Video shows Delaware police fatally shoot man in wheelchair
Wednesday afternoon, Wilmington Police Department says their officers were dispatched to a parking lot where a man was reportedly suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and still armed.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Wilmington Police Department says their officers were dispatched to a parking lot where a man was reportedly suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound — and he was still armed.
Police said that they observed the suspect, who was later identified as Jeremy McDole, holding a revolver-style handgun and repeatedly ordered him to drop his weapon.
In the YouTube video, an officer shouts, “He’s over here! Show me your hands!”
A single gunshot is heard then, “Show me your hands! Drop the gun! Drop the gun! Drop the gun!”
Several officers run to the scene and continue to shout, “Hands up!”
McDole is seen adjusting and shifting in his wheelchair, but as soon as his hands appear to move toward his waist, the officers open fire.
Chief Bobby Cummings said McDole’s movements indicated he was about to “remove the weapon from his waist.” Yet his family is telling a different story.
“This was murder,” McDole’s mother, Phyllis, said before a Thursday police press conference about the shooting, Delaware’s News Journal reported. “He shot my son like he was roadkill.”
Due to standard policy, the four officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave, and Chief Cummings, along with Mayor Williams, have both apologized to the McDole family.
The case is still under investigation.
You can check out the video above. Please be warned that it is graphic.
