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Neighbors shocked by fatal police-involved shooting in Davenport

Neighbors said they were shocked by several hours of police activity that ended with officers shooting and killing a 54-year-old man in Davenport, Iowa.

Neighbors said they were shocked by several hours of police activity that ended with officers shooting and killing a man in Davenport, Iowa.

Police identified the man killed as James Allen Cave, 54, of Davenport. Officers were sent to the 2800 block of Fair Avenue after someone reported a man waving guns around and threatening to hurt himself just after 7 p.m. Monday, September 22, 2014.

A police department spokesman said Cave was alone in a garage and may have wanted to be shot by police.

Trained negotiators established contact with Cave a short time later, and continued to negotiate with him for about three hours.

“What I actually heard was the negotiator trying to talk the neighbor out of the garage, telling him, ‘Come out, there’s help for you, come out,’ but he didn’t,” said neighbor Tamera Sturgill.

The heavy police presence continued for several hours until Cave, armed with a weapon in his waistband and another in his hand, reportedly advanced toward officers, the police spokesperson said.

Rebecca Jones says she saw activity outside, went back into her home and then heard the sound of gunshots.

“Stuff like this doesn’t happen here,” Jones said.

Police officers shot Cave. He died of his injuries.

“I’m not going to say ‘just another day in the neighborhood,’ because, it was abnormal,” said Virgie, whose daughter has lived for six years near the home where Cave was shot. “So, it was a big surprise, a shock, really.”

“I just heard two loud bangs, and I thought it was just a car backfiring or something normal,” said Ami Reiling, who lives a block away from the location of the shooting. “I was shocked. It is just not something I would expect in our neighborhood.”

An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday, September 24 at the University of Iowa Hospitals.

The identities of the officers involved in the incident had not yet been released.

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