Family and supporters of a 22-year-old African American man shot and killed by police in an Ohio Walmart continued to push for answers more than two weeks after the incident.
John Crawford III was shot by police Aug. 5 after police in the Dayton suburb of Beavercreek responded to a customer’s 911 call saying a man was brandishing a weapon. Crawford was, in fact, holding an air rifle sold in Walmart stores, according to police.
Police say that Crawford did not put down the gun when requested by officers, who opened fire.
In response to the incident, Ohio Atty. Gen. Mike DeWine appointed a special prosecutor who will present evidence to a grand jury in mid-September to determine if charges should be filed against the officers.
Beavercreek police have released video and audio records from police dashboard cameras and dispatchers. The recordings do not depict the shooting but capture the police response from outside the store.
Crawford’s relatives say they remain frustrated by what they see as a slow state response and the refusal of officials to publicly release store surveillance video. The family believes the surveillance video shows that Crawford made no threatening moves toward police, according to attorney Michael Wright, who represents the family.
On Saturday, protesters gathered outside the store to call on authorities to release the video.
“There has been so much negativity and so much misinformation related to their son, that they want to show their son did nothing wrong,” Wright said Saturday.
Wright told the Los Angeles Times that Crawford was facing away from the officers when he was shot, and that he never pointed the weapon in their direction or made any threatening moves.
Source LA Times
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