Emantic Bradford Family Exige: Press Release: NPR

The Emantic "E.J." family Bradford Jr., who died on Thanksgiving night after being shot by a security officer working in an Alabama shopping center, asks the Hoover Police Department to broadcast the center's video, video testimonials and videos. Camera images for Bradford's death.

Initially, officials said that Bradford had engaged in a fight with an 18-year-old at the Riverchase Galleria Mall in Hoover, Alaska, when he pulled out his gun and fired at him. ;teenager. A 12-year-old was also injured that night. That night, police and city officials described the quick reaction as "heroic".

Officials later retracted, claiming that it was "highly unlikely" that Bradford fired shots that injured two people.

In a statement Monday morning, city and police officials said they could "state with certainty that Mr. Bradford had brandished a firearm in the seconds following the shots," he said. which immediately reinforced the sense of threat that police officers feared to react to the chaotic scene. " The body camera and other available videos were handed over to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department as part of the investigation, and the evidence is now being forwarded to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

"We express our condolences to the family of Emantic J. Bradford, of Hueytown, who was shot dead during Hoover's police efforts to ensure the safety of the scene in the seconds that followed the altercation and firing. The loss of life is a tragedy in all circumstances, "The statement continued.

Bradford's family spoke at a press conference Sunday, accompanied by his lawyer, Ben Crump.

According to Crump, several witnesses have come forward since the start of the shooting to say that the officer who killed Bradford did not give any verbal instructions to Bradford until he was shot in the head.

Officials also say that the shooter could still be on the run. Crump says they have not offered any medical assistance to Bradford after the shooting. Family members were in tears at the press conference at Kelly Ingram Park in Birmingham. Several tight pictures of Bradford. At one point, Bradford's grandmother, Althea Pipkin, collapsed and was escorted while she was crying over the murder of her grandson.

Lawyer Crump and the family say that it is only another case of death of a black man at the hands of the police. Crump represented other dead black men at the hands of police and other people, including Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.

The officer who shot Bradford has since been put on administrative leave. His name has not been broadcast.

Neither the State Investigation Bureau, which handles the investigation, nor the Hoover police officials have responded to requests for additional comments.

Crump says that the family's communication with the police department has been minimal. He clarified that from Sunday, Hoover Police still had not contacted the family about Bradford's death. Instead, he says the Bradford family has learned of his death through social media.

On Saturday, protesters crossed the mall chanting "Tell her name – E.J." and carrying placards marked "Justice for E.J." and "Hoover PD Lied."

E.J. Bradford Sr., a retired employee of Birmingham Jail, states that he regards other members of the law enforcement community as family members. But he is irritated by Hoover's quick conclusion of calling his son a killer. Bradford's father said he called the Hoover police Friday morning at 12:30, but they said they'd call him back. He says that they had not called him before giving a press conference and that he had not yet received an appeal.

"My son is gone, I can not get it back … you vilified my son," Bradford Sr. said Sunday.

April Pipkins, Bradford's mother, says Thanksgiving will never be the same again. Other family members joined Pipkins at the press conference. One of them was Clemon Brown, Bradford's younger brother. Brown says he blames the media for starting with the first police accounts.

"E.J. was not that kind at all," Brown says. "He was very respectful to his mother [and] his father."

The family says Bradford was taking care of his father, who fights cancer. Crump says the family does not know if she can have funerals in an open coffin because the officer shot Bradford in the head. The police have not yet released details of this fatal incident. Crump says that in the meantime, they will explore all possible legal routes at the federal and state levels.

"What the family wants the most is justice," Crump says.

Amita Kelly contributed to this story.