Listen Live
Get Up Erica Featured Video
CLOSE

Black people dying at the hands of police is a recurring nightmare that society sadly doesn’t seem to be waking up from anytime soon.

Although it’s extremely hard to make a case for using excessive force that proves to be fatal, a recent situation in California that left a Black man shot in the back by San Bernardino cops, who say he was fleeing with a gun in-hand, is now raising questions after the slain man’s mother claims that it was actually a cell phone in his hand and she was even on the phone with him.

The following clip may be disturbing for some. Please view at your own discretion.

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK. FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE.

Surveillance footage posted to social media by attorney Ben Crump (seen above) shows the seconds-long interaction as it played out. Adams spots a car, which is notably unmarked, pull up and immediately two guys hop out with guns. He runs off and doesn’t make it out of the parking lot before falling to the ground due to a gunshot wound to the back. From the perspective of the police, Adams was believed to be in possession of a gun and exhibited behavior that made them believe he was about to fire on them.

Take a look at the two conflicting stories below, via CNN:

“‘This is a classic example of ‘shoot first, ask questions later,” Ben Crump, one of the lawyers representing Adams’ family, said in a news conference Wednesday, adding, ‘What we witnessed was a young man unnecessarily and unjustifiably being murdered.’

‘I just want answers,’ Adams’ mother Tamika Deavila King said at the conference, nodding to the crowd gathered behind her. ‘This is all his family. My son was well-loved.’

Police say that two uniformed officers drove into a parking lot in an unmarked car to conduct surveillance after they received a tip from an informant about the location. When the officers pulled into the lot, police say Adams began to walk toward the car with a gun in his hand.

Adams can be seen in surveillance footage walking toward the officers holding an object.”

STAY INFORMED! CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER!

The officers claimed to have given verbal commands, which of course can’t be heard on the clip due to that portion of the video not having sound. Crump cited the unidentifiable cop car and the officers’ overall quickness to draw their guns as reason to classify this as an avoidable death. San Bernardino Police Chief Darren Goodman confirmed that a gun was recovered at the scene, but also recognized the area as a history of criminal activity.

“I was on the phone and all I heard after that was gunshots. He never told me goodbye,” King said of her son, believing wholeheartedly that the item in his hand was his cell phone if anything.

As an internal investigation gets underway over the next several months, a protest for immediate action is scheduled for this Saturday (July 22) at  7PM.

READ MORE STORIES ON BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM:

HEAD TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE

He Said, Police Said: Black Man Killed By San Bernadino Cops Raises Major Questions  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com