The family of John Crawford, the Ohio man fatally shot by police at Walmart after they mistook him for being armed, may finally have the proof they need to prove injustice after viewing a surveillance video from the store.
The family’s attorney Michael Wright said that newly released footage shows Crawford had his back to the police when they shot him, refuting the police report that said the 22-year-old waved an air rifle at customers and ignored orders to drop the gun.
Wright’s statement said Crawford was shot “on sight” and called the police’s response “militaristic.”
Crawford was killed on Aug. 5 after police responded to a 911 call from a witness who reported seeing “a man carrying a rifle near the pet supplies section and appeared to be loading the firearm.”
It was later learned that the weapon was a MK-177 BB/pellet rifle that Crawford picked up in Walmart’s toy department.
LeeCee Johnson, the mother of Crawford’s children who was on the phone with him when the shooting occurred, told the Dayton Daily News that he tried to tell the cops the gun was not real while they were shooting.
The case will be presented to a grand jury Sept. 22.