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A Colorado community is up in arms over the recent fatal police shooting of 19-year-old De’Von Bailey. Now recently released officer body cam footage shows the teenager run from police, ignoring commands to remain still. Video footage further shows the suspect carried a firearm as well.
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De’Von Bailey Shooting
Footage shows Bailey ignore commands and attempt to flee from officers. Officers claimed Bailey reached for a gun during the chase. Bailey died from gun shot wounds received during the incident, as shown in the video.
The incident is playing differently in two different communities. For law enforcement supporters, footage shows the man first act suspicious, then run from police. Above all, the footage clearly shows Bailey armed, and one could argue the suspect looked to be going for the gun while he fled.
On the other side, the black community responded with outrage following the shooting. The video and released autopsy findings did little to curb the rage. Bailey took four shots from officers, three to the back and one in his right elbow.
“He did not have a weapon in his hand and had not shown any weapon when he was shot in the back and killed,” said family attorney Darold Killmer, as reported by apnews.com. “The police appear to argue that they shot Mr. Bailey because they feared he was going for a gun at the time. We think the video shows otherwise.”
While the optics on shooting a young black man in the back clearly aren’t good, the suspect ignored commands, acted suspicious, and potentially reached for a weapon while evading pursuit. Officials stated the case remains under investigation.