When a police officer in South Carolina opened fire on 19-year-old Zachary Hammond in July, the official account was a familiar one: The officer feared he was about to be run over.
But that account is being challenged by Hammond's family, which claims an independent autopsy suggests that the bullets came through the driver's side window — proving the officer was not in the vehicle's path — are demanding greater transparency from the Seneca Police Department on what happened.
Similar claims regarding an unarmed man being killed by police have generated national outcry before, but so far, that has not been the case. The reason, the family says, is because Hammond was white.
"An unarmed white teenager whose life is wrongfully taken at the hands of overzealous police is the same and equal to an unarmed black teenager whose life is wrongfully taken at the hands of overzealous police," the family's attorney, Eric Bland, told the Los Angeles Times. "That’s very, very disturbing to us.”
The relative lack of national attention has slowly been leading to more questions on social media.
Seneca police have said the officer fired his weapon because he feared for his life when Hammond drove his car toward the him.
His passenger, a 23-year-old woman, was charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana.
But Bland released a second, independent autopsy that suggests Hammond was shot from the side of the vehicle through an open window, raising questions as to how the officer was in fear of his life if he was standing to the side.
"It was deceptive to state that Zachary was shot in the 'chest and shoulder,' Bland said in a written statement Wednesday. "Clearly, this officer was not in any danger at the time he fired the two shots into the car."
Seneca Police Chief John Covington has refused to identify the officer involved in the shooting, stating that officials "consider him a victim of attempted murder."
Covington told told NBC affiliate WYFF that the car was headed in an angle, and that the shots entered through the driver's side window.
But the secondary autopsy, and the department's decision not to identify the officer involved, has raised questions about the fatal police encounter, including from his parents.
"I fear that the officer made a poor judgement in his decision," Paul Hammond, Zachary's father, told WYFF. "I hear them say he feared for his life, but when you see the gunshot wounds in my son, it's hard to believe at that time he was afraid for his life."
In the absence of national outcry over the case, however, Hammond's name has appeared for days alongside the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag — a movement that has raised public awareness over the deaths of African American men at the hands of police officers, including Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Sam DuBose, and Freddie Gray.
Despite being white, Hammond's death appeared to have raised concern within the movement over law enforcement's use of force, and what many perceive as a lack of transparency.
Last week, Covington released a statement saying the police department had released all the information it could, but that officials wouldn't be releasing anything further because of possible litigation.
"We have stated the facts as we know them and do not have any intent of doing otherwise," Covington said.
The fatal shooting is being investigated by the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1IMbVEo
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