Source: screenshot / Twitter
A Black man’s life was changed forever after he was shot by Indianapolis Police while napping in his car parked in his grandmother’s driveway.
According to reports, on Dec. 31 around 4 a.m., Anthony Maclin (24) was asleep with a gun on his lap in a vehicle that was parked in a driveway on the 3600 block of North Oxford Street.
Maclin’s grandmother, Vickie Driver didn’t recognize the vehicle parked in her driveway and she called the authorities. When Indianapolis Police arrived on the scene they saw Maclin asleep with the gun on his lap and attempted to wake him by waving their flashlights into the vehicle, then tapping on the car window. Once Maclin began to wake up he started to move around.
Edited bodycam footage, which was released by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department shows officers then fired dozens of shots into the car, striking Maclin three times.
In the video, IMPD also added a graphic that read,” None of the cameras provided a clear view of the position of the gun after the man woke up and moved his arm.”
After shots were fired, Maclin’s grandmother realized the man police had shot was her grandson and that Maclin was in a rental car that she didn’t recognize.
“That’s my grandson,” Driver said after the shooting. I’m so sorry.”
Maclin can then be heard responding to his grandmother.
“I didn’t want to wake you guys up,” he said before he was taken to Methodist Hospital.
Anthony Maclin spent 17 days at Methodist Hospital and needed six surgeries to survive.
During a press conference this week, the family announced their filing of a tort claim notice to IMPD and the City of Indianapolis for excessive use of force and emotional distress.
“The video footage released today confirms the officers had no plan whatsoever before surrounding the car with their guns drawn,” said Maclin’s lawyer, Stephen Wagner. “Why not use other, safer methods to wake him from a distance? As a result of this lack of planning and communication, when they woke Anthony and he moved—something anyone would do when startled awake—all three officers panicked and started shouting at the same time from various positions around the car. One or more officers screamed, “Police” while another officer yelled, “Hands! Hands!” Rather than simply backing away and taking cover, the officers then opened fire for seven full seconds, firing dozens of rounds into the car.”
Wagner also pointed out that the officers never thought their lives were in danger.
“In the moments after the shooting, not one officer mentions that Anthony pointed a gun at them, even when Anthony moans, “Why did you guys shoot?” Likewise, after the shooting none of the officers used their police radio to report that Anthony threatened them with a gun before they opened fire,” said Wagner. “Instead, the officers’ actions right after the shooting are much more consistent with them feeling guilty because they realized they just needlessly and recklessly shot a man who was doing nothing wrong.”
Along with the tort claim, the family has also demanded that the unedited officer body cam footage be released and that all three officers be fired and criminally charged for their role in the shooting of Anthony Maclin.
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The post Black Driver Shot By Police While Sleeping In Grandma’s Driveway, Bodycam Video Shows appeared first on NewsOne.
Black Driver Shot By Police While Sleeping In Grandma’s Driveway, Bodycam Video Shows was originally published on newsone.com
