Saturday, police in Charlotte, North Carolina shot and killed an unarmed man that had been reported to have been attempting to burglarize a home. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police now believe that the deceased, Jonathon A. Ferrell, 24, had been involved in a serious car accident nearby and was attempting to seek help from the homeowner.
At approximately 2:30 a.m., Ferrell knocked on the door of the residence. The woman inside assumed that it was her husband, but opened the door to find a man that she did not know or recognize. She immediately closed the door, hit her panic alarm, and called 911.
Police arrived at the home minutes later, at which point Ferrell “immediately charged towards the three officers, one in particular. That officer fired his weapon several times, striking individual multiple times.” Officer Thornton Little had first attempted to fire a Taser at Ferrell, but was unsuccessful. When that attempt failed and Ferrell continued to rush toward the police officers, Officer Randall Kerrick fired his weapon several times, eventually killing Ferrell.
Shortly after the incident, police found the wreck of the car that Ferrell had been driving in a wooded area about a half mile from the residence where he had knocked on the door. The car accident was serious enough that police believe Ferrell was forced to climb through the back window in order to get free. Police have found no evidence of alcohol relating to the car accident.
Police have charged Kerrick with voluntary manslaughter — a felony. Kerrick turned himself in Saturday afternoon and is being held on $50,000 bond. Kerrick has been with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police since April 2011. Police have described him as being “shook-up” and “devastated” since the shooting. All three officers present have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
In a statement late Saturday, Police Chief Rodney Monroe said:
“The evidence revealed that Mr. Ferrell did advance on Officer Kerrick and the investigation showed that the subsequent shooting of Mr. Ferrell was excessive. Our investigation has shown that Officer Kerrick did not have a lawful right to discharge his weapon during this encounter.”
Even though the officer in this shooting was white and the victim black, police insist that it was an “unfortunate” accident. According to the Charlotte Observer there has been at least 8 police officer involved shootings in the last five years, four of which were fatal. However, victims in each of those cases had been armed. There is no comprehensive procedure to track police shootings. While both the FBI and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do keep a database of gun related deaths, there is no mandate to track statistics of police related shootings. Such a database would take an act of Congress.
While family members have asked for privacy, friends of Jonathon Ferrell have taken to social media to express their grief. Ferrell played safety for Florida’s A & M college football alongside a brother, Willie. Ferrell had recently moved to Charlotte from Tallahassee earlier this year. He would have been 25 next month and was currently engaged to be married.
