On Thanksgiving, a police officer shot and killed 21-year-old Emantic “E.J.” Bradford while responding to an active shooter situation at a mall about ten miles from Birmingham, Alabama. As initially understood, the suspected shooter shot an 18-year-old male in the torso, and a 12-year-old girl caught a stray bullet to her back. An armed police officer who was working mall security allegedly saw Bradford fleeing the scene with a gun out. In response, this officer shot and killed Bradford.
Not long after, the mall was deemed safe for shoppers to return. Then the police admitted that it was “unlikely” Bradford was involved, meaning that the actual suspected shooter was still at large.
Understandably, this was met with a lot of outcry. As of Monday morning, the police gave another statement, implying that Bradford was at fault because he had his gun out.
From the Associated Press:
“We can say with certainty Mr. Bradford brandished a gun during the seconds following the gunshots, which instantly heightened the sense of threat to approaching police officers responding to the chaotic scene.”
According to Bradford’s father, he had a permit for his gun. Bradford was also enlisted in the military and home while he waited to be deployed to his permanent duty station. His father works in law enforcement.
What happened to the idea of the “good guy with a gun” stepping in and protecting the innocent? That’s exactly what Bradford seemed to be doing. But if having his gun out only “heightened” the threat, does this mean that only white men who carry guns are the “good guys”? This sort of racial bias is not only disgusting, it’s also dangerous. And in Bradford’s case, it was deadly.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a good guy with a gun, if you’re black the police shoot and kill you and ask questions later,” said Ben Crump, the Bradford family’s attorney, in a CNN interview alongside Bradford’s parents. According to the Crump, witnesses say Bradford was attempting to wave people to safety. And when he got shot? According to witnesses, the officer didn’t say anything to him and, in fact, shot him “within milliseconds.”
Again: If a white man was trying to move people to safety during a moment of chaos, would he be assumed to be a “good guy with a gun”? It’s hard to imagine he’d be fatally shot within milliseconds, that’s for sure.
“We don’t trust the police department because they’ve already lied to them. They released his picture all over the world saying he was the shooter and the police officer was a hero,” Crump said.
Bradford’s family wants to see video from the officer’s body-camera. According to the most recent police statement, this video was initially turned over to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, and has since been turned over to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency for investigation.
According to Bradford’s mother, the family was not initially notified about their son's death by police. Instead, they found out from social media. Horrible and shameful all around.