On 38 occasions they fired their weapon, when the man ran towards them with a knife.
Five Detroit police officers (Michigan, USA) fired 38 shots in three seconds at a 20-year-old African-American man, schizophrenic, following he pounced with a knife on them in the middle of a psychotic episode, city authorities reported.
During a press conference, Detroit Police Chief James White presented body camera footage of one of the officers involved in the shooting last Sunday.
In the video, the uniformed officers are heard negotiating and trying to reassure the victim, identified as Porter Burks.
“You have no problem, drop the knife and we will get you help,” one of the policemen is heard saying.
However, the young man refused to drop the weapon and approached the officers, so they opened fire, hitting him at least 15 times.
A statement regarding the Oct. 2, 2022, officer-involved shooting and pending litigation: pic.twitter.com/tovsMgknAN
— Detroit Police News (@detroitpolice) October 6, 2022
The agents stated that the victim was dangerously brandishing a 20-centimeter knife, and justified the use of lethal force given the impossibility of using their electric guns, since the victim was more than 1.5 meters away, out of range. of those devices.
Later, the authorities would confirm that the weapon was just under 9 centimeters.
For his part, the lawyer for Burks’ relatives, Geoffrey Fieger, assured that following being shot multiple times, the young man was handcuffed and “thrown away” in a hospital. The version was denied by the authorities, who affirm that he was treated correctly during his transfer.
After the incident, the Detroit Police opened an investigation to evaluate the behavior of the agents and determine their degree of responsibility for the death of the young man. For the time being, those investigated were discharged administratively.
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