The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
September 16, 2013

NC: Officer Charged in Fatal Shooting of Unarmed Man Who Sought Help After Crash 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


 
A police officer in North Carolina has been charged with involuntary
manslaughter for the fatal shooting of an unarmed African-American man
who was apparently seeking help after crashing his car. According to
police, 24-year-old Jonathan Ferrell knocked on the door of a home in
Charlotte after surviving a car wreck early Saturday morning. The woman
who answered called 911 when she did not recognize Ferrell. Police say
they found Ferrell nearby and fired a Taser at him when he ran toward
them. They say he failed to stop, so one of the officers opened fire,
killing Ferrell, a former football player for Florida A&M University who
had recently gotten engaged. Police initially called the encounter
"appropriate and lawful," but later said the shooting was "excessive"
and that the officer "did not have a lawful right" to fire his gun. The
officer, Randall Kerrick, has been released on bond after turning
himself in.

 

.