The policemen with raised weapons repeatedly warned the disabled man, Jeremy McDole, 28, to put down his gun.
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The Wilmington News Journal reports that the man who appears to be bleeding and trying to get up eventually slides his hand up his thigh toward his waist when officers open fire.
McDole and Cummings spoke at the same news conference about the incident.
The state Justice Department’s Office of Civil Rights and Public Trust were in Wilmington on Friday investigating the scene of Wednesday’s incident in which police officers shot to death a man in a wheelchair. The video does not show if he was ever holding a gun as the officers fired.
“I’m sorry for the officers and family of Jeremy McDole, as this encounter unfortunately ended with the loss of his life”, Cummings said in one statement.
Mr McDole is seen moving around in his wheelchair, before he reaches into his jeans. McDole moves his hands around in his lap and appears to put one in his pocket, when the cops fire their weapons at least ten times.
Cummings explained, “When Mr. McDole began to remove the weapon from his waist, the officers engaged him”.
“Only our thorough investigation will reveal that”, said Mr Cummings, who said he did not know whether Mr McDole was depressed or suicidal, or why he might have shot himself. The chief said police found a.38 caliber gun at McDole’s side. All four have been placed on administrative leave since the shooting. The state agency investigates all police shootings that result in injury or death. The police department’s criminal investigation and professional standards units are also assisting. Many came to pay their respects to the man they believe was unjustly killed.
“We can not continue having all our folks being shot and nobody held accountable”. “Everything can’t be justified”.
McDole said her son was a happy man who loved spending time with family, especially his nephew.
“I have a lot of confidence in the attorney general”, Markell said when asked about the NAACP’s demand for a special prosecutor.
“They shot my son so much he fell out of the wheelchair”, she said breaking into tears. “He didn’t have a weapon or anything”, said Phyllis McDole.
I’m sure we’re going to have some armchair analysts asking why McDole wasn’t tased, and the simple answer to that question is that you don’t respond to a lethal force threat with a less lethal response like a taser or a chemical spray.
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At the very end of the video, where McDole falls to the ground within a couple of seconds after a fusillade of shots, there is already a significant quantity of blood on the back of his underwear.
