The family of a slain Native American in Omaha, Neb., will be filing civil and criminal charges against the Omaha Police Department for killing their relative. American Indians are the biggest target of police violence in Nebraska and country wide, as well.

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A family of a 44-year-old American Indian man killed by Omaha police will be taking criminal and civil action against the City of Omaha and the Omaha Police Department. And on July 7, a demonstration will commence early in the morning outside the statehouse in Lincoln, Neb., and the protest will last well into the night. This protest and civil-awareness event is being sponsored by the family of the victim, Lance McIntire, in conjunction with the Strongheart Warrior Society.

Lance McIntire, married to a beautiful, 29-year-old woman, Ashley McIntire, has three grown children. He made his living as a handy man and repairman for rental properties around the Omaha area, family members said.

"This young man was taken by senseless violence. Lance was my nephew," said Canupa Gluha Mani, leader of the Strongheart Warrior Society, based in South Dakota.

"The police should have more sensitive life-skill training to handle these types of circumstances and we're going to demand that these state legislators come up with laws that make it mandatory for police to handle these situations in a humane and sensible manner by not always just jumping to using the ultimate sanction, killing these victims. Young Native men are the biggest targets," Mani told this writer in a recent telephone interview.

Lance McIntire was Native American and was an enrolled member of The Omaha Tribe. He was murdered Thursday, April 7, near the corner of L Street and 31st Street in Omaha, Neb., while inside his car, a red 2002 Toyota Camry.

Julia Ramirez, Lance's sister, said there were problems with the police report. "There are all sorts of conflicting stories," she told this writer in a recent telephone interview.

"At the crime scene, there was no crime lab present. People who witnessed this say there was no forensics team sent to the scene," Ramirez said.

"And there was evidence tampering at the scene. We have pictures of the car's bumper that fell off the car. In the photos taken at the scene, one picture shows the bumper near the car and another picture shows the bumper moved to another area of the parking lot, far away from the car," Ramirez said.

Hermus Lone Dog, Lance's brother-in-law, who is married to Lance's sister, Dena, also told this writer in a telephone interview that there is conflicting evidence concerning the police shooting itself. Conflicting reports, even in the media, are muddled. One report claims Lance McIntire was killed by an African-American police officer, while another report claims there were two police officers who shot and killed Lance.

All told, media reports claim 16 shots were fired at McIntire and that four shots entered his body. A media report KETV-7 claims that all 16 shots were fired by Omaha Police Department Detective Dale Thomas.

It is not certain whether Lance McIntire had a gun in his car. Although the police claim he had a .22-caliber pistol in his vehicle, witnesses at the scene say they never saw a gun. Also, witnesses claim Lance McIntire did not brandish any type of weapon while he was being fired upon. If there was a gun in the car, witnesses and family members agree, it was in the back seat of the vehicle.

All shots were fired by police from a Glock .40-milimeter, standard-issue police handgun, or possibly even handguns, in the plural sense, Omaha human rights activist D'Shawn Cunningham told this writer, who added that Lance's vehicle was immediately impounded by the Omaha Police Department but it was released to the family a short time later. This also raises questions concerning alleged evidence tampering possibilities on the part of the Omaha Police Department (in regard to possible evidence within McIntire's Toyota Camry), Cunningham alleges.

Inconsistencies of the statement the police gave also differ from the accounts of four witnesses who were at the scene of Lance's murder. Still another inconsistency claims that McIntire was administered CPR at the scene, but all four witnesses say that there was no medical help given after Lance was removed from the vehicle.

"Lance wasn't given any medical attention other than an ambulance that transported him to the hospital," Lone Dog said

When police removed McIntire from the car, the victim was handcuffed and witnesses nearby said the police had their knees digging into his back as he was being cuffed, Hermus Lone Dog told me in a recent telephone interview.

"We don't know if he was still alive. The report said he died at the hospital, but there are witnesses who say that they think he was dead at the scene." Ramirez said.

Ramirez said there were at least four witnesses. One was working at the pawn shop where the incident took place. Sol Pawn Shop at 31^st and L Street. Another witness was across the street at a car wash. And the other two witnesses "are in my sister's pocket," Hermus Lone Dog told me, or, in other words, Julia Ramirez isn't giving up the names of these people to anyone. "They say they will testify if they need to," Lone Dog said. "Nobody wants any retaliation from the police department."

Hermus Lone Dog said all four witnesses agree there were two police shooters. All agree there was no crime lab/forensics team sent to the scene. All agree that Lance wasn't given any medical attention at the scene. And all agree that the police handcuffed him and as they did so, they had their knees in his back.

At the present time, family members do not know if the ambulance leaving the scene had its flashers flashing and its siren sounding or if it just left quietly without any kind of emergency notice, as if a cadaver was being transported, Lone Dog told me.

D'Shawn Cunninghum, a community organizer with an Omaha-based activist group named Stand For The People, also said to this writer during a telephone interview, "One of the main things I noticed is that there was an Officer Distress Call discrepancy. This was an audio recording that was posted online. Omaha police are not supposed to use an Officer Distress Call for this type of incident. Officer Distress Calls are only to be used when a shot is fired. This is a problem, as it gives the idea that Lance initiated violence and deserved violence in return when in fact the officers initiated the violence and created a violent situation."

"Another thing I noticed was that in one newspaper article, the officers said they didn't know Lance was in the vehicle. Another newspaper article said (to Action 3 News -- KMTV News) the police knew Lance was in the vehicle and they followed him. If you read between the lines of the KMTV News article, it appears from what the police said, that they followed Lance around for two or three hours."

"I've dealt with these gang units before and they seem to have ID-ed Lance as a gang member. There is no evidence that Lance was a gang member," Cunningham said.

The officer who shot him was black. All four witnesses said a second unnamed officer also shot McIntire. Lance was shot and hit four times but was shot at numerous times. According to media reports, 16 shots were fired by .40 Glock Standard Police Issue firearm(s). Lance had a .22 caliber handgun in his car, according to the papers. No other guns were inside the car, Cunningham said.

Even the gun that was recovered was not loaded. "It was never mentioned in any report that Lance McIntire pointed the gun at the police and witnesses did not say this either. The gun was found in the back seat after he was shot and wasn't even in arm's length. We're saying that since the gun was found after the fact, this contradicts the officer's statement. There might not have even been a gun in the car," Cunningham said.

Ashley McIntire said, "The family is helping me through this. We were married June 27, 2013. We've been married almost three years."

She said she has never seen any indication her husband was in a street gang.

"He was happy-go-lucky. He'd give someone the shirt off his back if they needed it. He was always smiling. He was a hard worker," she told me.

"He did home repairs for different rental properties. He stayed busy with this when there was work to be done. We lived on the North Side of Omaha," Ashley McIntire said.

"I live with his sister now out here in Wilber, Neb. It's a suburb of Omaha," she said.

She admits she's had some long days since her husband's murder. "We went to powwows together. And baseball games, cookouts, and family functions. Now with him gone, it won't be the same."

Ashley told me that she and Lance's other family members plan to take civil and criminal action against the Omaha Police Department and the City of Omaha.

The family doesn't have a lawyer yet, however. "We can't afford one. But we're holding fundraisers hoping to raise money to pay an attorney a retainer fee to secure legal help on these matters," Ashley McIntire confided.

"There is a definite pattern and practice here in Omaha, involving police using terrible violence," Cunningham said.

"In fact, last year, in Douglas County, where Omaha is located, we had one of the highest rates of officer-involved homicides in the country. And in particular, South Omaha has had four or five gang-unit involved incidents where these gang units apprehended someone - just like Lance - who ended up dead," he said.

"Each time, there has never been any shots fired by these victims. This is only going back three years, though, so who knows what happened before all this?" Cunningham said.

"And only one other time, besides the incident involving Lance McIntire, was there even a gun in the victim's car. The other two times there were no guns in the victims' cars," Cunningham said.

"These people all ended up dead. There was never any danger that these cops faced," he said.

"The gang units roll around in unmarked cars. The cops wear plain clothes. Nobody would know they're police if you saw them in the street," Cunningham said.

"There is a North Omaha gang unit and a South Omaha gang unit," he said.

"The police took the title of Lance's car in November of last year and we know that was how the ID-ed his vehicle. They handed me this evidence bag last year and Lance's car's title was in it," Cunningham told this writer.

Omaha.com gives this account of the circumstances of Lance McIntire's slaying: "(On April 7) At 4:16 p.m. afternoon shift Omaha Police Gang Unit Officers received information that the red Toyota Camry was located in the parking lot of Sol's Jewelry and Loan at 3110 "L" Street. The vehicle was unoccupied. Within a few minutes after Omaha Police Gang Unit Officers arrived at Sol's, they observed two adult males exit the store and walk to the vehicle. One of the adult males, who was later identified as Lance McIntire (Date of Birth 12-15-71) entered into the driver's seat and locked the doors of the vehicle as Gang Officers approached the vehicle. The second male party, who was later identified as Gregory Day (Date of Birth 06-09-67), was detained by Omaha Police Gang Officers before he was able to enter the vehicle.

"Mr. McIntire refused to comply with loud verbal commands given by the officers to exit the vehicle. The officers attempted to break out the window of the vehicle to apprehend Mr. McIntire, but were unsuccessful. Additional Gang Officers arrived at the scene to assist in detaining the suspects," the Omaha.com article continues.

"A total of five marked and unmarked Omaha Police Department Gang Unit vehicles attempted to block in the Camry. Two of the vehicles were equipped with red and blue emergency lights that were activated. A total of eight Gang Unit Officers had arrived on scene.

"The Gang Unit Officers were dressed in police tactical vests. The vests are clearly marked with the word Police and an Omaha Police Badge on the vest. Three witnesses, including Mr. Day were interviewed by the Officer-Involved Investigations Team detectives. During their interviews, they all stated that they clearly recognized the Gang Unit Officers as Police Officers," the Omaha.com story suggests.

"Omaha Police Gang Unit Officer Dale Thomas, along with his partner Officer Rob Wiley, was the last cruiser that arrived at Sol's. Officer Thomas parked his marked cruiser facing in the direction of the Camry. The red and blue emergency lights on Officer Thomas' cruiser were activated. Officer Thomas got out of his cruiser and walked to the rear of the cruiser to the open trunk. Officer Thomas was looking inside of the trunk for a glass breaking tool. Officer Thomas then walked from the rear of his cruiser around to the driver's side. Officer Thomas was positioned in a seven and a half foot gap between his cruiser and another Omaha Police Gang Unit cruiser when Mr. McIntire accelerated and drove the Camry directly towards him," the article reads.

(Article changed on June 5, 2016 at 11:29)

Authors Bio:

Samuel Vargo worked as a full-time reporter and editor for more than 20 years at a number of daily newspapers and business journals. He was also an adjunct English professor at colleges and universities in Ohio, West Virginia, Mississippi and Florida for about a decade. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and an M.A. in English (both degrees were awarded by Youngstown State University).