This is the shocking moment a disabled man in a wheelchair was shot dead in the street by Delaware police.Officers had been responding to a 911 call that someone had attempted to shoot themselves, when they arrived to find Jeremy McDole ‘still armed with a handgun.’
Cops opened fire on McDole, who was paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by a friend aged 18, after repeated requests for him to ‘drop the gun.’McDole’s mother, Phyllis, has criticized the shooting as ‘unjust’ during a police news conference.
The incident, which took place in a Wilmington street, Delaware on Wednesday afternoon was caught on camera by stunned witnesses who uploaded it to You Tube.
The 1-minute-and-19-second-long clip opened with an officer, armed with a shotgun, shouting for the wheelchair-bound McDole to ‘show his hands.’
A shot is fired just seconds later, before more cops move in shouting at the 28-year-old: ‘Show me your hands! Drop the gun! Drop the gun!’
The 1-minute-and-19-second-long clip opened with an officer, armed with a shotgun, shouting for the wheelchair-bound McDole to ‘show his hands.’
A shot is fired just seconds later, before more cops move in shouting at the 28-year-old: ‘Show me your hands! Drop the gun! Drop the gun!’
McDole appeared to be bleeding although the footage does not make clear if this was from the officer’s first shot or if he had been previously injured in the alleged suicide attempt. His handgun is not easily identifiable in the video.
He is then seen putting his hands into his pockets at which point he in gunned down in a flurry of bullets with around ten shots fired.
McDole slumps over and falls to ground, dead. Cops said a .38-caliber handgun was recovered at the scene.
Police Chief Bobby Cummings said during a news conference that none of the officers involved ‘intended to take anyone’s life that day.’
He said that police had told him repeatedly to put his gun down but had ‘engaged him’ after he went to remove the weapon from his waist.
He is then seen putting his hands into his pockets at which point he in gunned down in a flurry of bullets with around ten shots fired.
McDole slumps over and falls to ground, dead. Cops said a .38-caliber handgun was recovered at the scene.
Police Chief Bobby Cummings said during a news conference that none of the officers involved ‘intended to take anyone’s life that day.’
He said that police had told him repeatedly to put his gun down but had ‘engaged him’ after he went to remove the weapon from his waist.
But Mrs McDole disputed the cops’ version of events and interrupted the conference to demand answers.
‘He was in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down. There’s video showing that he didn’t pull a weapon, she said.
McDole’s sister Letesha Green also criticized the cops for not attempting to use non-lethal force before opening fire.
‘Why couldn’t you taser this man out of his wheelchair,’ she asked, reported NBC Philadelphia. ‘Why couldn’t you use rubber bullets to get him out of the wheelchair?’
However, Cummings said he had also viewed the video and believed the four officers involved – who have all been placed on administrative duty – acted correctly.
‘The officers perceived what was a threat and they responded and they engaged,’ he said, adding that only a ‘thorough investigation’ would reveal if they should have taken a different course of action.
Wilmington Police Department’s criminal investigation and professional standards unit is now investigating the incident as is the Delaware Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights and Public Trust which investigates all police fatal shootings.
The findings will determine whether the officers involved are to be charged.
Witnesses claim that McDole may have been trying to kill himself.
‘He was in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down. There’s video showing that he didn’t pull a weapon, she said.
McDole’s sister Letesha Green also criticized the cops for not attempting to use non-lethal force before opening fire.
‘Why couldn’t you taser this man out of his wheelchair,’ she asked, reported NBC Philadelphia. ‘Why couldn’t you use rubber bullets to get him out of the wheelchair?’
However, Cummings said he had also viewed the video and believed the four officers involved – who have all been placed on administrative duty – acted correctly.
‘The officers perceived what was a threat and they responded and they engaged,’ he said, adding that only a ‘thorough investigation’ would reveal if they should have taken a different course of action.
Wilmington Police Department’s criminal investigation and professional standards unit is now investigating the incident as is the Delaware Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights and Public Trust which investigates all police fatal shootings.
The findings will determine whether the officers involved are to be charged.
Witnesses claim that McDole may have been trying to kill himself.
‘He pulled out his gun. He was trying to shoot himself up there,’ Sean Owens, who was at the scene, told NBC Philadelphia. ‘I think he may have shot himself once or twice, but he shot the other shots in the air.’
But a local bishop who has counselled McDole in the past said he had not shown any signs of being depressed or suicidal.
While McDole’s uncle, Eugene Smith, said he had seen his nephew, who is black, 15 minutes before the shooting and had not noticed a gun.
‘He had a book bag, but I never seen a gun,’ he said. ‘It was an execution. That’s what it was. I don’t care if he was black, white, whatever.’
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have now called for a special prosecutor to look into the shooting as not to have ‘cops investigating cops.’
Late Thursday, about 100 people gathered outside of Phyllis McDole’s home for a candlelight vigil and expressed their frustrations about the shooting.
Williams and Delaware Gov. Jack Markell stopped by and expressed their condolences.
Flowers and tributes have since been left at the scene.
But a local bishop who has counselled McDole in the past said he had not shown any signs of being depressed or suicidal.
While McDole’s uncle, Eugene Smith, said he had seen his nephew, who is black, 15 minutes before the shooting and had not noticed a gun.
‘He had a book bag, but I never seen a gun,’ he said. ‘It was an execution. That’s what it was. I don’t care if he was black, white, whatever.’
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have now called for a special prosecutor to look into the shooting as not to have ‘cops investigating cops.’
Late Thursday, about 100 people gathered outside of Phyllis McDole’s home for a candlelight vigil and expressed their frustrations about the shooting.
Williams and Delaware Gov. Jack Markell stopped by and expressed their condolences.
Flowers and tributes have since been left at the scene.
McDole’s uncle said that his disabled nephew had gotten out of jail last year and had been living in a nursing home.
In November, the 28-year-old, who had a lengthy criminal record going back to 2005which included drug possesion adn disorderly conduct, had violated his parole
He had been paralyzed from the waist down when he was just a teenager in 2005 after being shot in the back by a friend with whom he had been smoking marijuana with, according to court documents.
McDole initially told police that his friend Randal Matoo shot him, but later testified that he didn’t know who shot him.
However, Mattoo was convicted of first-degree assault and possession of a firearm during a felony.
The judge at the trial said both McDole and Mattoo had paid a terrible price for the shooting.
‘There’s a horrible penalty that both of you, the victim, Mr. McDole, and you the defendant, Mr. Matoo, are going to pay for whatever was behind this.’
Mayor Dennis Williams announced earlier this year that officers would have body cameras by the end of 2015.
In November, the 28-year-old, who had a lengthy criminal record going back to 2005which included drug possesion adn disorderly conduct, had violated his parole
He had been paralyzed from the waist down when he was just a teenager in 2005 after being shot in the back by a friend with whom he had been smoking marijuana with, according to court documents.
McDole initially told police that his friend Randal Matoo shot him, but later testified that he didn’t know who shot him.
However, Mattoo was convicted of first-degree assault and possession of a firearm during a felony.
The judge at the trial said both McDole and Mattoo had paid a terrible price for the shooting.
‘There’s a horrible penalty that both of you, the victim, Mr. McDole, and you the defendant, Mr. Matoo, are going to pay for whatever was behind this.’
Mayor Dennis Williams announced earlier this year that officers would have body cameras by the end of 2015.
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