Defense attorneys are making some shocking claims in response to information that came to light yesterday that former FAMU football player Jonathan Ferrell showed police he was unarmed before he was shot.
Lawyers for the police officer who fatally shot an unarmed Ferrell are saying that he did not comply with officers’ commands to get down on the ground before he was hit with 10 bullets.
“(Ferrell) advanced toward the officers. His hands were not in the air,” said George Laughrun, attorney for Officer Randall Kerrick, speaking to reporters about what he saw in footage from a police cruiser’s dashboard camera.
“You see one of his hands partially behind his back, concealed as he … continued to advance. He was given three commands to ‘Get on the ground. Get on the ground.’ He did not. And Officer Kerrick backed up and then felt the need to deploy his service weapon.”
But family attorney Christopher Chestnut described the police cruiser dashcam video earlier this week, saying that the police yelled “Get down!” after firing.
“There were no commands to ‘Stop, freeze, stop or I’ll shoot,’ ” Chestnut told the Observer Tuesday. The first commands from officers, Chestnut said, came after the volley of bullets stopped.
But Chestnut said later that he could not definitively say that the officers issued the “Get down” warning right before the gunshots…or right after.
“I honestly cannot tell you whether it was ‘Pow pow! Get down!’ or ‘Get down! Pow pow!’ ” he said.
Either way, he says, there was no time for Ferrell, who had crashed his car and was looking for help, to react.
We’ll keep you updated on the latest in this sad case.
SOURCE: Charlotte Observer | PHOTO CREDIT: Charlotte Observer, Courtesy of Gregory Boler
