Disturbing surveillance captures moment man shot dead by police in Walmart
Disturbing surveillance captures moment man shot dead by police in Walmart
Surveillance video was released Wednesday showing the moment that 22-year-old John Crawford III was fatally shot by police holding a toy rifle in an Ohio Walmart.
The Plain Dealer reports Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine released the tape after a grand jury found the officers’ actions were justified.
A full video presented by the Plain Dealer shows Crawford standing in the back of the store minutes before the shooting, holding a pellet gun in one hand and speaking on a cellphone with the other.
The video seems to contradict the details in the 911 call by Ronald Ritchie, who told dispatchers Crawford was loading the gun and ‘pointing it at people.’
‘He just pointed it at two children,’ Ritchie says at one point. On the video, a woman and two children have walked into frame, but Crawford appears not to notice them.
Moments later, two police officers’ feet appear on another camera angle before Crawford is shot, falling to his side, and the officers close in on him.
The surveillance tape has no sound of the incident. Police claimed Crawford failed to follow orders to put down the gun.
‘The final analysis is that my son was murdered,’ Crawford’s father, John Crawford, Jr., told the Enquirer.
‘All this nonsense of ‘Put the weapon down’ two or three times,’ Crawford, Jr., added. ‘There was no reaction from him. There couldn’t have been a cadence given.’
The Department of Justice has said it will look into the shooting and Crawford’s family has pushed for a federal investigation to see if race played a role in the incident.
