Mississippi teenager dies after being shot by police officers.
A Black teenager in Mississippi died days after Gulfport police shot him in the head outside a discount store, and his relatives are questioning officers’ actions.
Jaheim McMillan was only 15 years old; he was taken off life support after Gulfport police shot him in the head on Thursday at the Family Dollar shop.
The Harrison county coroner, Brian Switzer, confirmed to the Sun Herald that the Gulfport high school freshman died on Saturday after he was taken off life support at USA University hospital in Mobile, Alabama. An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday, Switzer said. McMillan’s mother, Katrina Mateen, told WLOX-TV that when she arrived at the store after her son was shot, officers handcuffed her and walked her across the street.
In a video taken by a bystander after the shots were fired, McMillan could be seen on the ground in front of the door to the store. A witness said police handcuffed the teenager after shooting him. The Gulfport police chief, Adam Cooper, said police took four others, all believed to be minors, into custody.
The Mississippi bureau of investigation is examining the shooting of McMillan. MBI investigates all police shootings in the state, and the attorney general’s office is in charge of any prosecutions.
Gulfport police said in a news release that the shooting occurred after they responded to a 911 call about several minors waving guns at other motorists. Officers pulled the youth over in the parking lot of a Family Dollar store.
Cooper said the youth fled from the vehicle and that one of his officers “engaged with an armed individual” before firing, but the chief did not provide further details of what led up to the shooting. He said several firearms were recovered from the scene. The police department has not released the race of the officer.
McMillan’s family does not believe he was armed, and their supporters are calling for the release of camera footage of the shooting.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE:
Police should have [no] authority or have any decision-making as it relates to the release of body cam footage. Police are paid by the taxpaying citizens they are sworn to protect. All of the equipment they are outfitted with are paid for with monies from either local, state, or federal sources, which are monies taken from taxpayers. Police departments do not own body cameras, not even the guns they use to commit the murders.
The politicians that refuse to act to rein in these acts of abuse must be held accountable with the killer cops who continue to murder people with wanton disregard and impunity.
Over and over, white men and youngsters kill multiple people with high-powered weapons, and police always manage to arrest them without taking their lives.
Why are police unable to arrest Black kids who have killed no one?
To add insult to injury they handcuffed the other who arrived at the scene after learning that her son was shot in the head and arrived to see what happened to her son.
The indignity meted out to this mother [must] not be allowed to stand. (mb)