Last week, former Florida A&M football player Jonathan Ferrell crashed his car in the middle of the night, went looking for help in an upscale neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina and was later shot 10 times by police officers responding to a 911 call from Sarah McCartney, the woman who’s house he had gone to looking for help.
McCartney, a 32-year-old stay-at-home mom, was home alone with her baby when Ferrell knocked on her front door. She then turned on her home alarm and called 911 telling the operator she believed it was an attempted robbery. Eleven minutes later, police showed up to confront Ferrell. The details of what happened next are unclear but police officer Randall Kerrick fired 12 shots at Ferrell, 10 of which hit him. Ferrell died of injuries. Kerrick has been charged with voluntary manslaughter and is currently out on $50,000 bail.
On a memorial Facebook page for Ferrell, supporters have blamed McCartney for the 24-year-old’s death, calling her an “obvious racist.” Do you think that’s fair? What would you have done if you were in her situation? Called the police or tried to talk to Ferrell? Sound off in the comments below. [poll id=380916]