White North Carolina police officer gives details of events in black man’s

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Randall Kerrick, who is white, is charged with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death in September 2013 of Jonathan Ferrell, who was black.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said Ferrell ran toward the officers when they arrived.

Prosecutor Teresa Postell asked Kerrick why he turned off his dashcam before reaching the home where there had been a breaking and entering call. The resident called police, and three officers responded.

Kerrick said he thought he fired four to six times bullets at him, but said he now knows he fired at least 12 bullets.

Kerrick told the judges that he thought his gun wasn’t functioning properly because the strong black man kept coming at him and he kept firing at him.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer accused in the shooting death of an unarmed black man almost two years ago is telling his side of the story to the jury hearing his case. “I didn’t think there was any way Officer Little could have missed”, he said. Kerrick replied that the statement was taken shortly after he’d fought for his life and he apologized for any inconsistencies. “That he was going to assault me, that he was going to take my gun from me”.

Kerrick will be back on the stand on Friday when prosecutors are expected to begin cross-examination.

Prosecutors say Kerrick overreacted when he killed Ferrell. “No sir”, Kerrick answered while crying. Kerrick said Ferrell punched him and jerked at his firearm.

As the state searched for the specific issue of its objection, defense attorneys Michael Greene and George Laughrun tried to load the evidence onto a laptop at their desk.

On Thursday, Little testified that when he first saw Ferrell, he was pacing and hitting his thighs with his hands.

Dash cam video from a third officer’s cruiser showed Ferrell walking casually toward the officers, then suddenly running after Little pointed a Taser at Ferrell. He said he told Ferrell to stop as he approached.

The officer’s was the last testimony of the day Thursday. At times Little struggled to answer Harris’ questions.

In the witness stand, Little watched as Ferrell appeared and walked casually toward Little’s vehicle. One of the officers deployed his Taser, but it was unsuccessful.

“Everything happened so fast, I didn’t have time”, Little said.

Little says he gave Ferrell the command to stop, but that wasn’t heard on the dashcam video, either.