Zachary Hammond ... alive and well
Normally when the Department of Justice gets involved in a local story of police violence, it's because some type of irregularity exists that we don't yet know about it.
So, when the DOJ announced they were going to be investigating the shooting death of 19-year-old Zachary Hammond in South Carolina, it could very well be that the key facts in the case disturbed them like they should us.
Tiller fired two shots at close range into the open driver's side window, according to police. One bullet struck Hammond in the rear left shoulder. The other, to Hammond's left side, was fatal.
Hammond was unarmed. His passenger was booked for misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
Eric Bland, an attorney for the Hammond family, has repeatedly said the location of Hammond's wounds proves the shooting was unlawful.
Also, having the DOJ involved in a case puts a ton of pressure on local authorities to get their investigation right. The bottom line is that Hammond was not a criminal, had no history of violence, and was highly unlikely to run an officer over for what ended up being a very minor violation for someone else in his car.
It sure seems like police, unfortunately, are fully willing to use lethal force in cases where it just wasn't necessary because they are aware the odds that they'll be prosecuted are slim to none.