FBI agent kills man in subway station, family demands answers
The fight between the victim and the agent was caught on surveillance video.
The family of a D.C. man who was fatally shot in a subway station by an FBI agent is demanding answers into what led to his killing.
The shooting occurred on Dec. 7 inside the Metro Center station where the victim, 28-year-old Troy “TJ” Bullock and the off-duty agent got into a fight that was caught on surveillance video, The Washington Post reports.
During the melee, Bullock shoves the agent so hard that they both tumble over a wall by the platform and fall eight feet below. That’s when the shooting happened out of view of the camera. It remains unclear what sparked the altercation or why the agent, whose name wasn’t released, shot Bullock.
Police claim Bullock was in possession of a firearm when he was shot but have not said if he displayed it to the agent. The family’s attorney is asking members of the community to come forward if they have additional footage of the shooting incident.
Bullock’s family said he was a generous, caring, and hard-working man who was looking forward to the birth of his first child with his fiancée.
Family members gathered with their attorney at a press conference near D.C.’s federal district courthouse on Tuesday. The abolitionist group Harriet’s Wildest Dreams joined the family in their call for accountability from the FBI agent.
“One of the most disheartening parts of this for the parents … is the unanswered questions,” said Jade Mathis, the family’s attorney, at the news conference, The Washington Post reports.
“What exactly happened, step-by-step, on December the seventh at 6:21 p.m., that caused their life to change forever?” Mathis continued.
The family is demanding an independent Justice Department investigation into the killing. According to Mathis, the family hasn’t seen Bullock’s body nor were they contacted since after the shooting.
“TJ could still be here. TJ didn’t have to be shot several times by an FBI agent,” said Nee Nee Taylor, a co-founder of Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, at the news conference. “This is why we have the courts.”
Bullock’s aunt, Sherlene Bullock-Turnage, is calling for the prosecution of the FBI agent “to the fullest extent,” she said during the news conference.
The FBI said in a statement posted on Twitter that the shooting is “under review by the FBI’s Inspection Division.”
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