Alabama police on Monday suggested that the black man fatally shot by an officer at a mall on Thanksgiving night should not have brandished a weapon after a shooting broke out.
“We can say with certainty [Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr.] brandished a gun during the seconds following the gunshots, which instantly heightened the sense of threat to approaching police officers responding to the chaotic scene,” the city of Hoover, Ala., and the Hoover Police Department said in a statement, according to The Associated Press.
{mosads}”We extend sympathy to the family of Emantic J. Bradford of Hueytown, who was shot and killed during Hoover Police efforts to secure the scene in the seconds following the original altercation and shooting. The loss of human life is a tragedy under any circumstances,” the statement added.
Bradford was shot and killed by a police officer who was responding to reports of gunfire at Hoover’s Riverchase Galleria near Birmingham last Thursday.
Bradford, an Army veteran who had a permit to carry a weapon, according to his father, reportedly pulled out his weapon after shots rung out in the mall. The incident left an 18-year-old male and a 12-year-old female wounded.
Police initially believed Bradford fired the shots. But they have since said “he likely did not fire the rounds that injured the 18-year-old victim.”
Bradford’s parents said on CNN that they have still not talked to police about the incident. The two hired national civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump over the weekend.
Crump told AP that several witnesses have already reached out to the family saying that the officer shot Bradford “within milliseconds.”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a good guy with a gun. If you’re black, the police shoot and kill you and ask questions later,” Crump said.
The Hoover police said in its statement that “body camera video and other available video was immediately turned over to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department as part of the investigation.”
“Now, all evidence has been handed over to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) to lead the investigation. Release of any video will be done as ALEA deems appropriate during the investigation.”