Man who allegedly shot U.S. cop to be extradited

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Man who allegedly shot U.S. cop to be extradited

CTV.ca News Staff

A Toronto judge ruled Friday that a man should be extradited to the U.S. to face attempted murder charges for a 35-year-old shooting.

Reputed former Black Panther Joseph Pannell is alleged to have shot and paralyzed Chicago police officer Terrance Knox.

He's been wanted in the U.S. since skipping bail on two occasions, the first time in 1971 and the second in 1973, when he fled to Canada.

Pannell, who went by the name Gary Freeman, had worked as a researcher with the Toronto Public Library for 13 years and had lived in Mississauga, for more than two decades.

After the ruling, his wife and four children held a protest outside the U.S. Consultate, directly across from the court house.

"We all have bleeding hearts right now, but this is not over," said Pannell's wife Natercia Coelho.

"He came here because he feared for his life. What happened to him was wrong in '69, and what happened today is wrong.

"One thing that you learn, we will not surrender."

Pannell's wife and four children had hoped the court would not allow the extradition.

They plan to file an appeal of the court decision.

When the shooting occurred in 1969, Knox was patrolling high school grounds in the Kensington District of Chicago. The officer stopped a 19-year-old on the street to ask him why he wasn't in school.

Pannell allegedly pulled out a 9 mm handgun and fired 13 times. Three shots struck Knox, severing an artery in his arm and leaving him partially paralyzed.

In the summer of 2004 American authorities started to catch-up with the suspected former Black Panther.

Investigators sent Pannell's fingerprints to Canada. After a check, authorities north of the border found a match. It came from a 1983 customs violation where Pannell failed to declare a camera he bought during a trip to the U.S.

It has not been proven that Pannell was a member of the militant black rights group.