The family of a Black teenager who died after being shot by police outside a Family Dollar store in Gulfport, Mississippi, last week are now asking for the bodycam footage of the incident to be released.
Gulfport High freshman Jaheim McMillan, 15, was shot by a Gulfport police officer on October 6 and died of a gunshot wound to the head two days later after being taken off life support at a Mobile, Alabama, hospital.
His family said he was "essentially brain dead" after being shot by police eight times, including the shot to the head.
The shooting was reported in the afternoon of October 6 by the Gulfport Police Department, who wrote on Twitter that detectives were investigating "an officer involved shooting that occurred near Pass Road and 8th Avenue."
A video filmed by a bystander right after the shooting and later shared on Facebook sparked outrage over the incident, as the bystander filming said the young man was shot by police after he had stopped running away from officers and was about to put his hands up.
In a statement published on the same day by Gulfport PD, the police claimed that the young man was holding a firearm and was running away from officers to avoid arrest.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Gulfport Police Chief Adam Cooper said the officer who shot McMillan had ordered the boy to stop and drop his weapon.
I’ve attempted to type and even create a reel, but it’s been so damn hard.
— Brittani Menina, CMP (@BMeninaCMP) October 11, 2022
This sweet boy, 15 y/o #JaheimMcMillan, was killed by the police in my hometown Gulfport, MS. To see his mother and family, of whom I know, go through this agony and mistreatment has been unexplainable. pic.twitter.com/M4FDtomc5s
"McMillan did not comply," Cooper said. "McMillan turned his body and his weapon toward the officer. The officer fired at McMillan."
As an investigation into the incident by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of Biloxi Police Department Crime Scene Unit is ongoing, McMillan's family is asking for 'Justice for Jaheim.'
On Saturday, members of McMillan's family took part in protests outside the Gulfport PD. Among the protesters was McMillan's mom, Katrina Mateen, who told the Sun Herald that she believed police are trying to intimidate her by driving past her house at night while flashing the lights on their patrol cars.
"Gulfport police know who I am and always have," she told the newspaper. "I just wanna know why. Why did they have to shoot my son?"
Family members are asking for the release of the bodycam footage and for proof that McMillan was actually holding a firearm, as Gulfport police say.
One of McMillan's cousins wrote on Facebook: "If Gulfport Police Department had footage of my little cousin holding a gun best believe it would already have been released," adding that "the rumors and lies need to stop. The only thing anyone is asking for is truth. And remember that no truth will make this makes sense either. But truth will help to start a healing process."
Release the body cam footage his mama need justice Katrina Mateen 🤦🏽💔
Gulfport police say they were notified of "a vehicle occupied by multiple subjects brandishing firearms at motorists" in the area of Cowan Road and Magnolia Street on October 6.
McMillan was in the car and, according to interviews with the four teenagers arrested on the scene and the affidavit on the case, he was one of three teens wearing camouflage masks and brandishing firearms.
The Gulfport PD officer who shot the boy has been placed on non-enforcement duties, according to Gulfport police.
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Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs ... Read more
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