Delaware police shot and killed a handicapped man armed with a .38 caliber gun that he had used on himself earlier that day.
Bobby Cummings, the police chief in Wilmington, Delaware, explained Thursday that the man, Jeremy McDole, did not comply as officers, weapons drawn, ordered him to raise his hands Wednesday, CNN reports.
Instead of raising his arms as asked, McDole began to reach toward his waist and retrieve his weapon. Officers then opened fire.
According to Fox News, officers found McDole after a call came into the station on Wednesday around 3 p.m. Officers responded to a complaint that a man had shot himself and was suffering from the wound. When officers arrived, McDole was “still armed with a handgun,” according to Cummings.
Although police saw it happen this way, the paralyzed 28-year-old’s mother saw it differently.
Phyllis McDole said that a video shows that her son did not pull his weapon and that his hands were simply resting in his lap. Cummings has noted that the video exists, but has yet to authenticate it.
“This was unjust,” McDole said Thursday.
McDole and Cummings spoke at the same news conference about the incident.
Cummings explained that officers engaged the man because of the danger of his weapon.
By the end of the conference, McDole and Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams agreed, “We want answers.”