Society Black Man Killed by Officer in Alabama Mall Shooting Was Not the Gunman, Police Now Say

Welcome to our Community
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Feel free to Sign Up today.
Sign up

Freeloading Rusty

Here comes Rover, sniffin’ at your ass
Jan 11, 2016
26,916
26,743
Black Man Killed by Officer in Alabama Mall Shooting Was Not the Gunman, Police Now Say

An Alabama police officer fatally shot a 21-year-old black man on Thursday night who the police initially said shot at least one person at a mall near Birmingham, turning a Thanksgiving holiday shopping scene into chaos.

But on Friday the police said evidence suggests that the man actually was not the gunman and that the true gunman remained at large.

The Hoover Police Department said on Twitter that the man who was killed, Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., “may have been involved in some aspect” of an altercation at the mall, the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, Ala., that preceded the shooting.

But, they said, he “likely did not fire the rounds” that struck an 18-year-old man as they had originally indicated. Another victim, a 12-year-old girl, was an “innocent bystander,” the police said. Both were hospitalized but their conditions on Saturday were unavailable.

“We regret that our initial media release was not totally accurate, but new evidence indicates that it was not,” the police said, adding that the conclusion was based on interviews with witnesses and “critical evidentiary items.”

In their initial statement on Friday, the police said uniformed officers who were providing security at the mall “encountered a suspect brandishing a pistol and shot him.” It was not clear whether the officers believed Mr. Bradford fired or intended to fire before he was killed.

Mr. Bradford’s mother, April Pipkins, said in an interview on Saturday that Mr. Bradford was living with her near Birmingham where he had been raised. Mr. Bradford, who was better known as E.J., would not have been involved in the shooting, and might have been trying to protect other people in the mall, she said.

“That was not his character at all,” she said. “He loved life, and he loved people.”

He was licensed to carry a firearm, she said. Alabama generally does not prohibit people from carrying firearms in public, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

At an emotional news conference held by Mr. Bradford’s relatives on Sunday — one collapsed in tears partway through — his family members said they were not notified of his death by the Hoover Police Department, but instead learned of it through social media.

Mr. Bradford’s father, Emantic Bradford Sr., said that he called the police Thursday night upon hearing of his son’s shooting, and that he was told he would get a call back in 10 minutes. But he never did, he said, and it was several hours before he called again and was able to talk to someone from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office at the scene.

The police responding to a shooting at an Alabama mall on Thursday fatally shot a 21-year-old black man they first said was the gunman. On Friday, the police said the actual gunman remained at large.CreditCarol Robinson/Press-Register, via Associated Press
“It hurts me to the core, my son is gone,” the elder Mr. Bradford said at the news conference.

Anthony Thomas, Mr. Bradford’s uncle, said he wanted the police to release all the videos from the mall that day.

“He was an honorable young man who was assassinated,” Mr. Thomas said.

Ms. Pipkins is being represented by Benjamin L. Crump, a Tallahassee, Fla., lawyer, who has in the past represented the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice.

Mr. Crump said the Hoover police had tarnished Mr. Bradford’s character by “jumping to conclusions” that he was a criminal because he was a black man with a gun.

“He was trying to be somebody who helped save people, yet he was killed,” Mr. Crump said.

Mr. Bradford received a general discharge from the United States Army in August. An Army spokesman said Mr. Bradford had not completed his training but would not elaborate.

Capt. Gregg Rector, a spokesman for the Hoover Police Department, said on Saturday that it would be inappropriate to answer questions about the circumstances around Mr. Bradford’s death because the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency was leading the investigation.


The Hoover Police Department is, however, conducting an internal investigation into Mr. Bradford’s killing by the officer. That officer, who has not been identified, has been put on administrative leave until the investigation is complete. Captain Rector did not answer other questions about the officer on Saturday.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency declined to comment on Saturday and said that it would issue a statement on Sunday.

On Saturday, a group of protesters gathered at the mall, saying the police shot the wrong person. One carried a sign that said “Emantic’s Life Matters.” Others carried a large blue banner reading “No police gun violence.”

The episode on Thursday sent crowds of people running through the Riverchase Galleria, about 10 miles south of Birmingham, according to videos posted on Twitter.

One shopper told the television station WBRC that she was buying jewelry at a kiosk when she heard three bangs and people started screaming and running for the exits as officers ran toward the gunfire.

The police said they now believe that more than two people were involved in the altercation that preceded the shooting and that at least one gunman remains at large. The police did not release a description of the person they were seeking.

The mall, whose website boasts that it is “the largest enclosed shopping center in Alabama,” had advertised special hours for the night of Thanksgiving: 6 p.m. to midnight. The Brookfield Properties Retail Group, which owns the mall, did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.
 

Too swole to control

I’ll fight anyone on here except Sex Chicken
Oct 28, 2015
5,879
9,590
Kinda like when a casino posts pics of ppl who won the jackpot. They want u to think it happens all the time. But it rly doesn't

Imo

Also I think I buttraped a Gaffigan joke w this post
 

Freeloading Rusty

Here comes Rover, sniffin’ at your ass
Jan 11, 2016
26,916
26,743
Licensed to carry a firearm, military man.. shot dead.

There goes the argument, the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

Armed, uniformed police guarding the mall and yet still no one was safe.
 

KWingJitsu

ยาเม็ดสีแดงหรือสีฟ้ายา?
Nov 15, 2015
10,311
12,758
Licensed to carry a firearm, military man.. shot dead.

There goes the argument, the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

Armed, uniformed police guarding the mall and yet still no one was safe.
The good guy with a gun doesn't exist.
And he double doesn't exist if he is African American.
 

Too swole to control

I’ll fight anyone on here except Sex Chicken
Oct 28, 2015
5,879
9,590
Licensed to carry a firearm, military man.. shot dead.

There goes the argument, the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

Armed, uniformed police guarding the mall and yet still no one was safe.
Or maybe wait and see what happened first. Like that jemel guy everyone was crying about on Facebook. Then it turns out cops gave him like 4 warnings to drop his gun before shooting him. And everyone shut up real quick and never said his name again
 

maurice

Posting Machine
Oct 21, 2015
1,361
2,295
The cops said they gave "that jemel guy" warnings. The witnesses say the cops are lying to cover their asses.
 

Too swole to control

I’ll fight anyone on here except Sex Chicken
Oct 28, 2015
5,879
9,590
The cop
The cops said they gave "that jemel guy" warnings. The witnesses say the cops are lying to cover their asses.
The cops got witness statements saying there was several warning given. That wasn't just from other cops. I imagine you need to have ppls name and address before you say you have witness statements. I don't think you can say you have witness statements in a case w this much attention and not have them. I'd bet they have them.
 

maurice

Posting Machine
Oct 21, 2015
1,361
2,295
3 Chicago cops are going to trial this week for lying about "witness statements" to cover up a cop murder. Happens all the time here.

Certainly a lot more plausible than "we gave the security guard ample time to drop his gun but he decided he wanted to die instead."
 

Too swole to control

I’ll fight anyone on here except Sex Chicken
Oct 28, 2015
5,879
9,590
Can you define "all the time"? Also this is a pretty high profile case w lots of lawyers involved already. And media. Not saying it doesn't happen, I'm saying if they were gona pull that shit it likely wouldn't be this case.
3 Chicago cops are going to trial this week for lying about "witness statements" to cover up a cop murder. Happens all the time here.

Certainly a lot more plausible than "we gave the security guard ample time to drop his gun but he decided he wanted to die instead."
 

BeardOfKnowledge

The Most Consistent Motherfucker You Know
Jul 22, 2015
60,547
56,268
Licensed to carry a firearm, military man.. shot dead.

There goes the argument, the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

Armed, uniformed police guarding the mall and yet still no one was safe.
Grave dancing and victim blaming in a single post. Bravo.
 

Too swole to control

I’ll fight anyone on here except Sex Chicken
Oct 28, 2015
5,879
9,590
After a mall shooting, police killed the wrong person — and the real shooter remains at large

"21-year-old Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., who was shot and killed by police on Thursday in Alabama, was licensed to carry his firearm, had no criminal record, and was honorably discharged from the Army."


Looks like they really did kill a "good guy" with a gun...
They may have killed the "wrong person" but if cops show up and tell you to drop your gun or get on the ground you do it or you're probably gonna get shot.

I have told this story before.....but years ago a neighbor of mine had threatened to kill his family and then took off. I did t know about it. I was laying on my couch at 3am and see lights flashing off my windows. Like flashlights. I looked out window and saw nothing. So I grabbed my gun and walked outside. Almost immediately had several cops w guns yelling at me pointing guns at my head. If I would have flinched or ignored commands I'd be dead right now. They told me that after. They thought I was the neighbor . So cops arriving on scene don't know who is who. If they roll into a shooting, the need to figure out what's up. You know you aren't involved. They don't. You need to do as told til you're all on same page.
 

Filthy

Iowa Wrestling Champion
Jun 28, 2016
27,507
29,834
They may have killed the "wrong person" but if cops show up and tell you to drop your gun or get on the ground you do it or you're probably gonna get shot.

I have told this story before.....but years ago a neighbor of mine had threatened to kill his family and then took off. I did t know about it. I was laying on my couch at 3am and see lights flashing off my windows. Like flashlights. I looked out window and saw nothing. So I grabbed my gun and walked outside. Almost immediately had several cops w guns yelling at me pointing guns at my head. If I would have flinched or ignored commands I'd be dead right now. They told me that after. They thought I was the neighbor . So cops arriving on scene don't know who is who. If they roll into a shooting, the need to figure out what's up. You know you aren't involved. They don't. You need to do as told til you're all on same page.
probably shouldn't kill anybody until you know what's up.

just a general rule for policing.

cops being shot is INCREDIBLY rare, but cops are trained to be afraid, shoot if they're afraid, and don't worry because no DA is going to charge you.
 

Too swole to control

I’ll fight anyone on here except Sex Chicken
Oct 28, 2015
5,879
9,590
probably shouldn't kill anybody until you know what's up.

just a general rule for policing.

cops being shot is INCREDIBLY rare, but cops are trained to be afraid, shoot if they're afraid, and don't worry because no DA is going to charge you.
You should probably obey police til they know what's up. Once they have guns drawn, they r very close to shooting you. So if u choose to argue w them u r risking your life. Cops being shot is rare. Unarmed black ppl who aren't doing anything wrong being shot is even more rare. The story usually turns out different than it is portrayed at the beginning. But by then it is already a race war
 

Filthy

Iowa Wrestling Champion
Jun 28, 2016
27,507
29,834
You should probably obey police til they know what's up. Once they have guns drawn, they r very close to shooting you. So if u choose to argue w them u r risking your life. Cops being shot is rare. Unarmed black ppl who aren't doing anything wrong being shot is even more rare. The story usually turns out different than it is portrayed at the beginning. But by then it is already a race war
i don't think it's appropriate to expect of citizens a higher level of situational awareness than those who have been granted a monopoly on violence.
 

Freeloading Rusty

Here comes Rover, sniffin’ at your ass
Jan 11, 2016
26,916
26,743
It seemed like you were implying if he hadn't been carrying he'd still be alive. If that's not the case I apologize.
That is not what I stated at all.

In no way did I insinuate Bradford was at fault (from what I have read) for his own death.

I was criticizing the silly idea a good guy with a gun is the only answer to a bad guy with a gun. A great example of this thinking was Trumps recent comments about the synagogal shooting. The first thing Trump said was if they had an armed guard, they would have been safe. Well we all know that is not true. At the mall shooting in discussion, there were multiple good guys with guns, some paid, some highly trained and innocent people still died.

If you wanted to shout victim blaming, this may have been a better post to quote:

They may have killed the "wrong person" but if cops show up and tell you to drop your gun or get on the ground you do it or you're probably gonna get shot.
 

Freeloading Rusty

Here comes Rover, sniffin’ at your ass
Jan 11, 2016
26,916
26,743
They may have killed the "wrong person" but if cops show up and tell you to drop your gun or get on the ground you do it or you're probably gonna get shot.

I have told this story before.....but years ago a neighbor of mine had threatened to kill his family and then took off. I did t know about it. I was laying on my couch at 3am and see lights flashing off my windows. Like flashlights. I looked out window and saw nothing. So I grabbed my gun and walked outside. Almost immediately had several cops w guns yelling at me pointing guns at my head. If I would have flinched or ignored commands I'd be dead right now. They told me that after. They thought I was the neighbor . So cops arriving on scene don't know who is who. If they roll into a shooting, the need to figure out what's up. You know you aren't involved. They don't. You need to do as told til you're all on same page.
So again, the answer to a bad guy with a gun is a little more complicated than a good guy with a gun.
 

Freeloading Rusty

Here comes Rover, sniffin’ at your ass
Jan 11, 2016
26,916
26,743
Yes when cops show up u do what u r told til things get sorted which usually takes a cpl mins.
I agree, but I do believe the NRA and other who often throw out this catch phrase dont include an asterisks.

Point being, many good guys with a gun couldnt and didnt prevent the gun violence experienced by the victims in this shooting.