Video Shows Police Shooting 21 Year Old Was Unjustified
An attorney for the family of a man fatally shot by police at a Wal-Mart store said Tuesday that surveillance video of the shooting shows it was unjustified, and the state's top lawman said a special grand jury will begin considering whether charges are appropriate against the officers.
Attorney Michael Wright, who represents the family of 21-year-old John Crawford III, said in a statement that surveillance video of the shooting "showed that absolutely this young man ... was killed without justification or cause."
Police in the Dayton suburb of Beavercreek said they shot Crawford on Aug. 5 at the Wal-Mart after he waved an air rifle at customers and refused officers' orders to drop it.
Wright said that the video shows that's "absolutely incorrect" and that Crawford was simply holding in one hand his cellphone and in the other hand an air rifle he had picked up off a store shelf and intended to buy.
A Beavercreek police spokesman did not immediately respond to messages for comment Tuesday.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Arkansas, provided material to law enforcement officials for their investigation.