Wilmington, DE - On Wednesday police responded to a 911 call about a man in a wheelchair who was allegedly suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Upon arriving on the scene, police officers immediately escalated the situation and within seconds the man was killed, according to witnesses.



The victim, 28-year-old Jeremy McDole was repeatedly told by police to "show your hands," but he did not immediately respond.( he never raised his hands) The first officer fired a single shot at him with a shotgun and appeared to strike McDole in the chest. what we can see in the video, it does not "appear" (i never saw the man with any weapon) that McDole was pointing a weapon at officers. He was merely moving his hands back and forth when police let loose on him a second time, unleashing a frenzy of gunfire.

According to eye-witnesses and family members on the scene, McDole did not have a weapon. However, in a statement from police, they claimed to have found a .38 caliber pistol by his side after he was killed.

"The office will take these steps as quickly as possible in order to provide an account of the incident to the public," the department wrote in a statement. "Making a determination about whether a person-including a police officer-should be criminally prosecuted under Delaware law is the responsibility of the Delaware Department of Justice and the department will make that determination following investigation in this case."

Family members and friends gathered on Thursday to mourn the loss McDole, with his uncle, Eugene Smith calling the shooting "an execution." (that's what it looked like to me)


"That's what it was. I don't care if he was black, white, whatever," Smith added. "I didn't see no gun. He had a book bag, but I never seen a gun."

On Thursday, a graphic video was released of the killing.

According to officials, the officers involved have all been placed on administrative leave. However, they have not released the number of officers who fired at this man in a wheelchair.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=79&v=pglP2Hl6IyM

so sad and yet,, funny,,,,cause it seems so true


especially since 'having' a gun is perfectly legal,,,,smh

when did they stop requiring a gun to be pointed at them or actually SEEING the weapon unholstered? or was that ever a requirement?

That doesnt mean he didnt have one. The 911 caller stated that he did.
McDole had a long arrest record including multiple resisting arrest charges and drug charges. He reportedly liked to use his wheelchair to hide contraband.
I also find it ironic that he was in a wheelchair because he " was shot in the
back by an associate in 2005, ".
All that is here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/records-man-in-wheelchair-killed-by-police-was-previously-suicidal/

Btw, his mom was just arrested for threatening a woman who she thought was the 911 caller.

"" WILMINGTON, Del. -- The mother of a man in
a wheelchair who was killed by police officers
last week was arrested and charged with
assault and threatening the woman she
believed placed a 911 call to police telling
them he had shot himself.
Phyllis McDole, 48, of Wilmington,
surrendered to city police Monday and was
released on $10,000 bail.
She was charged with second-degree burglary,
terroristic threatening, third-degree assault
and third-degree conspiracy.""
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/09/29/wheelchair-shooting/73048504/

Folks will focus on the wheelchair and the fact that he was black....even though neither means a damn thing...and they will want people to think the cops went on a mission to find a guy in a wheelchair to shoot to boot. But whatevs...I, for one, wont lose any sleep over this. Play stupid azz games n all...

black, pink, yellow, whatever, i saw nothing on the video that showed a reason why he needed to get shot by police... kinda looked like he was depressed/on drugs, very mellow and non violent...

Them cops been fuming on contraband

at least they got to shoot someone that day, huh... probably been a few days for a couple of them...

I saw his hands moving...after being repeatedly told to put them up...coulda been reaching for a weapon. Not saying he was for sure but that video surely doesnt tell the whole story...although the cop haters will want you to think it does. Maybe some more info will come out later, Ill wait for that before I condemn cops who repeatedly told a man to raise his hands and he kept fiddling with them around his waistband instead....and one cop specifically told gun to drop his gun...so maybe there WAS a firearm. Youre just as dead whether a sane man, or a crazy or depressed man shoots you.

My only question...the first shot...from a shotgun...wonder if it fired a non lethal beanbag round? Idk but I'd guess if it woulda been a round of OObuckshot, it woulda been over right then.

\

the mother knew the killer? wonder if this was a disgruntled ex that figured claiming the black man had a gun would cause him to be seen as threatening out the box and be shot?

I would have kicked her behind too,, if that was the case

but time will tell what the facts were,,,,

it says the police were told he had already shot himself before the police arrived, which makes less sense in why the police killed him... but it didn't look like he was in any pain from the beginning, and the first cop shot one shot, for some reason, but the guy filming didn't have the camera in a position to see what happened then...

The mother will lawyer up and get a big fat settlement. It's the new way to become rich.

Had there been an actual challenge, I've no doubt that several of the officers would have injured themselves.

As it sits, all officers involved should be headed for prison.


I didn't click any links.
So, my question is...
Did the cripple really shoot himself?
Or, was it a false 911 call?

yea, he didn't put his hands up, but not a reason to kill someone, or didn't use to be... didn't didn't seem threatening to me, nor did i ever see a gun, but i'm also not a cop, and wasn't there... but i don't see a man in a wheelchair being a threat, gun or not... any one of those cops could have snuck up behind him and knocked him out, subdue, or even taze.. but they choose to kill him, which is what he wanted anyway, according to the article...

i was wondering that myself, he looked "not right", but i couldn't tell if there was a bullethole in him... the first cop took one shot before the others arrived and unloaded on him too...

Sorry, but I don't see the justification for lethal force on this video. It seems that after seeing too many of these, I'm wondering if police training courses are actually teaching deescalation?

No one is waiting for the situation to maybe cool down. Instead of taking positions that provide cover such as a block wall, or behind the front end of a car to use the engine for cover, it seems commands are barked out and shots follow pretty quickly thereafter. No one is trying to talk the guy off the ledge so to speak.

In a number of these videos, the elapsed time seems to be 5-10 seconds between yelling a command, and then someone drops the hammer. What cops fail to realize is that having several people pointing deadly weapons at you is not a regular occurrence for a lot of people and they can 'freeze up' and look non-compliant. Yelling at them more often and louder doesn't help.

In this case the victim pushes himself up in the chair several times, so we know both hands are gripping the arm rests, and he can't have a weapon in either one. I never see him reach out over the chair, and I only see his hands in plain view between and around his knees.

There are several police officers issuing a 'Drop the gun!" command, but I'm not seeing a weapon being presented so that it constitutes an imminent deadly threat to the police or to bystanders.

That being the case, no imminent threat, and no chance to deescalate leaves this poor man at the risk of someone else's bad judgement, and he dies because of it.

Sorry to see it happen, and condolences to family and friends of Mr. McDole.

There are many ways to the american dream

I do. The first cop yells "Drop the gun" at about the :16 mark. So unless hes flat out lying, there IS a firearm.

It wouldve cooled down if McDole would "put his hands up" as he was ordered to do several times.

It was almost a minute between the first command and the volley of shots. And, at abt the :48 mark, the video-er even states that McDole is "reaching again". (Although, Im still confused abt the first shot early on in the video. It was followed by the "drop the gun" comment so maybe there was justification for it also.)

I saw him reach for his lap before the volley of shots. Was there a gun there? Idk...its a poor video. Im not, again, going to condemn several cops vs a known criminal with a history of resisting arrest charges based on a $hitty video.
As much as some hate to admit it, those cops deserve to go home alive. How about dumbazz criminals do wtf theyre ordered to do and live to fight it another day if they think theyre wronged? I realize this isnt a popular sentiment to have according to some, but IDGAF....
Maybe, just maybe, this was suicide by cop....its a good a guess as any based on a crappy video.
Of course, this is all JMO based on said crappy video....and Im open to anymore evidence.

And potential cop phone video-ers...landscape mode, use it

and then they could have assumed he had a gun without waiting for any verification SIMPLY because the caller said he did,,,

A non lethal round isn't out of the realm of possibility, but for anyone ever hit by one that's not freshly injected with heroin there would be some kind of vocalizations especially if it was a rubber slug or rock salt. Nobody takes a 12 gauge from that close without a grunt whimper or ***** pitched scream.
Between 6-7 seconds in the shotgun wielding cop fires the first shot. He did say 'give me your hands! Show me your hands! Bang. ' He hadn't been on the scene for more than 3-4 secondsat that time. THEN AFTER he shot him he starts talking about a gun. That's what bothers me the most.
What makes me think non lethal was fired first was after the cop shot him (around the time he should have realized nobody knew if he had a gun or not) he does drop back behind a car after yelling several times drop the gun he reloads, or at least replaced the shell he'd just discharged. But it could have been lead shot because the witness said he was bleeding around the time he lifts himself up in the chair. For the other cops who arrived seconds later I'm sure they smelled gunpowder and heard the first cop yelling drop the gun.
I don't see a gun in the vid or any body language suggesting he had one which he had about 30 seconds to brandish (draw) if he did, why would he wait that long?
Something I noticed after watching it a second time is that once he's slumping over dead there is a brownish circle in his boxers. Either he sat on a birthday cake or he shat himself which would explain him lifting himself up in his chair.

I agree....or....he could have ACTUALLY had a firearm thats not seen on the crappy video. Would love to see more evidence.....until then I wont side with an oft arrested drug dealing criminal....but you and anybody else feel free to.
Ive had the pleasure, for 25 years, to answer emergency calls...not as a cop mind you, but as a fire/medic....and I cant begin to tell you how wrong initial dispatches were.....same thing happens everday with cops. You expect one thing from the. dispatch call...and end up with something totally different.
But the OP article is misleading as all hell.....the wheelchair doesnt mean jack $hit. Worst regiular patient I ever had was in a wheelchair....mean ol man who fell out of the chair abt 3 times a week who would then cuss us like a sailor when we showed up to help.

Buts lets hope for a fair investigation of this particular incident. Ill gladly go back on my initial assesssment if there is evidence to do so....but that video and accompanying article aint it.