confronted by a woman with a knife call me and I'll save a life.
Hey FIsherhifi are you insane? "My only conclusion is that the officer wanted desperately to finally be able to get to use his gun and shoot somebody." Come on, are you that frickin brainwashed to really believe something like that? It sounds to me your just jealous cause you aren't man enough to put on a vest and do the job. If you haven't walked in our shoes, keep your mouth shut. It's idiots like you that cause newspapers like this to write BS stories because people like you want to believe them. you should be more than ashamed of yourself for what you have posted.
The REAL God
It's thou shalt not murder. Killing isn't a sin.
The only people who are unreasonable are the people who think cops should have to put their lives on the line to protect a knife wielding psycho. I'd rather have the cop go home to their family than some woman who felt the need to drive across town to threaten police officers because her child beating husband ran a stop sign while speeding through a school zone. Let's not forget that she made a movement that was threatening enough that two officers simultaneously believed their was a threat to officer safety, and fired their weapons.
Those who have no training always think they can be superheros. It's not that easy so put the comic books down, and look at what a knife can do in the hands of an untrained person ... http://blogidaho.biz/knifewounds1.jpg
Yeah, it's real fair to expect a cop to unnecessarily put their lives, health, and careers on the line so cop haters like you guys don't have anything to talk about. After all, they're just cops ... right? You might not care if a cop is stabbed to death, but I do. Then there is the risk of deformity and career ending injury.
The husband said he wished he was dead, and the wife said the same. She got her wish. I'm surprised you aren't applauding the police for their forward thinking on the subject of euthanasia. This wasn't murder ... this was suicide by cop.
Remember he Rodney King case in Los Angeles?
Isn't it time the FBI was brought in so that we can get some straight answers. I don't think it was a co-incidence that officer Gilmore gave the ice cream truck a citation a year ago. I wonder if he ever got a ticket (I think not)
The 5 yr old's voice answering those stupid questions will haunt me as long as I live. No child should have to go through this.
May God help this family. As for me, I cannot stop crying.
stupid questions? not at all, the questions are designed to have a person say what was seen and heard by them. they are not leading, or putting thoughts into a persons head. This child explained what he saw and heard. You know this is true or that scumbag lawyer (jimmerman) would not have tried to object. This is good news as taxpayers will not have to pay a ridiculous settlement with our tax dollars to an undeserving person (Zyber).
Why did she show up pissed in the first place? I'll bet she finally snapped because she was sick and tired of the treatment and harassment her and her husband had been getting by the HPD over the years. I can't think of any other reason. I would like to see the record of BS tickets issued to them over the years. I believe they were targets of the HPD to screw with.
Very easy trucks to spot and target for their ticket abuse if they wanted to. Think about that. It was probably just a game for the HPD to screw with the foreigner ice cream trucks, harass them, and ticket them.
Two tickets over $600 to the neighborhood ice cream guy. He testified he didn't even have him on radar. What a joke. Keep the revenue coming in boys.
HPD probably trying to see if they could make him miss a mortgage payment.
Think about how easy it is to target someone if they want to. They could ruin anyone financially if they choose with the stroke of a pen. Now I just feel sorry for any of the witnesses that had the guts to testify against them. They may be next.
Come on darthbry, you know this whole thing was probably started by them being screwed with and targeted by the HPD to summonse over some time, maybe even years. No other reason for her to show up so angry. She was WRONG TO DO THIS, but that happens to most people that continually get screwed with.
re: Shooting
What's wrong with a nightstick? Walk up to her with a nightstick, order her to drop the knife or you will crack her in the head with it. Problem solved, if she doesn't drop it you knock her out. Isn't it a requirement to have your nightstick with you at all times? If it's not a requirement maybe they should make it one. This lady with a knife who doesn't know how to use it as a weapon should not be able to come close to hurting anyone if four cops around her with nightsticks are ready to give her a good whack. And you know that is true.
I read a post a while ago talking about using a spare tire. That is a great idea. Using your head to solve a problem without friggin killing someone. This went on plenty, plenty long enough to go get a spare tire. Use it as a shield. This protects you. You walk up to her with it, order her to drop the knife, if she doesn't, then nail her with it as hard as you can. She is going to go down, probably get hurt in the process.
but you know what "SHE WOULD STILL BE ALIVE !!!".
Maybe it's time cops here carry riot shields in their cars like they do in big cities. That would've worked great.
A little friggin common sense and ingenuity goes a long way.
Any real cop out there, even a prison guard who deals with shanks all the time, will tell you this woman could have been taken into custody easily without killing her.
And I'm not anti-police at all. I've seen the inquest. I will never believe that shooting her was the only thing they could do. There was plenty they could have done without shooting her.
Why do all the police supporters act like this woman was a trained ninja carrying a samurai sword?
The inquest was a mockery of justice. It didn't clear up anything. Let's see what happens in the civil lawsuit.
Between this one and the federal agent the Henderson amatuer PD beat up, I think somebody's gonna have to raise taxes in Henderson to cover the judgements.
Or lower the PD budget.
The children are always the victims and in this case who is supposed to protect them? The police, the district attorney should have. We need ansewrs to why children are victimized by our judical system.
Jesus, is there any PD trolls posting their facsist comments? darthbry ? They are here to "protect and serve" i see neither. I'm never going to vegas again. Read it and weep. NWO.