Dispute Arises Over Shooting Death of Man in Wheel Chair

The man had allegedly shot and wounded himself. He had been confined to a wheelchair since being shot at 18.

[Warning: Some viewers may find the footage distressing]. According to the Associated Press, the shooting occurred on September 24 in Wilmington, Delaware. Show me your hands! Several shots ring out. A shot is fired, but it is unclear who it came from. “Drop the gun! Drop the gun!” Then he makes a series of movements.

At this point, the officers open fire. He eventually loses consciousness and falls to the ground as blood oozes from his body.

Police Chief Bobby Cummings said officers recovered a.38 caliber from the scene. “I assure that not one of those officers meant to take anyone’s life that day”, he explained.

“The officers perceived what was a threat and they responded and they engaged”.

It was unknown if McDole had been suicidal in shooting himself, according to the police chief. Other officers are later heard screaming, “hands up”. Their guns were pointed toward his stationary wheelchair as they circled, shouting their demands that he let go of the weapon. “Why couldn’t you use rubber bullets to get him out of the wheelchair?”

The fatal shooting of a man in a wheelchair by Wilmington police has some questioning the police’s use of force in the paralyzed man’s shooting death, with a unit in the state attorney general’s office investigating and the local NAACP calling for an independent investigation. “He didn’t have a weapon or anything”, said Phyllis McDole. He was trying to shoot himself up there.

Eugene Smith, Mr McDole’s uncle, said he was with his nephew 15 minutes before the shooting.

“From what I see, they handled it in a justified manor”, he said. It was an execution. “I don’t care if he was black, white, whatever”. McDole was released from prison in 2013 and was living in a nursing home. He had a long criminal record for offences including disorderly conduct and drug possession. He had been shot in the back in 2005 by a friend as they reportedly smoked weed and walked around the neighborhod.

James, who is president of Voices 4 the Voiceless and a member of the CitizenAdvisory Council for the Wilmington Police Department, believes the shooting was justified after watching cellphone video posted online and said officers were in a unsafe situation.

“There’s been so many shootings, and every time it comes out it was a justified shooting”, the NAACP’s Richard Smith told the AP. He has apparently been in the wheelchair since he was 18 following a shooting incident.