According to NBC reports:
A
pregnant woman who says she wasn’t even protesting lost her left eye after
police on Tuesday in St. Louis shot her in the face with a bean bag round, her
family said Friday.
Dornella
Conner, 24, is recovering after being blinded Tuesday and possibly losing some
sight in her right eye as well, dad Donnell Conner told NBC News.
He
said his daughter and her boyfriend had driven to a gas station in St. Louis
early Tuesday to fill up. The area remained on edge hours after a grand jury
decided Monday night not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the
shooting death of teenager Michael Brown. Police were reportedly responding to
gunshots fired in the area when they encountered Conner and her boyfriend,
De’Angelas Lee, who was driving.
Conner
said that her boyfriend was trying to maneuver around police, while police say
he was driving at them. St. Louis County police told NBC News on Friday that
Lee was arrested and charged with second-degree assault on law enforcement.
Dornella
Conner wrote on Facebook that she and her boyfriend weren’t protesting that
morning or trying to cause a disturbance.
Her
father said she had no intention of being aggressive with police either and
didn’t deserve to get hit. The bean bag round broke through the windshield,
shattering glass that also hit her in the face, he added. “If a vehicle is
coming at you, wouldn’t you take aim at the person who is driving the vehicle,
not at the passenger’s side?” Donnell Conner asked.
He
said surgeons had to pull about 20 pellets from her face. Now, he’s worried
that she will no longer be able to work and support her two children — plus the
third on the way. The family said they are focusing on her recovery for now,
and not thinking about any possible legal recourse.
“She’s
just trying to stay strong,” Donnell Conner said, adding that she has “no ill
feelings” toward the officer who shot her.
But
he said the officers could have “done so many other things” instead of fire
directly at his daughter. “For my daughter to be shot in the face and lose her
eye is uncalled for,” he added.
Is
there a war on black skin?
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