A few weeks ago, 15-year-old Jaheim McMillan was fatally shot in the head by a Gulfport, Mississippi, police officer. Though many may have forgotten (or have no idea) about the tragedy, the community has not. Protesters have shown up at the Family Dollar, where the incident occurred, every day to rally for justice, the Sun Herald reports. Advocates are pushing for the arrest of the officer responsible for the teen’s death.
The incident occurred on Thursday, Oct. 6. According to WLOX, the Gulfport Police Department responded to an alert that there were multiple people in a car waving guns at fellow drivers.
A press release stated that an officer spoke with one of the car’s occupants — McMillian — who they believed was armed. Shots were fired and the 15-year-old was rushed to a local hospital where, after being on life support for a few days, he died.
The other teens involved in the incident were arrested that day. They were charged with aggravated assault.
During a press conference, Police Chief Adam Cooper said that “one of the officers observed McMillan,” noticed that he was armed and demanded him to “drop his weapon,” WLOX reports.
According to the officer, the 15-year-old refused and he “turned his body and weapon toward the officer.” This prompted the officer to fire shots at McMillan.
But that story does not match up with what McMillan’s family, protesters and advocates say happened. Nor does it match what videos of the incident, which are now circulating online, show.
“He came out the dollar store with his hands up, and they shot him in the head,” McMillan’s mother, Katrina Mateen, said, WLOX reports. “And then I’m hearing that he seen them. … He was sitting in the car and he seen the police pull up with guns, so he got out the car and ran in the store — well, tried to run in the store — and they shot him in the head. The video I seen on Facebook is basically — the man is saying that my son didn’t do anything. He had his hands up, so why did y’all shoot him?”
The videos circulating online don’t give an accurate look into the full incident, but advocates revealed in a news conference Monday that they have obtained footage from a nearby business that clearly shows what occurred.
They allege that it shows McMillan with his hands up in front of the Family Dollar, appearing to comply with everything the officer asked of him. Advocates also note that the clip shows an officer jumping out of his car and running after the teen while shooting at him.
According to WLOX, advocates are planning on releasing the footage, but they shared that they aren’t ready to do so at this time.
At Monday’s conference, they said they want to see the officer, whose identity has not been shared publicly, arrested and charged with murder. They also want Cooper to lose his job, due to how he dealt with this situation.
The case is currently in the hands of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. The Bureau handles all officer-involved shootings.
The officer who killed McMillan is currently on non-enforcement duties while the Bureau conducts an investigation into the incident.
