(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Wife called Cops who didn't respond for over an hour - Man is murdered blocks from CSPD headquarters [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-06-09 It breaks my heart to report on this story. I know exactly where this happened in Colorado Springs. I really can’t believe it happened the way it happened. South Nevada Avenue is the rough end of a beautiful tree-lined through street in the main heart of the city of Colorado Springs — past the big houses and parks, after it cuts through the Colorado College campus and several large churches — and goes under the highway to the short “skid row” of the city. That’s where the police department and a few lesser businesses, like Taco Bell, are located. That’s where Talina Campbell’s husband, Qualin Campbell, 32, was when he sent her frantic texts last Monday pleading for help. He indicated he was being held hostage, sent “911,” his location, and even a photo of the man holding him hostage. She immediately called for help — from the police — whose headquarters were 5 blocks away. Literally down the street. Talina Campbell “called 911 just after 1 p.m. with the information and told the dispatcher she feared her husband, who was a father of two, was being held hostage.” After that she was transferred to a second dispatcher and had to repeat everything again. What didn’t happen next is appalling. The second dispatcher said an officer would check it out and get back to her but there was no sense of urgency, Talija said, so she drove to the location herself. She arrived at the location her husband had given her and immediately recognized his company car in a parking lot. He had been on his job as a mobile printer-equipment repairman. Talija said when she saw her husband slumped over inside the car alongside another man, she fell to her knees and started screaming. www.dailymail.co.uk/... The CSPD did finally respond an hour later to a separate shooting call, that just happened to be at the same location provided earlier by Talija. The police blotter shows that two men were found dead. Obviously, Mrs. Campbell reached her husband before the police did, and took his pulse herself, but it was too late. The other man was identified by the El Paso County Coroner's Office as David Karels, 44. Both men were shot to death but only Campbell's death is being investigated as a homicide, police said. Karels’s death is being investigated as a suicide. (Karel, who is white, has since been identified as a transient.) x Fundraiser by Talija Campbell : Qualin Campbell Daughter's Fund https://t.co/942Lx3pIcN — Harry M. Daniels (@HarryMDJR) June 7, 2023 Talija's lawyer, Harry Daniels, said she wants answers from the department about why it did not respond to her call, saying Qualin might still be alive if they had. www.dailymail.co.uk/… x Wife Called 911 After Husband Texted that He Was Being Held Hostage. An Hour Later, He Was Found Dead https://t.co/r0OASgeaAA — People (@people) June 7, 2023 i’m not sure we can prove or even infer that this was based on race, though the Campbells are Black. But it’s pretty clear the cops found nothing urgent about responding to a call from someone concerned about something happening in a rough (dark) part of town. I used to teach not far from there. It was very well known. Poverty is not a crime. Being in a poor part of town is not a crime. Needing help and being dark-skinned should not make us pause and wonder...what if? [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/9/2174319/-Wife-called-Cops-who-didn-t-respond-for-over-an-hour-Man-is-murdered-blocks-from-CSPD-headquarters Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/