In a sad turn of events in yesterdays “Black Friday” shooting, it seems that the police have killed an innocent man according to theroot.com. It appears the police were quick to praise a “Hero” cop and damn what people have described a “thug”.
When the Hoover, Ala. Police Department explained why one of their officers shot and killed 21-year-old Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr. in an Alabama mall on Thursday night, they did not say “maybe.” They said they knew their brave officer had stopped an active shooter. They did not equivocate. They told the world that they had killed a criminal.
Now they are saying maybe they made a mistake.
In the aftermath, the Hoover Police Department issued a statement and held a press conference telling a simple story: Two young men began fighting inside the mall. One man drew a gun and shot an 18-year-old man twice. He also shot a 12-year-old. As the gunman fled, cops saw him, he “brandished” a pistol and the police shot the suspect dead. The end.
This is where it gets sketchy.
That “suspect” was Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., whom HPD Captain Greg Rector had already publicly described as an armed shooter who shot an 18-year-old and a child in a crowded shopping area.
Then, late Friday evening, the Hoover police chief issued another statement about the 21-year-old who they shot, killed and—before his body was even cold—told his community he had unquestionably shot a teenager twice in plain view and endangered hundreds of other citizens.
The Hoover Police Department said: “Oops.”
“New evidence suggests that while Mr. Bradford was likely involved in some aspect of the altercation,” the statement said, “he likely did not fire the rounds that injured the 18-year-old victim.”
“We regret that our initial media release was not totally accurate,” the news release continued, “but new evidence suggests it was not.”
Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr. served in the Army shortly after graduating high school. The police are still looking for the initial shooting suspect. Bradfords father who works in law enforcement has declined to comment on the untimely death of his son. Check Tweets of people debating whether the murder was right or wrong and the police statement and let me know what you think in the mentions. Rest in Peace.