Police in South Carolina have released body camera video of officers fatally shooting a handcuffed black man they said was wielding a gun ...
Police in South Carolina have released body camera video of officers fatally shooting a handcuffed black man they said was wielding a gun in a Walmart parking lot.
Ariane Lamont McCree, 28, was shot and killed by Chester Police Department officers outside a Walmart in Chester on November 23.
Footage of the fatal shooting has only just been released after the incident sparked protests and community unrest in the small South Carolina city.
McCree was handcuffed at the time of the shooting after being detained on suspicion of shoplifting.
Police say McCree was placed in custody for stealing a door lock before he fled and then showed a gun.
Ariane Lamont McCree, 28, was shot and killed by police outside a Walmart in Chester, South Carolina back in November. Footage of the fatal shooting has only just been released after the incident sparked protests and community unrest in the small South Carolina city
The South Carolina attorney general's office said in a March that the officers - Nicholas Harris and Justin Baker - had acted in self-defense after McCree pulled a gun on police as he was fleeing.
The bodycam video shows an officer with his gun drawn approaching McCree from across the parking lot.
The officers were later filmed removing a gun from McCree's body as he lay on the ground.
Shell casings from the scene show that officers fired at least two dozen times, according to a police report obtained by The Post & Courier through an open records request.
There was no evidence that McCree fired his gun.
The video shows that McCree was at least eight cars away from the officers when they started firing.
Mullins McLeod, a Charleston attorney who has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the police department on behalf of McCree's family, has said there is no way he could have aimed a gun at officers with his hands cuffed behind his back.
McCree was handcuffed at the time of the shooting after being detained on suspicion of shoplifting. The South Carolina attorney general's office said in a March that the officers acted in self-defense after McCree pulled a gun on police as he was fleeing the shoplifting arrest
Shell casings from the scene show that officers fired at least two dozen times, according to a police report. The bodycam video shows an officer with his gun drawn approaching McCree from across the parking lot. The officers were later filmed removing a gun from McCree's body (pictured above)
McCree's family maintain the video shows that the handcuffed man was not a threat to officers.
They criticized officials for waiting more than six months to release the video.
Charlie Stringfellow, McCree's grandfather, took issue with the use of force after an alleged shoplifting incident.
'If it's true, it's not worth his life,' Stringfellow said.
The footage doesn't capture the whole incident because the bodycam was only switched on as the shooting unfolded.
South Carolina's Attorney General Alan Wilson declined to press charges back in March following the investigation.
Chester Police Chief Eric Williams told The Herald that the video shows the officer took appropriate action.
'My officer took the action he took because he was facing an imminent threat,' Williams said.
'There was a firearm in view and pointed at him.'
Ariane Lamont McCree, 28, (above) was shot and killed by police outside a Walmart in Chester back in November
The wrongful death lawsuit argues that McCree was at the Walmart to buy the door lock. The lawsuit says the cashier put the lock in a bag without charging him for it and McCree left the store.
He later returned when he realized he hadn't been charged, according to the lawsuit.
His family's attorney said police then confronted him and he was detained as he tried to explain the situation.
McCree fled the store 'fearing for his life', according to the lawsuit.
'Despite being handcuffed, Ariane ran from the loss prevention room to the safety of the crowded Walmart parking lot where he hoped other shoppers would see what was happening and intervene to save him,' the lawsuit says.
His family have been pushing for the bodycam video to be released since McCree's death.
'Show us the video,' his father Michael McCree said earlier this year. 'Just saying my son was shoplifting is not enough.'
His mother, Vickie McCree, cried outside the local courthouse, demanding answers.
'My son was killed. My family is hurting...Why did you kill my son?' she said.
McCree was a graduate of Chester High School and Jackson State University in Mississippi.
Family and friends say he played linebacker on the football team at Jackson State.
Multiple protests have been held in the city as residents and McCree's family called for justice.
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