Police release bodycam video of fatal shooting of man squatting at car
Bodycam video released Monday seems to show a man slowly complying with police before he is shot dead
Police in Charlotte, N.C., have released bodycam video that shows a policewoman fatally shot an armed man who did not point his gun at officers, USA Today is reporting.
The footage, released Monday, shows two cops approaching Danquirs Napoleon Franklin in a Burger King parking lot on March 25 after receiving two calls about a man with a gun, the newspaper reports. About four minutes before, a 911 caller alerted them that the man had entered the Burger King and was trying to fight employees.
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Franklin, 27, is seen squatting at the open door of a car as police are heard repeatedly shouting to Franklin to put down his gun. As the officers approach, Franklin does not move, according to USA Today.
“Sir, put the gun down,” Officer Wende Kerl of Charlotte-Mecklenberg Police, who is wearing a bodycam, is heard saying. “Drop the gun!” she orders.
A woman walks up to Franklin and police shout at her to get out of the way. Franklin raises his right hand, with an object in it that he apparently got from the door’s pocket, as he continues to face the open door of the car, USA Today reports.
As Franklin lowers his right hand, a shot from Kerl’s gun is heard. Franklin rolls onto his side and an unidentified person in the passenger seat of the car is seen placing their hands on the dashboard at the officer’s command.
Kerl then reaches under Franklin’s body, saying, “I gotta pick up the gun.” The video then ends.
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The Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP has blasted the incident.
The officer “didn’t view Danquirs Franklin as a man, but saw him as a danger,” NAACP chapter president Corine Mack told USA Today. “This female officer shot this man while he was adhering to her commands.”
Kerl is a 24-year veteran of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, the news organization reported. She is on administrative leave.
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Police released the video after pressure from community residents. Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles urged residents to protest peacefully.
“What I always think about is how we respond as a community will reflect how we honor the memory of Danquirs Franklin,” Lyles said.
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