Police Shoot Minivan Filled With Kids, Oriana Ferrell Claims Cops Guilty Of ‘Child Abuse’

After police shot up a minivan filled with kids, the lawyers for mother Oriana Ferrell claim the cops are the ones guilty of child abuse and police brutality.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, another police involved situation goes wrong when a woman calls 911 for an ambulance and police shot her fiancé instead.

Oriana Ferrell was initially pulled over by New Mexico State police for going 71 in a 55 zone. Detail revealed by the cop’s dash cam show that the situation rapidly deteriorated from there. Ms. Ferrell drives away from the traffic stop and is then pulled over again by the same officer.

This time, the cop approaches the van again and yells “Get out of the vehicle right now!” Ms. Ferrell refuses and the officer tries to pull her out of the van, filled with her five children purportedly ages 6 to 18. The kids then start screaming, while the cop tells her she is already facing charges for driving away from the scene in which she was first pulled over, saying:

“Look, I’m going to ask you one more time to get out of the vehicle and then I’m going to pull you out, OK? You’re already facing evading charges. You ran away from me.”

Ferrell defended her actions:

“Sir, I pulled back over, I didn’t run away. You see my children. I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m just trying to take them to the Rio Grande.”

Eventually, she gets out of the vehicle to talk to the offending officer who tells her to face the van, no doubt intending to arrest her. She then tries to run back to the driver’s seat and the incident escalates when Ferrell’s son engages the cop, who tasers the boy.

When police backup arrives, Oriana Ferrell and family are locked inside the van. The officer starts breaking windows in the van in attempts to get the family out of the car. Ms. Ferrell then starts to drive away again, and another officer arriving on the scene appears to fire shots into the back of the van, despite the five children being in the back seat. A ten minute chase follows before Ms. Ferrell stops in front of a hotel and turns herself in. Both Ferrell and her 14 year old son were arrested.

Oriana Ferrell’s lawyer Alan Maestas told Judge Jeff McElroy the police had no reason to shoot at the minivan:

“There was no reason at all to chase her down. She was flat-out scared that something was going to happen to her children. We ought to talk about the stupidity and recklessness of shooting at a car that has five children in it. If someone ought to be charged with child abuse, it ought to be the New Mexico State Police.”

An internal investigation into the incident is being pursued. Ms. Ferrell was charged with five counts of abuse of a child, aggravated fleeing an officer, resisting an officer, reckless driving and possession of drug paraphernalia. Allegedly, the New Mexico State Police found two marijuana pipes in the minivan. Recently released details show police reports that state the initial reason cops followed the mother after the first stop was because she did not head for the courthouse to immediately pay the fine for the citation she was issued, or contest it.

What do you think about police shooting a minivan filled with kids? Is the mother Oriana Ferrell guilty, or should the police officers be charged instead?