Slowly but surely, we are learning more details about the death of a Pennsylvania man over the weekend. 20-year-old Earl Pinckney, also known as Leek Moss, was shot dead at his home in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Sunday. Pinckney’s mother and authorities are telling two completely different stories as to what led to the fatal shooting.

Police say that they received a 911 call from inside the home, with a girl saying that her uncle was trying to hurt her grandmother. A woman also got on the phone and reiterated that her brother was “attacking” their mother and he had a knife. Once police arrived at the house, they say they told Pinckney to drop the knife and he didn’t. They say the officer fired a single, fatal shot at him.

“This is a tragedy for all involved. And a tragedy for the Pinckney family first and foremost,” said District Attorney Ed Marisco.

Pinckney’s mother, Kim Thomas told PennLive that her son had been arguing with other family members. “They killed my son. They shot my son. We had a little fight, argument like families have arguments,” Thomas said.

She explained that she was de-escalating the situation. “They were arguing. They got a little rustling. I stopped it. I told everybody to get out of the house. I hold my son. I was talking to my son. I know how to control my son. He was calming down. Everything was getting fine. I never saw the cop that hit my son. At the end of the day, I would like to look him in his face and ask him why did he shoot my son.”

Thomas said that her son never had a knife, despite reports that he had a knife at her throat. Instead, she says that before he was shot, Pinckney was holding her head, not a knife to her throat. She said that her daughter stated that he did in the 911 call because she was scared. According to police, when interviewed, Thomas did state that her son had a knife.

Thomas stated that her son was bipolar, and that police knew that he was. “He wasn’t dangerous. He didn’t deserve this,” she said.

Pinckney was a new father of a 2-week-old baby girl, and recently posted a picture with her on his Facebook page:

Watch PennLive’s interview with Thomas below:

We will bring you updates in this story as soon as they are available.

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Earl Pinckney

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