|
Listen to this article here
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Three months after killing Zonterius Johnson at his 24th birthday party, Lawton police released bodycam footage, along with a statement from the district attorney clearing the officer of any charges.
“The Comanche County District Attorney’s Office has thoroughly reviewed the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation report and has cleared the Officer involved of any wrongdoing,” confirmed Lawton Police Chief James Smith.
According to the report, officers heard at least 10 gun shots during a 3:30 a.m. compliance check at Lavish Lounge. Officers then rushed outside, where they witnessed Mr. Johnson trading gun shots with an unidentified person. Officer Ronan ordered Mr. Johnson to lower his weapon, but he fled, according to the report.
Bodycam released
The recently released footage shows officer Nathan Ronan chasing Mr. Johnson down a dark alley.
In the footage, Officer Ronan repeatedly yelled for Mr. Johnson to stop as he is chased onto Tenth Street. As he catches up to Mr. Johnson, the officer yells, “You better stop.”
Mr. Johnson then stopped and turned around as the officer aimed his flashlight at Mr. Johnson. Mr. Johnson appeared to freeze momentarily as he held something in his waist and paused.
Footage shows Johnson flee from officer Nathan Ronan
“You better f—ing stop. Drop that,” Officer Ronan yelled. Mr. Johnson then attempted to remove the object from his waist as the officer fired four shots. Two shots hit Mr. Johnson’s chest and one hit his foot. While grainy, the footage did not appear to show Johnson lifting his weapon to aim. But the footage does show Mr. Johnson running away, and that the officers discovered a weapon on the scene, adding to the defense that the officer made a split-second decision.
“Officers immediately rendered medical aid to Mr. Johnson, and he was transported to Comanche County Memorial Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries,” the report said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson’s mother released a clip of the shooting on her Facebook page Monday morning, with the caption “This is a set up. They killed my son!” The Lawton Police Department eventually released their footage of the killing.
Mother disputes report
Zonterius Johnson’s mother, Meyoshia Gray, feels LPD has been deceptive with the release of information. Specifically, she claims the full video has been edited.
“Zon did not point a gun, which they say he did,” Johnson’s mom said. To be clear, the first report from LPD back in January clearly stated that “when the officer encountered Zonterius Johnson, Zonterius Johnson drew that weapon.” Yet in the grainy video, it isn’t clear whether Johnson was raising a weapon or reaching to remove it from his waist. While it’s impossible to determine what was going through Johnson’s mind, his mother isn’t satisfied with the facts as they’ve been presented.
“[The report] clearly stated Zon was being shot at and running for his life and the officers seen that. The officer seen he messed up, but his superior won’t make them stand accountable. I want the world to see how they killed my first born.”
The police chief’s report confirmed that OSBI forensic evidence found Johnson’s fingerprints on a Taurus 9mm gun found at the scene. The gun was reportedly purchased by a relative of Darezanae Porter, Johnson’s girlfriend. The report also confirmed that an investigation into the individual who was shooting at Mr. Johnson that night is still ongoing.
That Cop was wrong, he gave one command and shot 5 or 6 times! One bullet in anyone’s leg will make them stop and drop anything, you never have to use deadly force as that. All it is, is that this is and will always be their country and they will do WTF they want and we’re the Sport!…..Just as you see in movie’s….They are and will always be who they, think they are better and Scares of Use, look at the Oklahoma commercials, Not 1 Colored person, just Them and Indians!
They train them cops to kill that’s the primary issue.
Oklahoma is one of the three states who police kill the most people. Cops have killed over 5000 in the US since 2015 source below.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/
He told him to drop his gun after he had stopped running. I think that’s exactly what he was trying to do but as soon as he gave the command and Zonterius moved he shot 4-5 times in the chest. He knew that and then he hollering for him to roll over to the right KNOWING YOU JUST SHOT HIM MUTIPLE TIMES IN THE CHEST! Cuffing him and the first aid being called but in the span of the entire video I didn’t see them show up and I’m knowing Zonterius was bleeding out quick because of where he was hit and the times he was hit. Still yelling at him. And the officer kept changing his story. Saying he pulled his gun knowing good and damn well you asked him to drop it! And he had the audacity to laugh when another officer said that his dad was pissed. That let me know there. That it doesn’t matter what we do or how we comply, we are black we will die. If Zonterius were white, I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that that officer would have done every thing he could have to disarm him without killing him. We have seen it happen over and over and over again. This is fucking Amerikkka and it won’t change because this is the shit it was built off of. This is how the country came to be what it is today. Off of our black ass backs and from our blood.
How come Police are not held to a higher standard than civilians? If someone is trying to run away from you and you shoot them, that is murder. Nobody gets to shoot another human being unless it is an obvious act of self defense. Police are only used to keep the poor, minorities and mentally ill providing a revenue stream to the government. Police need to know, you aren’t the only ones with guns, body armor and tactical training out there, keep pushing and see if you don’t get slapped the fuck down.