Family disputes police, says McDole had no gun
On Wednesday afternoon, Wilmington police received a 911 call about a man in a wheelchair with a self-inflicted wound.
A witness on the scene shot a cellphone video showing one officer pointing a shotgun or a rifle at the man in the wheelchair, screaming at him “drop the gun” and “hands up.”
The man in the wheelchair appears to be bleeding. Three more officers, with handguns drawn, appear on the scene and scream at him to drop the gun.
The man fidgets, moving his legs with his hands, rubbing his knees with both hands, trying to raise himself out of the wheelchair.
Then he slides his hand up his thigh toward his waist and officers open fire. Several shots ring out. For a moment, the man in the wheelchair freezes, then falls sideways onto the ground. Motionless.
No gun is visible in the video, which was posted on YouTube.
WARNING: Graphic video
On Thursday, a day after the shooting, Police Chief Bobby Cummings said Jeremy “Bam” McDole was armed and reaching for a weapon.
McDole’s family, at a gathering about an hour before the city’s press conference, disputed those findings and called for a federal investigation. McDole’s mother, Phyllis, said her son did not have a weapon and would never harm himself.
“This was murder,” she said. “He shot my son like he was roadkill.”
Cummings said officers responded to a 911 call at 3 p.m. Wednesday about a man with a self-inflicted gunshot wound who was armed in the 1800 block of Lancaster Avenue.
When officers arrived, he said, they located the man in the 1800 block of Tulip Street, where they repeatedly told him to put down his weapon and raise his arms.
McDole, 28, did not comply and reached for his waistband for a handgun, Cummings said. When McDole began to remove the gun, four officers opened fire. The chief said police found a .38 caliber gun at McDole’s side.
Cummings would not divulge the names or race of the officers involved in the shooting, or if any had any prior encounters with McDole.
The four officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave.
“I’m sorry for the officers and family of Mr. McDole, as this encounter unfortunately ended with the loss of his life,” said Cummings. “I know that this incident could impact police and community relations, therefore, I will ensure a thorough and transparent investigation will be conducted.”
The city police department has been working to improve relations with its residents in the past year. Officers get sensitivity training and recruits are taught about cultural diversity.
The state Justice Department’s Office of Civil Rights and Public Trust is investigating the shooting, said spokesman Carl Kanefsky, which is policy any time a police officer fires a weapon that injures or kills someone.
Local activist Keith James, who helped plan local rallies following acts of police brutality across the country, said for once, he’s standing on the side of police.
Investigators at scene of Wilmington wheelchair shooting
James, who is president of Voices 4 the Voiceless and a member of the Citizen Advisory Council for the Wilmington Police Department, believes the shooting was justified after watching cell phone video posted online and said officers were in a dangerous situation.
“From what I see, they handled it in a justified manner,” he said. “If he didn’t have a weapon, that would be a whole different story.”
Noting his history with activism, he said he would be the first person to criticize city police officers for doing something wrong, as he’s done in the past. But this time, he’s confident in the work of local law enforcement.
At a vigil for McDole Thursday night, mourners spelled out “RIP BAM” in tea lights in front of his mother’s home. Many came to pay their respects to the man they believe was unjustly killed.
About 30 relatives and friends also gathered at the scene of the shooting Thursday morning to mourn McDole. Most were angry at police for what they say was an unjustified use of force. A few placed flowers or candles nearby.
Relatives gathered later at McDole’s mother’s home on North Rodney Street where they disputed the police account.
“He wasn’t bothering anybody. He didn’t have a weapon or anything,” said Phyllis McDole. “He stood up and pulled his pants up and sat back down and put his hands on his lap and they opened fire on him.”
“They shot my son so much he fell out of the wheelchair,” she said breaking into tears. “He fell out the chair and on the ground. He wasn’t armed. He didn’t have a gun. He died by himself. He died alone.”
McDole, a skinny woman with a big voice and carefully tied braids around the crown of her head, said her son was a happy man who loved spending time with family, especially his nephew.
“I raised my son to be a good kid,” she said. “He wasn’t a troublemaker. Every day he came here at 12 o’clock and took his nephew to the store to get water ice. What am I supposed to tell his nephew tomorrow when he doesn’t come to take him to get a water ice?”
McDole added that she doesn’t have the financial means to bury her son and asked for anyone who might be able to help financially to reach out.
As Mayor Dennis P. Williams was explaining later at the city press conference that the family will be kept in the loop every step of the way, Phyllis McDole stood up from the crowd and demanded answers now.
She then went to the podium and Williams stepped aside.
“This was an injustice,” she said.
State NAACP President Richard Smith also spoke, calling for an independent investigation from outside officials. He said police officers can’t be investigating police officers in the same city.
Smith said his group arranged for McDole’s family to meet Thursday with civil rights attorneys from Delaware. At this point, the city and the state need closure, Smith said.
“We can’t treat poor folks the way we’ve been treating them,” he said. “They have a right to live. They have a right to breathe.”
McDole was paralyzed from the waist down after he was shot in the back about 10 years ago and was living at the Hillside Center nursing home on the 800 block of South Broom Street, according to McDole’s great uncle, Vincent Smith.
“We want justice for my brother,” Ashley Morrison-Wright, 23, of Wilmington, said Thursday. “This isn’t right.”
Her brother spent a lot of time with family members, especially his grandparents, who lived near his home in Wilmington, she said.
“He was a very, very sweet man,” Morrison-Wright said. His sister said McDole never owned a gun.
Neighborhood reaction
The shooting and video elicited strong reaction in the community and on social media.
“The mayor’s office and police department is aware of the video footage,” city spokeswoman Alexandra Coppadge said, “and will continue to conduct a thorough investigation of the officer-involved shooting.”
Anthony Slaughter is a friend and mentor to McDole who said he met with him just a few days before his death.
“It is very disturbing – the footage,” he said. “He wasn’t doing anything in a violent motion. If there was a gun, it would have fallen to the ground when he fell. There was no gun.”
Slaughter and others gathered Thursday morning said they don’t have faith that an investigation by the state will bring justice.
“In a situation like this, the police shouldn’t be investigating themselves,” Slaughter said.
Merrell Watson said he passed by McDole on the street shortly before the shooting.
“He wasn’t doing anything violent,” Watson said. “I honestly feel that officers abused their privilege. They are supposed to protect and serve, and they didn’t do that.”
Esteban Parra and Jessica Masulli Reyes contributed to this story. Contact robin brown at rbrown@delawareonline.com, Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@delawareonline.com and Brittany Horn at bhorn@delawareonline.com.
WITNESSES SOUGHT
Officials of the state Department of Justice, investigating Wednesday’s fatal shooting involving Wilmington Police Department officers, said Thursday that they ask anyone with “direct information” about the incident to call Special Investigator Frank Robinson at (302) 577-8707.