Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Mom and dad distraught after son shot dead in Galleria Alabama mall cop shooting

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Mom and dad distraught after son shot dead in Galleria Alabama mall cop shooting · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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2:01
Speaker 1: something I heard, like my manager just yell um. There
2:05
Speaker 1: was gunshots, gunshots, and just running as fast as I
2:08
Speaker 1: came to the bay back and all the way to
2:10
Speaker 1: the office, and there's a couple like people with us,
2:13
Speaker 1: and then like two customers and then we locked the
2:15
Speaker 1: door and someone got on nine one. Everything was calmed
2:18
Speaker 1: down for a little bit and then we started going
2:21
Speaker 1: look just outed by the cashier everything, and then there
2:25
Speaker 1: was more gunshots and then everyone when just running to
2:30
Speaker 1: the back. There was people crying, shaking. I tried to
2:34
Speaker 1: stay as calm as I couldn't. I heard one and
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Speaker 1: then bang bang, and then right after that people started
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Speaker 1: screaming and going crazy to just get away from it.
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Speaker 1: And then cops can buy us with their guns strong
2:47
Speaker 1: in that direction. So were they telling you guys when
2:51
Speaker 1: you were Nobody's tell anybody anything I mean it was
2:54
Speaker 1: so fast and I was Oh, I was so close
2:56
Speaker 1: to it. I'm not hanging around for somebody job before
2:59
Speaker 1: it to do. How did a young man who simply
3:02
Speaker 1: goes to the mall shopping end up shot dead by police?
3:09
Speaker 1: Are there two sides to this story? I'm Nancy Grace.
3:12
Speaker 1: This is crime Stories. Thank you for being with us.
3:15
Speaker 1: First of all, joining me, Benjamin Crump, the family attorney
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Speaker 1: for the victim's family, E. J. Bradford, Also with me
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Speaker 1: Dave Max, Indicated radio talk show host Dave explained to
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Speaker 1: me what happened, Nancy. There were actually two shootings inside
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Speaker 1: the River Chase Gallery of Mall, which is in Hoover,
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Speaker 1: about ten miles outside of downtown Birmingham towards the south.
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Speaker 1: At nine fifty two pm shots rang out. That's when
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Speaker 1: a twelve year old and an eighteen year old were
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Speaker 1: both shot outside of Hugh Store. Police heard the shots
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Speaker 1: and within seconds they were on the scene and police,
3:50
Speaker 1: from what we gathered, pulled guns and shot twenty one
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Speaker 1: year old EJ. Emantic Bradford Jr. In the face, killing
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Speaker 1: him almost instantly, and then they detained and cuffed other
4:00
Speaker 1: suspects on in that moment, the course the chaos that
4:04
Speaker 1: ensued afterwards. In the video you're seeing a people running.
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Speaker 1: That was just after the fact. This was the thing
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Speaker 1: that maybe in fifteen seconds time began and ended. But
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Speaker 1: that's the problem is that this man EJ. Bradford, or
4:16
Speaker 1: initially was reported to be the gunman who shot the
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Speaker 1: eighteen year old and incidentally shot the twelve year old,
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Speaker 1: but after a quick review, with less than twenty four
4:25
Speaker 1: hours a police said, hey, we shot the wrong guy. EJ.
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Speaker 1: Bradford was not the initial shooter and he's dead now,
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Speaker 1: and it's our fault, or at least that's what many
4:33
Speaker 1: of us want them to say, it's our fault. They
4:35
Speaker 1: haven't said that yet. Well, Dave Matt, let me understand something.
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Speaker 1: Why would they think Emantic Bradford was the initial shooter
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Speaker 1: that gunned down two teens. Why would they think he's
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Speaker 1: the man? I'm gonna back up here. The police have
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Speaker 1: stated publicly that they believed that EJ. Bradford, at twenty
4:49
Speaker 1: one years old, was involved in some type of altercation
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Speaker 1: and when police were on the scene within seconds they
4:56
Speaker 1: saw he had a gun. Now they've claimed he was
4:59
Speaker 1: brandishing his weapon. Other eye witnesses are saying it was
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Speaker 1: holstered in his waistband. I don't know. I know that
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Speaker 1: I saw a video that was taken immediately after this,
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Speaker 1: when police were on the scene him. You can clearly
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Speaker 1: see a gun next to EJ. Bradford on the ground.
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Speaker 1: But police came around the corner after the shots were fired.
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Speaker 1: They claimed that they saw EJ. Bradford. Okay, well, I
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Speaker 1: don't understand something. Let me ask Benjamin Crump. He is
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Speaker 1: the family lawyer for the victim in this case, EJ.
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Speaker 1: Bradford Junior's family. Mister Crump, you have handled so many
5:28
Speaker 1: high profile cases, and I'm proud to call you not
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Speaker 1: only my colleague but my friend. But I gotta ask
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Speaker 1: a tough question, mister Crump. There's no way they could
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Speaker 1: have seen a gun holsterred and emantic Bradford's waistband. He
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Speaker 1: had to have it in his hand when they shot.
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Speaker 1: Do I think he was the initial shooter? No, I
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Speaker 1: do not. Do I think he deserved to be shot down. No,
5:52
Speaker 1: I do not. Do I think the police screwed up?
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Speaker 1: Yes I do. I also think that he had his
5:57
Speaker 1: gun out at them all. I don't like that. NASA
6:00
Speaker 1: that the laws or what they are. Apparently Alabama as
6:03
Speaker 1: an open carry state, said Alabama, like many of the states,
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Speaker 1: support their citizens the Second Amendment rights to openly carry
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Speaker 1: guns if they have a license and permit. A man
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Speaker 1: to Fitz Jerald Bradford Junior has a permit to carry
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Speaker 1: a gun. And as we understanding, this is where we
6:23
Speaker 1: keep crying and demanding and screaming to release the video.
6:27
Speaker 1: You don't need to say no more. Just released the video.
6:30
Speaker 1: That is the bounder cry of the Bradford family, because
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Speaker 1: witnesses report when the shootings started there were dozens of
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Speaker 1: people who poured their weapons out because they feel you
6:44
Speaker 1: have a right to defend yourself. In fact, there's some
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Speaker 1: of the top leadership in our country say what we
6:52
Speaker 1: need to stop bad guys with guns for these mass
6:56
Speaker 1: shootings is to have good guys with guns. What we
7:01
Speaker 1: believe is the problem with that theory. If you're a
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Speaker 1: good guy with a gun and you happen to be black,
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Speaker 1: the police don't see you as a good guy. They
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Speaker 1: see you as a criminal, and they shoot and kill
7:13
Speaker 1: you and ask questions later. We saw the incident in
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Speaker 1: Chicago with Jamie or Robinson, and now we'll send this
7:20
Speaker 1: incident in Huba, Alabama with EJ. Braffett, who several witnesses
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Speaker 1: have come forward to our office and we're trying to
7:28
Speaker 1: send them to law enforcement to give their accounts. But
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Speaker 1: they claim EJ. Braffett was trying to get people away
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Speaker 1: from the shooting. In fact, multiple witnesses have come forward
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Speaker 1: and said that he shielded me and we don't know
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Speaker 1: what happened because the police are using these semantics saying
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Speaker 1: he branded a gun, and at first it was he
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Speaker 1: shot eighteen year old and he shot twelve year old.
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Speaker 1: And when the press asked the police chief, are you certain,
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Speaker 1: he said one hundred percent certain, And they had proclaimed
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Speaker 1: that I'll due to the police officer who was working
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Speaker 1: private security for the mall, was a hero. And this
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Speaker 1: just cut to the core. I mean took out the
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Speaker 1: heart of EJ's mother and father because they knew the
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Speaker 1: son they raised, they knew his character. Everybody has said
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Speaker 1: nothing but glowing things about this young man. People say
8:33
Speaker 1: he wouldn't have been the one the point, but the
8:35
Speaker 1: end I didn't get anybody. Everyone with me is Benjamin Crump,
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Speaker 1: the family attorney for the victim in this case, amantic
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Speaker 1: Bradford Junior. Now, first of all, I'm not moved at
8:47
Speaker 1: all by what friends and families say, not at all,
8:50
Speaker 1: because I've never tried. I don't think a single person
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Speaker 1: from a shot lift or two a killer whose mother
8:57
Speaker 1: did not come in and attack me from putting her
9:00
Speaker 1: son in jail. Okay, I understand that, and I'm sure
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Speaker 1: I would be the first one in line to attack
9:07
Speaker 1: anybody that wanted to put my son or daughter in jail.
9:09
Speaker 1: So I get it. That means nothing to me except
9:12
Speaker 1: that I heard that they're hurting because they've lost their son.
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Speaker 1: But you just enlighten me, Benjamin Crump. You are saying
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Speaker 1: that Emantick Bradford, who I would like to point out,
9:24
Speaker 1: was a member of the US Army and has never
9:28
Speaker 1: been in any trouble at all to my knowledge. The
9:32
Speaker 1: way it was first reported, he was brandishing a gun
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Speaker 1: in a mall. And if I find out somebody's brandishing
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Speaker 1: a gun in a mall and I'm there with my
9:40
Speaker 1: two twins, okay, I'm not that upset if somebody pulls
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Speaker 1: a gun and the police shoot him. But the way
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Speaker 1: you're telling it is that he heard gunfire break out,
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Speaker 1: he's running he's trying to get other people out and
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Speaker 1: he pulls his gun in self defense. Okay, that's a
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Speaker 1: whole different scenario, Benjamin Crump. That is entirely different than
10:04
Speaker 1: some yay pulling out a gun like a big guy
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Speaker 1: at them all. That's a whole different scenario. And Benjamin,
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Speaker 1: what leads you to believe that you're correct, Well, the witnesses,
10:15
Speaker 1: because they won't release the video. All we can go
10:18
Speaker 1: by is what witnesses are saying. I mean, we have
10:21
Speaker 1: people raped there in the foot action store where it
10:24
Speaker 1: happened in front of and they say they cannot understand
10:30
Speaker 1: why the police shot so fast. They never heard the
10:34
Speaker 1: police say any verbal commands. Never let's say, freeze, police,
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Speaker 1: drop your weapon, all these things that you're trained to do. Nancy,
10:44
Speaker 1: he just in a millisecond, for whatever reason, made a
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Speaker 1: decision and shot him. Obviously, people and communities of color
10:54
Speaker 1: still that there's always arrested judgment by law enforcement when
10:59
Speaker 1: we are leave to do something to fit a profile
11:02
Speaker 1: versus we see just several examples of when you have
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Speaker 1: young white men who are confirmed mass shooters, whether it's
11:11
Speaker 1: the Wafferhouse shooting and he goes in the woods, the
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Speaker 1: police take him alive. The Partland shooting down in Florida,
11:18
Speaker 1: shot thirty four people, seventeen of them dead. They take
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Speaker 1: him alive. You saw in South Carolina Dylan roof the
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Speaker 1: young man who went into the church and kept nine
11:29
Speaker 1: of the most innocent people you could ever find while
11:33
Speaker 1: they were praying. By the way, I'd like to add, Benjamin,
11:35
Speaker 1: remember they were praying when he shot them down. At
11:39
Speaker 1: this big mall, at an Alabama mall, a shooting breaks out,
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Speaker 1: two people are killed, everybody starts running, pandemonium breaks out.
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Speaker 1: Police get there. According to Ben Crump, the family lawyer,
11:52
Speaker 1: very well known lawyer, his guy, Amantic Bradford began running
11:57
Speaker 1: and hurting people out, and he pulled his own gun,
12:01
Speaker 1: and when police saw him with a gun, they shot
12:04
Speaker 1: him dead right then and there. Now, where was he
12:07
Speaker 1: in relation to the initial shooting? And can we tell
12:10
Speaker 1: which way he was going? What can we tell about
12:13
Speaker 1: the logistics of this, Ben Crump? To support your theory,
12:16
Speaker 1: now say what the witnesses have reported is that Emantic
12:22
Speaker 1: was running away, as everybody when they heard the guns
12:25
Speaker 1: immediately start to run away. But then two young ladies
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Speaker 1: have reported to the family told some of the media outlets, Hey,
12:34
Speaker 1: this guy grabbed me and has shouted me, and he
12:37
Speaker 1: tried to help me get away, so they purport him
12:40
Speaker 1: as a hero in all of this. He was trying
12:43
Speaker 1: to get away from the shooting. What we have to
12:46
Speaker 1: see is the video. Because I've been involved in mall shootings,
12:52
Speaker 1: we don't doubt for a second that they have thousands
12:55
Speaker 1: of hours of video that contract Eumantic from the moment
13:01
Speaker 1: he walks in that mall and he wasn't there very long.
13:04
Speaker 1: From the moment he walks in that mall and to
13:06
Speaker 1: the moment he is shot in the head, they can
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Speaker 1: track every second. I don't have any doubt that the
13:14
Speaker 1: police already know exactly what happened. Mister Braffitt's family believes,
13:20
Speaker 1: as many in their community, that if that video would
13:24
Speaker 1: have showed Emantic doing anything bad or nefarious, we would
13:30
Speaker 1: have already seen it. Well, what I don't understand, among
13:34
Speaker 1: many things, very quickly, Joe Scott Morgan, is that why
13:39
Speaker 1: aren't we seeing the video? That's a simple matter. Do
13:42
Speaker 1: we play the video? And in these malls, it's like NASA,
13:45
Speaker 1: it's like the Vegas casinos. They've got they've got video
13:48
Speaker 1: everywhere and it's a very simple matter to compare bullets.
13:52
Speaker 1: They've got his gun and they've got the bullet where
13:55
Speaker 1: the eighteen year old was shot and a twelve year
13:57
Speaker 1: old who was caught in crossfire. Yeah, you sighted Vegas, Nancy.
14:02
Speaker 1: That video was not released immediately. Let's keep that in mind.
14:06
Speaker 1: There's an ongoing investigation at this point in time. However,
14:09
Speaker 1: I think that as things begin to settle a little
14:12
Speaker 1: bit more information will come out. I can tell you
14:15
Speaker 1: that the scene itself, the scene itself was total chaos
14:21
Speaker 1: and pandemonium. When people hear gunshots, it's almost like a
14:25
Speaker 1: herd mentality. They just start fleeing. The forensic evidence here
14:29
Speaker 1: is going to be very, very difficult to sift through.
14:32
Speaker 1: In this particular case, Guys, we are talking about a
14:35
Speaker 1: young man. I'm looking at his picture right now. It's
14:38
Speaker 1: a magic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr's body lying on the ground
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Speaker 1: in a pool of blood at River Chase Galleria in Hoover,
14:47
Speaker 1: Alabama as everyone was out shopping. And now right beside that,
14:52
Speaker 1: I'm looking at a photo of this young man is
14:55
Speaker 1: very good looking, strong, young small art the son of
15:02
Speaker 1: a Birmingham police officer. I'm just so upset about it,
15:07
Speaker 1: Ben Crump, I don't know what. I don't even know
15:09
Speaker 1: what to think. I'm just beside myself when I look
15:12
Speaker 1: at him, He's just so young, so vibrant with the
15:17
Speaker 1: world in front of him. And I have to tell
15:20
Speaker 1: you that it's it's deep because and I understand he
15:24
Speaker 1: said of the prosecutor, every mother and father, would you know?
15:27
Speaker 1: I say that kid was a good kid, But you
15:31
Speaker 1: really have to understand. Emantic was named after his father,
15:36
Speaker 1: Emantic Senior, who served fifteen years in the Marines, came
15:40
Speaker 1: out of the Marines and then began working for the
15:44
Speaker 1: Birmingham Police Department, and he is now battling cancer. He's
15:51
Speaker 1: doing chemotherapy today as we speak. Emantic will work a
15:56
Speaker 1: four day get off of work and immediately go to
16:01
Speaker 1: his father and spend time being a caregiver, trying to
16:05
Speaker 1: inspire his father, saying we're going to battle this cancer together.
16:09
Speaker 1: We're not going to lose this battle to cancer. We're
16:12
Speaker 1: gonna fight at daddy. And when you watch the interviews
16:16
Speaker 1: of his father, he talks about not only that was
16:20
Speaker 1: his best friend and his inspiration, but now it has
16:26
Speaker 1: had a profound effect on his mentality, because you know Marines,
16:30
Speaker 1: they talk about you do stuff to get your unit
16:33
Speaker 1: across the line, and that was the mentality him and
16:36
Speaker 1: his son had taken. We're not gonna leave you behind, daddy.
16:40
Speaker 1: We're gonna get you across the line. And so this
16:43
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving night that we're living infamy for their family forever
16:47
Speaker 1: has even more devastating consequences when you think about he
16:52
Speaker 1: is retiring this Wednesday from the Birmingham Police Department after
16:57
Speaker 1: twenty five years because the cancer has become too aggressive,
17:01
Speaker 1: and he also has to deal with fighting for justice
17:05
Speaker 1: to clear his son's name. Who him and his romantic's
17:10
Speaker 1: mother knew from day one when they said their son
17:13
Speaker 1: shot somebody, they said, not our son, not our said
17:17
Speaker 1: They knew it was a lot even before the police
17:19
Speaker 1: retracted the statement. And they're so troubled why the police
17:23
Speaker 1: didn't look at the video before they plastered their sons
17:27
Speaker 1: face all over the worldwide media and branded him the
17:33
Speaker 1: shooter and that he was a bad guy. And so
17:37
Speaker 1: what they want more than anything else now is to
17:41
Speaker 1: defend the legacy of their child and get to the truth.
17:45
Speaker 1: And they are so concerned, like many of us, that
17:48
Speaker 1: this will get swept under the rug the longer they
17:52
Speaker 1: refused to release this video. And so it's not a
17:58
Speaker 1: hard complicated request from these parents. They're saying to the mayor,
18:02
Speaker 1: to the chief, to the leadership, simply tell the truth,
18:06
Speaker 1: show us the video, and if the transparency will help
18:10
Speaker 1: build a trust not only from my family but from
18:13
Speaker 1: this community. Ben Mister Benjamin Crump, the family lawyer for
18:18
Speaker 1: Emantic Bradford Junior's family. The first research I did was
18:25
Speaker 1: cops see a guy with a gun, bulled and they
18:28
Speaker 1: shoot him in them all. And I was placing myself
18:31
Speaker 1: at them all in my mind with children and seeing
18:35
Speaker 1: a guy pull a gun. So I'm like, well, you
18:38
Speaker 1: know what, you pull a gun on them all? What
18:40
Speaker 1: do you think is going to happen? But now that
18:42
Speaker 1: you've told me all of these additional facts, now that
18:46
Speaker 1: I've learned this guy was a armed forces, his father
18:50
Speaker 1: a Birmingham comp And not just that, but the scenario
18:56
Speaker 1: and the logistics that you have laid out to support
19:00
Speaker 1: exactly what you're saying. Ben asked my friend, if you
19:04
Speaker 1: would relate to his family, how sorry we all are.
19:09
Speaker 1: We all are for what they are going through. Thank you.
19:13
Speaker 1: Berta Nassy thank you in maybe we can have them
19:17
Speaker 1: on the show. And I talked with you, Yes, sir,
19:20
Speaker 1: I just pray to God. And here they go into
19:23
Speaker 1: Christmas with this way on their hearts. I feel so
19:25
Speaker 1: bad for him being crump. You're on your way to court,
19:30
Speaker 1: you ski dadd on. Guys, take a list sure, take
19:35
Speaker 1: a listen to this. Hoover police are still saying Bradford
19:38
Speaker 1: played a part in the initial fight that set all
19:42
Speaker 1: of this emotion, but they don't think he fired the
19:45
Speaker 1: rounds that hit that teenager. Police said Bradford showed a
19:50
Speaker 1: handgun and was fleeing the scene of the original shooting
19:53
Speaker 1: near foot action when he was shot and killed by
19:57
Speaker 1: a Hoover police officer. Oh no, it's not Santa, it's
20:05
Speaker 1: Nancy Grace. Are you trying to find the perfect gift
20:08
Speaker 1: for a parent or an expecting parent, Please do not
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Speaker 1: give them another onesie. Don't do it, and not another
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Speaker 1: holiday season. Give them something that really matters, and what
20:24
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20:37
Speaker 1: back against predators. And what I learned is so critical
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Speaker 1: to have it. I want them as parents to have it.
20:51
Speaker 1: Go to crimestops here dot com for a five part
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Speaker 1: sign up, forty percent off. Give that as a gift,
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Speaker 1: not another onesie. Please find out how to protect your
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21:53
Speaker 1: willing Crime Stories with Nancy. This is not how I
22:03
Speaker 1: wanted to. You know, my song portrayed ass You know,
22:08
Speaker 1: it's been a long week, hard for me. My song
22:11
Speaker 1: was a good kid. What happened to him was fortunate.
22:18
Speaker 1: It's a hard a peer for me to swallow. My
22:21
Speaker 1: song was loving and my son loved me. I love
22:23
Speaker 1: my son. But to get on social media in the
22:28
Speaker 1: middle of the night and people calling telling me woke
22:33
Speaker 1: me up. And my low called me and I tried,
22:36
Speaker 1: I couldn't get to the phone. My wife asked me, said,
22:38
Speaker 1: she said, who was I said it was a soister.
22:40
Speaker 1: I couldn't get to the phone, so she probably just
22:41
Speaker 1: hit the number by mistake. Sold my allaw. Pauline ain't
22:46
Speaker 1: crossed the street roun with Dobell. They had me sitting down.
22:49
Speaker 1: She said, just sit down, Brad. I saw what's going on?
22:50
Speaker 1: She said, what's saying? I said, she's in the bedroom.
22:53
Speaker 1: So I sat in the living room. She went in
22:55
Speaker 1: and told my wife something, and then my wife came
22:58
Speaker 1: out Dad, and then she told me my son was dead.
23:00
Speaker 1: You are hearing the father of amantic Bradford Junior. That's
23:03
Speaker 1: his dad, Bradford Senior. What do we know? We know
23:06
Speaker 1: that at a crowded Alabama mall, a fight breaks out,
23:10
Speaker 1: an eighteen year old is shot, A twelve year old
23:12
Speaker 1: girl is grazed as well, she's shot as a bystander.
23:16
Speaker 1: We know that pandemonium broke out, Everybody starts running and
23:20
Speaker 1: at some point this young man, Amanti Bradford Junior, pulls
23:22
Speaker 1: a gun out. Was it to protect himself? Others say
23:26
Speaker 1: he was hurting them out and trying to protect them.
23:28
Speaker 1: What do you think if you were at a crowded
23:31
Speaker 1: mall Christmas shopping you see a guy I pull a gun?
23:34
Speaker 1: How upset would you be if the cops shoot him dead?
23:37
Speaker 1: What really happened? To hear Benjamin Crump tell it this
23:41
Speaker 1: guy was a hero trying to save other people. But
23:43
Speaker 1: Dave Matt with Me talk show host has a completely
23:46
Speaker 1: different opinion. Dave Matt, why are you so convinced Ben
23:49
Speaker 1: Crump is wrong? Well, mainly because Ben Crump is the
23:53
Speaker 1: only shows up when he's going to be able to
23:55
Speaker 1: be the lead story all the network news and can
23:57
Speaker 1: give a whole community up in arms when there are
24:00
Speaker 1: absolutely minimal facts actually out in the public. Now, Benjamin,
24:04
Speaker 1: stop right there, just stop right there. Dave Matt hold on, Yeah,
24:08
Speaker 1: he shows up on high profile cases. That's because people
24:11
Speaker 1: want to talk to him, because he's representing people on
24:13
Speaker 1: high profile cases. I'm sure, he handles hundreds of other
24:16
Speaker 1: cases that are not high profile that you don't hear
24:18
Speaker 1: from him on that. That doesn't mean what he said
24:21
Speaker 1: was not true. Give give me something, okay, you know, legitimate,
24:24
Speaker 1: something hard. Give me some hard evidence to show me
24:27
Speaker 1: he's wrong. You and I are both parents, and he
24:29
Speaker 1: hit that note with you about being a family. His
24:31
Speaker 1: dad is sick, and all those things are actually true.
24:33
Speaker 1: But here's the reality on a cloud. That's not what
24:36
Speaker 1: really hit me is his father was a marine and
24:39
Speaker 1: is with the police force. Because that suggests to me
24:42
Speaker 1: a certain ho ho, don't make me cut your mic man.
24:45
Speaker 1: That suggests to me a certain type of upbringing, of discipline,
24:49
Speaker 1: of taking care of the son, of raising him up.
24:52
Speaker 1: Dave Matt moved forward. The other issues surrounding this entire
24:55
Speaker 1: shooting Nancy are that a crowded mall on Thanksgiving night
24:58
Speaker 1: and the shooting happens now the mall, being the biggest
25:00
Speaker 1: in Alabama, is covered up with private security and police
25:03
Speaker 1: who were off duty start making extra money. They were
25:05
Speaker 1: on the scene within seconds, within seconds of the initial
25:08
Speaker 1: shots being fired. So the story that somehow mister Bradford
25:12
Speaker 1: was rescuing people and taking them all out. It sounds
25:14
Speaker 1: like a great movie, but the reality is he was
25:16
Speaker 1: shot and two other suspects were handcuffed right next to
25:19
Speaker 1: his body, outside of where the initial shooting took place. Now,
25:22
Speaker 1: I'm not tasting aspersions onto the man's character. I'm really
25:24
Speaker 1: saying that we don't have any kind of facts that
25:27
Speaker 1: support the story that Benjamin Crump is selling, and what
25:30
Speaker 1: we do have is a community that is now again
25:33
Speaker 1: divided along racial lines, when in reality, gun shots were fired.
25:37
Speaker 1: People were shot, apparently over an argument over a new
25:40
Speaker 1: shoe that had been released at the foot action store
25:42
Speaker 1: in the Galleria. The police show up within seconds and
25:45
Speaker 1: the only person they see with a gun is mister Bradford.
25:48
Speaker 1: They shoot him. Now, I don't know if they gave
25:49
Speaker 1: him any commands. I witnesses says they never said freeze
25:52
Speaker 1: or anything else. But you've got an active shooting. You
25:54
Speaker 1: see a man with a gun and they shot him.
25:56
Speaker 1: Right or wrong. They made the decision, not me. But
25:58
Speaker 1: the bottom line is that in the video that I
26:00
Speaker 1: saw in a moment after this happened, and it's so
26:03
Speaker 1: sad that this was out there. But I saw EJ
26:05
Speaker 1: on the ground dead and I saw the police handcuffing
26:08
Speaker 1: two other suspects right there with him. Now, if they
26:11
Speaker 1: were all fleeing the scene, they wouldn't have been caught
26:14
Speaker 1: up at the same time with a gun right by
26:16
Speaker 1: his side, with the police on top. So again we're
26:18
Speaker 1: jumping to a lot of conclusions, and it doesn't seem
26:20
Speaker 1: like any of this is based on race. It's merely
26:23
Speaker 1: shots fired. They got the guy with the gun, and
26:25
Speaker 1: there you go. Police tried to correct this within twenty
26:27
Speaker 1: four hours, saying we announced the wrong thing and we
26:29
Speaker 1: are investigating. They had to turn it over to the
26:32
Speaker 1: Alabama Law Enforcement Agency so there wouldn't be a conflict
26:34
Speaker 1: of interest with the newly elected sheriff of Jeff Wait, wait,
26:40
Speaker 1: you're going so fast that I'm losing some of your information.
26:45
Speaker 1: I want to get back to what we know about
26:48
Speaker 1: what happened at the scene. Guys, take a listen to
26:51
Speaker 1: this over. Police say the preliminary information indicated that two
26:55
Speaker 1: individuals were involved in a fight that led to an
26:58
Speaker 1: eighteen year old mail being shot multiple times. That victim
27:02
Speaker 1: remains in UAB hospital tonight. That twelve year old girl
27:05
Speaker 1: who was shot in the back isn't stable condition at
27:08
Speaker 1: Children's of Alabama. Hoover Police say Jefferson County shares off
27:12
Speaker 1: his investigators examined critical evidence that now paints a different picture.
27:16
Speaker 1: It suggests Bradford may have been involved in the fight,
27:19
Speaker 1: but was not the shooter. You're hearing right there from
27:23
Speaker 1: wb RCTV. That's Jamie's price reporting so to you. Josice
27:28
Speaker 1: Scott Morgan joining me. Forensics expert, Professor Forensics, Jackson State
27:32
Speaker 1: University and author of a new book, Blood Beneath My
27:34
Speaker 1: Feet on Amazon. Joe Scott, I'm trying to figure out
27:38
Speaker 1: what the truth is and when you're deciphering the truth,
27:41
Speaker 1: Joe Scott, as I've learned at trial, sometimes both sides
27:45
Speaker 1: can be speaking the truth. Okay. As I've told you
27:48
Speaker 1: many times, Joe Scott, I once had a judge who's
27:50
Speaker 1: eighty four years old, best judge in the courthouse, Luther Alberson,
27:53
Speaker 1: and he would tell juries at the close of the case.
27:56
Speaker 1: It is your duty to make all the witnesses speak
27:59
Speaker 1: the truth and perjury on no one. In other words,
28:02
Speaker 1: people can tell what they believed to be the truth,
28:05
Speaker 1: even though it differs from other witness accounts. What I'm
28:07
Speaker 1: saying is if amantic Bradford Jr. Was part of the
28:11
Speaker 1: original fight that led to a shooting. I mean, arguments
28:15
Speaker 1: break out all the time. If you're in front of
28:16
Speaker 1: a footlocker or whatever it is, it could be an
28:18
Speaker 1: argument over anything. They also say that he was not
28:22
Speaker 1: They don't believe right now the original shooter. My question
28:26
Speaker 1: is if cops saw him quote brandishing a gun, did
28:30
Speaker 1: he pull out his gun. I don't see how they
28:32
Speaker 1: could have known he had a gun if it was
28:34
Speaker 1: in his waistband. And I think it would be easy
28:37
Speaker 1: enough Joe Scott for the eighteen year old that was
28:39
Speaker 1: shot multiple times to tell gobs who shot him? What
28:41
Speaker 1: about that? Joe Scott, Oh, yeah, I think that it's accurate.
28:46
Speaker 1: You know, the temperature is being turned up so much
28:47
Speaker 1: on this case that what I'm hoping is with the
28:50
Speaker 1: initial investigation, Dave had mentioned that there were a lot
28:53
Speaker 1: of security police officers there on the scene at that moment. Tim.
28:57
Speaker 1: I'm really hoping they locked this thing down really, really quickly, Nancy,
29:01
Speaker 1: because now the you know, the media world has all
29:06
Speaker 1: of these voices screaming. I'm hoping they locked this thing
29:08
Speaker 1: down so that they were able to catch those eyewitnesses
29:12
Speaker 1: in the immediate and take initial statements from them, because
29:15
Speaker 1: you know, as doctor Boger can point out, people's memories change,
29:19
Speaker 1: you know, their perception of things change. It all comes
29:21
Speaker 1: down to the physical evidence and what we're going to
29:23
Speaker 1: see displayed before us. And we have to be patient
29:27
Speaker 1: in this particular too. Ashley Wilcott joining me Jeevenile, judge, lawyer,
29:31
Speaker 1: founder of Ashley Wilcott dot com. Ashley help me out
29:34
Speaker 1: way in Nancy. So I agree completely that we have
29:37
Speaker 1: to be patient, but we also have to be thorough.
29:39
Speaker 1: For this reason, it is so imperative that an investigation
29:43
Speaker 1: be completed and that all aspects be considered. You don't
29:46
Speaker 1: want just the video, you don't want just the witness interviews.
29:48
Speaker 1: Law enforcement has to do all that thoroughly. And then
29:51
Speaker 1: I agree we're going to have a better picture of
29:53
Speaker 1: exactly what happened and whoever needs to be held responsible
29:57
Speaker 1: can be should be at that point. Well, but I
30:00
Speaker 1: I don't understand is you got a witness lying in
30:02
Speaker 1: the hospital as to who shot him. Now, even if
30:06
Speaker 1: it shows, if that witness says that Bradford was not
30:10
Speaker 1: his sheeter, that still does not address the question of
30:14
Speaker 1: did cop see Bradford at Manti Bradford Jr. Brandishing a
30:17
Speaker 1: gun in a mall, listened to his father. My son
30:20
Speaker 1: is gone. I can't get him back. But you vilified
30:24
Speaker 1: my song like he used a straight criminal on Facebook,
30:28
Speaker 1: National TV and never sold him no love. Fox six two.
30:32
Speaker 1: You ran with the store and he was walking around
30:33
Speaker 1: waving a God and he ran it to the officer.
30:36
Speaker 1: That's a lie. So you need to clean that up.
30:39
Speaker 1: You need to apologize, and I want apologizes. His mother
30:42
Speaker 1: needs one. Your grandmother definitely needs one. But at the
30:45
Speaker 1: end of the day, I'm hurt. I'm totally distraught about
30:49
Speaker 1: the whole situation, and my baby was there from me.
30:52
Speaker 1: Always deare coming by checking on me, and I need
30:55
Speaker 1: some understanding behind this. I just want everybody understand this
31:02
Speaker 1: that Thanksgiving will never be the same for me because
31:07
Speaker 1: that's the day. That's the last time I saw my son,
31:11
Speaker 1: the last time. And you know, twenty one years ago
31:17
Speaker 1: I was looking into the beautiful eyes and face of
31:22
Speaker 1: my son, my firstborn carried them nine months and now
31:28
Speaker 1: I won't see him ever again. And now I have
31:36
Speaker 1: not heard the police. Is nobody even took the time
31:43
Speaker 1: or had the decency to notify me of my son's
31:47
Speaker 1: death instead is flashed all over social media. That is
31:52
Speaker 1: no way that in the parent should have to find
31:55
Speaker 1: out the death of their child. No parents should have
31:59
Speaker 1: to ever go through that. You were hearing from Atmantic
32:01
Speaker 1: Bradford Junior's mother, April Pitkins, She describes the death of
32:07
Speaker 1: her son the last time she saw him. This is
32:09
Speaker 1: what we know right now. At a crowded mall in Alabama,
32:14
Speaker 1: a shooting breaks out, apparently in an altercation in front
32:17
Speaker 1: of a store. Many believe it was a foot locker
32:20
Speaker 1: erupts in gunfire and eighteen year old is shot multiple times.
32:24
Speaker 1: A twelve year old girl named by her family as
32:27
Speaker 1: Molly Davis was shot once and reported now to be
32:31
Speaker 1: alert in talking. She's still in the children's hospital. Her mother,
32:37
Speaker 1: Julie Moore Bennett, post on social media or her daughter
32:40
Speaker 1: was shopping with her family and did not even immediately
32:43
Speaker 1: realize the pain she had in her back was actually
32:47
Speaker 1: from a bullet. She was hurting a lot, according to
32:51
Speaker 1: the mom. The eighteen year old at this moment has
32:54
Speaker 1: not been named. By six am, the mall was opened
32:59
Speaker 1: again for Black Friday shopping. You know you can't stop that.
33:03
Speaker 1: I guess something seems so wrong that I see a
33:07
Speaker 1: photo of this young man, Amantic Bradford Junior, lying in
33:10
Speaker 1: a pool of blood on the mall floor, and within
33:13
Speaker 1: a couple of hours, everybody is walking right over it
33:16
Speaker 1: like nothing happened, doing their shopping. Let me see raised
33:21
Speaker 1: this as crime stories. Thank you for being with us.
33:23
Speaker 1: We are searching for the truth. Back to Dave Max
33:27
Speaker 1: Indicated talk show host Dave Matt, you are convinced police
33:32
Speaker 1: were right, but take a listen to this. A statement
33:41
Speaker 1: from Hoover police on Friday said they believe Bradford had
33:44
Speaker 1: a part in the fight, but it is unlikely that
33:46
Speaker 1: he fired his gun. I'd review. We are going to
33:52
Speaker 1: stop looking at a man as a pole a. Police
33:57
Speaker 1: now believe that more than two people were involved in
34:00
Speaker 1: the fighting before the shooting, and that the gunman remains
34:03
Speaker 1: at large. You are hearing and right there w b
34:06
Speaker 1: RC's Ashley Night reporting. So what does this mean, Dave
34:10
Speaker 1: Mac talk show host. If Emantic Bradford Junior is not
34:14
Speaker 1: the gun and that means the gunman is out there absolutely,
34:18
Speaker 1: and that's why this investigation was. It was shut down
34:22
Speaker 1: too quickly, you know, they announced they had the shooter
34:24
Speaker 1: and it was over, and then they had to say, well,
34:26
Speaker 1: he didn't he wasn't the shooter. We've got a shooter
34:28
Speaker 1: out there. They're asking for the public to provide information,
34:32
Speaker 1: and it's a sad reality that we live in today
34:34
Speaker 1: because people jump to conclusions. I've been investigating this since
34:37
Speaker 1: it happened, Nancy, and the one thing that really truly
34:40
Speaker 1: bothers me are that facts seem to get left out
34:42
Speaker 1: of this discussion. Every time you realize that twenty seventeen,
34:46
Speaker 1: blackmails accounted for twenty two percent of all people shot
34:48
Speaker 1: and killed by police, White's accounted for forty four percent.
34:51
Speaker 1: Yet we seem to hear whenever there's a shooting that
34:54
Speaker 1: the cops shot the black guy. And in this particular case, yes,
34:58
Speaker 1: a young black man was shot, but we don't have
35:00
Speaker 1: any other facts. The police said they believed he was
35:03
Speaker 1: involved in the altercation, his gun was pulled. I don't
35:06
Speaker 1: know anything else because we don't have videotape of everything.
35:09
Speaker 1: But are we going to believe just people running around
35:12
Speaker 1: saying whatever they feel is emotionally safe to say, or
35:15
Speaker 1: we're going to actually believe the facts. Got a question
35:17
Speaker 1: to Joseph Scott Morgan, forensics expert in this case. The
35:23
Speaker 1: cops are now saying that he Bradford Jr. Was not
35:28
Speaker 1: the sheet or in the original incident, but that he
35:30
Speaker 1: may have been part of the altercation. At what point
35:35
Speaker 1: do we believe or has it been reported that Bradford
35:38
Speaker 1: pulled his gun? Did he pull it during the altercation?
35:42
Speaker 1: Did he pull it as he was running away? What
35:45
Speaker 1: are you learning at What difference would that make forensically
35:48
Speaker 1: Joe Scott Morgan, Well, it's it's gonna make a difference
35:52
Speaker 1: relative to his attitude, physical attitude directed toward the sound
35:57
Speaker 1: of the shooting, and is he confused? Used? I think
36:00
Speaker 1: in this case, you know, we talk about how police
36:04
Speaker 1: are are run around with their weapons drawn. I'm wondering
36:09
Speaker 1: how many rounds were actually discharged at the scene. Were
36:13
Speaker 1: they're multiple rounds? Did the police fire prior to this
36:19
Speaker 1: kid with his gun out or did the kid react
36:21
Speaker 1: to that? That's going to make a huge difference, Nancy.
36:24
Speaker 1: In perception, and I'm not talking about our perception. I'm
36:26
Speaker 1: talking about the perception of the individual that has been shot,
36:29
Speaker 1: in the perception of the of the police that are
36:31
Speaker 1: there to try to at this Joe Scott, we're getting
36:34
Speaker 1: some reports that at the Gallery of Mall, the police
36:38
Speaker 1: recovered another gun in what's called Santa's Village where they
36:43
Speaker 1: actually take the Santa photos. Man, I never thought I'd
36:45
Speaker 1: put all that in one sentence. A gun recovered in
36:47
Speaker 1: Santa's Village. How will that help the case? Well, I
36:50
Speaker 1: think that if they have that weapon sequestered, and obviously
36:55
Speaker 1: they do, they know where it was, they can tag
36:59
Speaker 1: this thing back the weapon itself, it's if it has
37:03
Speaker 1: been fired, and they can recover Yeah, and they can
37:06
Speaker 1: match the thing up forensically. That is significant. You know,
37:09
Speaker 1: here's another theory, just to throw out there. Asky Wilcott.
37:12
Speaker 1: We all know what felony murder is. Felony murder is
37:15
Speaker 1: when you're in the commission of a felony. It could
37:18
Speaker 1: be child abuse, it could be a bank robbery. You
37:24
Speaker 1: don't intend for a murder to happen, any shooting. In fact,
37:28
Speaker 1: you go in to rob the bank and you never
37:29
Speaker 1: pull your gun. But in the middle of your felony
37:32
Speaker 1: you're a bank robbery, the security guard tries to pull
37:35
Speaker 1: his gun and it goes off and shoot somebody dead.
37:39
Speaker 1: Guess what you're guilty a felony murder because a death
37:44
Speaker 1: occurred during the commission of a felony. So what I'm
37:49
Speaker 1: saying is the original shooter maybe looking at felony murder
37:53
Speaker 1: charges because of his felony double aggravated assault in front
37:59
Speaker 1: of the foot locker. Somebody is dead. What about that? Ashley? Absolutely,
38:03
Speaker 1: I agree with that legal theory, and that's the reason
38:06
Speaker 1: the intent behind the felony murder charges, because even if
38:09
Speaker 1: it was unintentional to murder someone, if you're going to
38:11
Speaker 1: commit a felony and that's the result of the felony
38:14
Speaker 1: you committed, then you should be held criminally responsible. Nancy.
38:18
Speaker 1: The other thing I have to say is talking about
38:19
Speaker 1: jumping to conclusions. Yes, lots of people are jumping to
38:22
Speaker 1: conclusions because of the emotional nature. We have lost a
38:26
Speaker 1: young man who was shot by police. The parent indicates
38:29
Speaker 1: that they were not notified that he had been killed
38:32
Speaker 1: or that he was dead. So there's so many emotions
38:35
Speaker 1: around this. But again, as a judge, I see this
38:37
Speaker 1: all the time. It's hard to do, but there's got
38:39
Speaker 1: to be caution around any conclusions and let the investigation
38:45
Speaker 1: play out to get the accurate information to see what
38:49
Speaker 1: really happened, even if he pulled a gun to protect people,
38:53
Speaker 1: he pulled a gun. I'm not saying he should have
38:55
Speaker 1: been shot. Don't misunderstand me, but all of these facts
38:59
Speaker 1: have to be investigator right now. The gunman's still at large.
39:04
Speaker 1: If you have information, called two zero five eight two
39:08
Speaker 1: two five three hundred repeat two O five eight two
39:11
Speaker 1: two five three hundred. Nancy Grace crime Story signing off,
39:17
Speaker 1: goodbye friend