Delaware Cops Fatally Shoot Man in Wheelchair

Family says it was unjustified; police say he was armed
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 25, 2015 1:59 AM CDT

Angry relatives are calling it an "execution." Jeremy McDole, a 28-year-old man paralyzed from the waist down, was shot dead in his wheelchair on a street in Wilmington, Del., the News Journal reports. Police say they received a 911 call Wednesday afternoon about a man who had shot himself with a handgun and McDole was still armed when they arrived, reports CNN. The city's chief of police say McDole was ordered to put his hands up and when he "began to remove the weapon from his waist, the officers engaged him" and fired the fatal shots. The four officers involved have been placed on leave while the shooting is investigated.

Video of the encounter posted on YouTube shows officers shouting at McDole to drop his weapon, although the .38 handgun police say they found isn't visible in the video. Relatives, including McDole's mother, say he never had a weapon, the News Journal reports. "This was murder," she told reporters. "He shot my son like he was roadkill." An uncle calls it an "execution" and says he was with McDole 15 minutes earlier and didn't see a gun. McDole—who was paralyzed after being shot in the back in 2005—was black; police have not disclosed the race of the four officers involved. Last night, Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams and Delaware Gov. Jack Markell visited a vigil outside the home of McDole's mother and promised that the family would get answers, the AP reports. (More police shooting stories.)

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