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This is the gun Virginia Police said Pharrell Williams’ cousin wielded when he was shot and killed by an officer – the same gun officials insist he was seen holding “earlier in the evening”.
The parent of Grammy-winning singer Donovan Lynch, 25, was killed Friday night a block away from a shooting that injured eight people in Virginia Beach.
Local activists initially insisted Lynch was unarmed, and on Saturday Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate only said a gun was found “nearby” of the shooting.
But late Monday, the department published photos du Ruger recovered which the officers involved said the former college football player was holding when he was shot.
The officer who fired the fatal shot and a colleague who witnessed it “both … report that Mr. Lynch was brandishing a handgun at the time of the shooting.”
“An independent witness corroborated that Mr. Lynch was in possession of a handgun earlier on the evening of March 26,” the department said in a statement.
Ammunition was found with the weapon, police said.
The force gave no further details of what Lynch is accused of doing before the officer – who has not been identified – opens fire.
“The specific actions that resulted in the shooting are part of the ongoing criminal investigation,” the department said in a statement.
The cop who killed Lynch is a five-year veteran who worked in the department’s special ops division. He has been placed on administrative leave during ongoing investigations, which include an independent investigation by the Commonwealth Prosecutor’s Office, police said.
The department is still outraged after Neudigate confirmed that the officer’s body camera was not on at the time “for unknown reasons.”
“We would like to provide answers to the community. At this point we don’t have them, ”the police chief said.
In his tweet confirming that his relative was the man killed, Pharrell said, “It is essential that my family and the families of other victims get the transparency they deserve.”
“The loss of these lives is a tragedy beyond measure,” he wrote.
His cousin, a Virginia Beach resident, had been an offensive lineman for the College of the University of Virginia at Wise during the 2017 and 2018 seasons and a graduate of the school in 2019.
In a damning statement Sunday, the Virginia Beach Chapter of the NAACP said it was “not surprised” that the body camera was not activated.
“We are monitoring and listening to the department’s investigation into this shooting and we are awaiting a full and prompt report,” the NAACP statement read. “The community is waiting!”
Of the. Jay Jones, a Democrat from Norfolk who is running for attorney general, said it was “ineligible” and against department rules.
“Body cameras are designed to provide transparency in police conduct – especially situations like what happened over the weekend – to provide a clear record of interactions with the public they serve in the field. Jones said tweeted.
“No one is above the law, including those charged with enforcing it,” Jones said.
It happened on a night of violence in Virginia Beach in which Deshayla “Shay” Harris, 29, known to be in the “Bad Girls Club”, was also shot. Police believe she was an innocent bystander.
Three men accused of shootings which left several injured in shootings that night appeared in court on Monday.
Ahmon Jahree Adams, 22, Nyquez Tyyon Baker, 18, and Devon Maurice Dorsey Jr., 20, each face seven counts of malicious injury and related charges. They remain in jail without bail and will have bail hearings in the coming days after speaking to their respective attorneys.
With pole wires
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