News / Human Rights / Editor's Choice

US police killed black man who did not fire in Alabama shooting

Saturday, 24 November 2018 10:18 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 24 November 2018 1:57 PM ]

Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr.

Police in the US state of Alabama have admitted that they might have shot and killed the wrong man while pursuing a suspect involved in a mall shooting that left two people injured.

On Friday night, Alabama police released a statement saying the black man they killed likely did not fire the rounds that wounded an 18-year-old and 12-year-old at the Riverchase Galleria in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover on Thanksgiving night.

The victim of police fire was identified as Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr.

The shooting occurred after a fight in the mall shortly before 10 pm (11 pm ET), near the Footaction and JC Penney stores on the second level on Thursday.

Police initially said Bradford fired the shots, but later on they said the actual suspect was still at-large.

“Over the past 20 hours, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office investigators and crime scene technicians have interviewed numerous individuals and examined several critical evidentiary items,’’ Hoover police Capt. Gregg Rector said.

“New evidence now suggests that while Mr. Bradford may have been involved in some aspect of the altercation, he likely did not fire the rounds that injured the 18-year-old victim," he continued.

The 18-year-old male was shot several times and rushed to the hospital. The 12-year-old girl on the scene was also injured.

Breaking: At least three people injured after a shooting at Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, Alabama. The suspected gunman is dead. pic.twitter.com/xbvzOD8WCg
— PM Breaking News (@PMBreakingNews) November 23, 2018

Earlier on Friday, a Hoover police officer claimed that Bradford was seen fleeing the scene brandishing a handgun, adding that he was “engaged, shot and killed.”

However, following an initial investigation, the police found out that Bradford was not the suspect who injured the two teenagers.

The police said that they “regret” that their earlier incorrect statement which claimed that the shooter had been killed.

“We regret that our initial media release was not totally accurate, but new evidence indicates that it was not,” Rector said. “We remain committed to maintaining the integrity of this investigation, helping determine the facts involved, and assisting ALEA in their efforts.”

US police officers have shot fatally shot thousands of people in recent years, with a disproportionate number of those being black, because racist white police officers consider the black people criminals.