Private autopsy shows cops shot Emantic Bradford Jr., man mistaken for Black Friday mall shooter, 3 times in the back
According to USA Today, an independent autopsy commissioned by the Bradford family shows that Emantic Bradford Jr. was shot from behind three times by police during the mall shooting over Black Friday weekend. According to witness accounts on the scene, Bradford had been assisting victims to safety, but the police still mistook the 21-year-old man for the perpetrator of the attack.
Bradford family attorney Benjamin Crump told USA Today, “The evidence corroborates the testimony of multiple witnesses who said EJ was trying to help others… The findings are devastating and heartbreaking to EJ’s family, compounding the shattering impact of this unnecessary and unwarranted killing.” Crump then called on the Hoover PD to release evidence related to the shooting of Bradford, including video and the medical examiner’s report.
However, Hoover police have said they will not release any information regarding the death of Bradford before the state’s investigation of the shooting is complete and also urged the family to give the results to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
At a press conference Monday, Bradford’s father, Emantic Bradford Sr., called the officer who shot his son “a coward” before declaring, ” What you have done is destroy my family.” Hoover PD has apologized for declaring Bradford Jr. the shooter without evidence, but that has not stopped numerous protests from breaking out in the town, which is approximately 10 miles south of Birmingham. The U.S. Marshalls have arrested a man they think actually was responsible for the mall shooting, 20-year-old Erran Martez Dequan Brown and he has been charged with attempted murder.
"My son was murdered by this officer…That ain't training. That's cowardice."
The father of a 21-year-old man mistakenly killed by a police officer in an Alabama mall says an independent autopsy shows his son was shot three times in the back. https://t.co/7pz0u8zpvN pic.twitter.com/ttIb2fRj8G
— ABC News (@ABC) December 3, 2018
The officer who shot Bradford, whose name has yet to be released, is being placed on paid administrative leave while the Hoover PD investigates his actions. Protestors have called for boycotts in Hoover, and for people to stop spending money both in the Galleria where Bradford was shot and at places like Sam’s Club in Hoover, where they blocked the doors in order to keep people from shopping there. Stores in the mall closed on December 3rd in response to demonstrations, and protestors also briefly shut down a portion of Interstate 459.
HAPPENING NOW: Protests at the Riverchase Galleria mall in Hoover, Alabama where Emantic J Fitzgerald Bradford, Jr was shot & kiled by Birmingham Police. pic.twitter.com/e8GO0ExYzD
— Kari (@SneakerPhetish) November 27, 2018