North Carolina Trooper Fatally Shoots Deaf Man After Traffic Stop

A witness criticized the trooper's actions

A North Carolina state trooper killed a deaf man after an attempted traffic stop, authorities and neighbors said Monday.

State trooper Jermaine Saunders shot Daniel Kevin Harris on Thursday after what North Carolina Bureau of Investigation described in a statement as "an encounter."

"An encounter took place between the driver and the trooper causing a shot to be fired," the statement reads. The driver died at the scene, the statement added, and the trooper was placed on administrative leave.

But a neighbor of Harris', Mark Barringer, who witnessed part of the confrontation, criticized the trooper's actions.

"You're pulling someone over who is deaf," Barringer told NBC affiliate WCNC. "They are handicapped." 

Howard Rosenblum, CEO of the National Association of the Deaf, said in a statement to NBC News that "there have been too many incidents with tragic consequences between law enforcement officers and deaf people."

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