US police admit killing black man who was ‘likely’ not gunman in Alabama shopping centre shooting

Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford, 21, was shot dead by police at an an Alabama shopping centre
AP
Patrick Grafton-Green25 November 2018

Police in the US have admitted killing a black man who was “likely” not the gunman in a shooting at a shopping centre.

An officer shot and killed 21-year-old Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr while responding to the shooting in Alabama on Thursday.

Police initially claimed Mr Bradford was seen fleeing the scene with a weapon but later retracted the statement.

Captain Gregg Rector said investigators now believe that more than two people were involved in an initial fight before the shooting and that "at least one gunman" is still at large who could be responsible.

Rector said police regret that their initial statement about Mr Bradford was not accurate.

Emergency services respond after the shooting at the Riverchase Galleria
AP

The incident unfolded while the shopping centre was packed with Black Friday bargain hunters. An 18-year-old was shot twice and a 12-year-old bystander was shot in the back.

Police said while Mr Bradford "may have been involved in some aspect of the altercation, he likely did not fire the rounds that injured the 18-year-old victim".

"We knew that was false," said stepmother Cynthia Bradford when she heard police were blaming him for the shooting at Riverchase Galleria in Birmingham.

Police initially claimed 21-year-old Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford had brandished a weapon
AP

She described her stepson, who went by the name EJ, as a respectful young man who is the son of a Birmingham police department officer.

More than 200 demonstrators, including several relatives, chanted "EJ" and "no justice, no peace" as they marched past Christmas shoppers at the shopping centre on Saturday.

They held a moment of silence at the spot outside a shoe store where Bradford was killed.

"They should never have killed him," Emani Smith, Mr Bradford's seven-year-old half-sister said, while other family members cried.

Family members described their horror of finding out from social media that Mr Bradford was dead. Video circulated on social media of Bradford lying in a pool of blood on the shopping centre floor.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is investigating the incident as the Hoover Police Department conducts its own internal investigation.

The officer who shot Mr Bradford was placed on administrative leave while authorities investigate the shooting.

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