Exploit: Zero DayLocal Cop Charged in "Cyber Murder" Case
Terre Haute Observer
Terre Haute Police Department Officer Lawrence Fowler was charged today for the murder of local man Mark Blake. Blake, a convicted drug dealer, was shot in an apparent police shootout earlier this year.
However, video evidence of foul play came to light due to the initiative of Samsara Digital, which manages the police department's body cameras.
"We recognize that the release of this video was through unconventional channels," said Samsara spokesperson Shay Oakes. "However, we felt that the severe nature of Officer Fowler's actions required the utmost urgency allowed by our contracts with the city."
Accounts still conflict regarding the specific circumstances surrounding the video's release. At some point the video was leaked to social media, although its violent content quickly resulted in it being removed by most sites.
There is still no sign of Fowler's apparent accomplice, a former employee of Samsara Digital whose personal information has not been released by police. Fowler's alleged attempts to silence her led to a two-state manhunt that culminated in a break-in and false fire alarm in a Louisville data center.
While surveillance video shows Fowler apparently sealing her inside an airtight vault and evacuating the oxygen, no body was ever found. The police consider her at large and request any information that may lead to her apprehension.
Fowler's attorneys are refusing any interviews with the press, but coworkers and family report Fowler as a kind, upstanding man who cared for his community.
"I still don't understand how this could have happened," said Terre Haute Police Chief Kent Tucker. "Fowler showed no signs of any irregularities previous to the release of the video."
Some local residents paint a different picture, however. "Fowler was a racist," declared a local man who requested to remain anonymous. "To him you were either a drug dealer or a welfare leech, and he treated you like it."
National civil rights groups have demanded further investigation into the environment at the THPD which allowed this situation to occur. The US Department of Justice has not made a public statement at this time.
Following Fowler's indictment, over 25 accusations of excessive force and racial profiling have been submitted to the THPD. "We will of course treat each complaint with the credibility such serious accusations deserve," Chief Kent said, before speculating that most will be proven fraudulent.