Last week, white cops in Wilmington, Delaware, killed Jerry McDole, 28, a black man who was a wheelchair-bound paraplegic.
The police story is that McDole had a handgun, attempted suicide, and wounded himself; and the cops shot him when he refused to drop the handgun, which they say they found next to the body.
A bystander took video of the incident. In the video, you hear a shot, which might be McDole shooting himself, and then you hear the police shouting “Drop the gun!” but you can’t see a gun. The police open fire when he appears to reach into his waistband; until then, McDole didn’t make verbal threats or threatening gestures.
I don’t think it’s a clearcut case of police murder, but watching this video I find it hard to understand why the cops had to kill him and couldn’t have resolved the situation some other way.
You can read a New York Times story about this police killing here.