Jonathan Ferrell, a 24-year-old North Carolina
man, suffered a severe late-night car crash. His car
slipped into a ravine. He had to kick his way out the
back windshield.
He managed to get out of the car and go to a nearby
home, where he knocked on the door repeatedly for
help.
When police arrived, he approached them -- and one
shot him repeatedly, killing him on the spot.
Now the officer is charged with manslaughter. Police
say he had no cause to shoot Ferrell.
Monday afternoon, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police
Department said in a news release that its investigation
determined the officer "fired his weapon 12 times and
struck Mr. Ferrell 10 times resulting in his death."
The incident over the weekend has sparked outrage.
"We're going to file the necessary legal actions to
ensure that we get the answers that this family
deserves, that America deserves," the man's brother,
Willie Ferrell, told CNN on Monday. "This was an
unwarranted, inhumane shooting."
In an interview with CNN's "New Day,"
Ferrell's mother, Georgia, described her
son as "very, very happy," outgoing, and
loving to his friends and family.
He held down two jobs and would call her
every morning to talk for about an hour.
"I can't even think of a bad thing he had
done," she said.
Ferrell, a former football player for Florida
A&M University, was transferring to a
school in Charlotte to be with his fiancee.
Willie Ferrell called his brother the
"greatest man I ever came in contact
with."
"This is an all-American young man who
survived a horrific accident. He is crying
for help and is showered with bullets,"
Chris Chestnut, attorney for the Ferrell
family, said on "New Day."
Charlotte police kill ex-FAMU football
player
Officer first tried stun gun, police say
Police say a homeowner called 911,
saying a man was knocking on her door
repeatedly.
Officers responded to what they believed was a
"breaking and entering" call.
Police say that when they got to the scene, a man
matching the caller's description ran toward them.
One of the officers fired his stun gun. When that was
"unsuccessful," another officer opened fire, police said.
Later, police learned of the car crash.
"It was a pretty serious accident," Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe told CNN
affiliate WSOC.
Officer free on bond
Police have charged Officer Randall Kerrick with
voluntary manslaughter, a felony. He was released
Sunday on $50,000 bond.
Kerrick was one of three officers at the scene, but he
was the only one to use a gun, firing it several times,
police said.
"The evidence revealed that Mr. Ferrell did advance on
Officer Kerrick and the investigation showed that the
subsequent shooting of Mr. Ferrell was excessive,"
police said in a statement. "Our investigation has
shown that Officer Kerrick did not have a lawful right to
discharge his weapon during this encounter."
A charge of voluntary manslaughter means the person
used excessive force in self-defense, or carried out the
act without intent to kill.
At a news conference, Monroe said, "Our heart(s) go
out to the family" and to members of the police force.
"This is never something easy."
Kerrick has not made a public statement. However, a
police report says that Kerrick reported that Ferrell
"assaulted him by unknown means." The report does
not elaborate.
The police department said in its Monday afternoon
news release that the shooting "has devastated a family
as well as caused a great deal of sadness and anxiety in
our organization.
"However we must always strive to bring forth all facts
and evidence in every case to determine when it is
appropriate to place criminal charges against a member
of the department," the news released added.
Chestnut praised police for quickly charging the officer.
Still, he said, many questions remain.
"Why was this officer even with a badge and having a
gun? What are the policies and procedures? What is the
training that would allow an officer to act so
irrationally, so inhumanely?"
Attorney: Unclear whether race involved
Chestnut said he does not know whether race played
any role in the incident. Ferrell was black; Kerrick,
white.
"I think this is poor decision-making," Chestnut said at
a news conference Monday. "I think this is more a
reflection of where we are as a country." Regardless of
race, people should be "more sympathetic" to each
other, he said.
He added, "Before we assign race to this issue, perhaps
we should pause and consider violence."
Ferrell was "an everyday American," Chestnut said.
Civil rights organizers held a news conference about the
case Monday.
Kojo Nantambu, president of the NAACP's Charlotte
branch, called for Kerrick to be charged with murder.
There's a "tradition in this country to be able to kill
innocent black men," he said.
The incident took place the same weekend that New
York police wounded two bystanders while trying to
shoot an "emotionally disturbed" man near Times
Square, authorities said. The man, later identified as 35-
year-old Glenn Broadnax, was walking into traffic in
front of the Port Authority bus terminal, apparently
trying to be hit by cars, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly
said after the shooting Saturday night.
Broadnax dodged police who tried to take him into
custody, then mimicked shooting a gun at officers,
prompting two officers to return fire with real bullets,
Kelly said. The officers who shot at Broadnax had been
on the force for three years and a year and a half, and
neither had been involved in a shooting before, Kelly
said.
Eventually, another officer brought down the unarmed
Broadnax with a Taser, the NYPD said.
Police: All Empire State shooting victims were wounded
by officers
It was the second high-profile case in about a year in
which NYPD officers have shot bystanders after opening
fire in a busy public space. But New York Mayor
Michael Bloomberg said Monday that the city's 34,000-
plus police officers discharged their weapons only 83
times in 2012 -- the lowest number since 1993.
"We're in the middle of an investigation, it's very tragic,
our sympathies go out -- thank God they were not fatal
shootings," Bloomberg told reporters Monday. A 54-
year-old woman had to undergo survery after she was
shot in the knee, and a 37-year-old was treated and
released after being grazed in the buttocks by a stray
police bullet, police said
Broadnax was charged with several misdemeanors,
including reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and
criminal possession of a controlled substance. He was
ordered to undergo a psychiatric exam during a pre-
arraignment deposition Sunday, according to court
documents.
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