BRIDGETON, N.J. (AP) - A newly released video shows a man stepping out of a car and raising his hands as he was fatally shot by police in New Jersey last month.
Video from the dashboard camera of a police car shows Bridgeton officers Braheme Days and Roger Worley in a traffic stop that escalates quickly and ends with passenger Jerame Reid being shot to death on Dec. 30.
The officers pulled over the Jaguar for rolling through a stop sign, and the encounter starts friendly. It's not clear why, but as Days speaks to the men, he suddenly steps back, pulls his gun and tells them, "Show me your hands." Days also tells his partner that there's a gun in the glove compartment.
The driver, Leroy Tutt, is seen showing his hands atop the open window on his side of the car. It's not clear what Reid is doing, though Days repeatedly warns him not to move during an interaction that lasts less than two minutes.
"I'm going to shoot you," Days shouts in a speech laced with profanity. "You're going to be ... dead. If you reach for something, you're going to be ... dead."
Seconds later, Days tells his partner, "He's reaching for something."
Reid seems to be speaking during the confrontation, but his words cannot be made out from the video.
After a few tense moments, the passenger door pops open, but it's not clear whether Reid or Days opens it. Reid then emerges from the vehicle raising his hands, which appear to be empty. As he steps out, the officers fire at least six shots, killing him.
Days is out of the frame when the shots ring out. It's unclear how many times each officer shoots.
After the shooting, there are shouts from people who are in the area and other police and emergency vehicles arrive. Tutt follows officers' commands, gets out of the vehicle and calmly lies down on the street.
The video was first obtained through open records requests from the South Jersey Times and the Press of Atlantic City.
The shooting has sparked protests in the southern New Jersey city. The case came after some high-profile killings of unarmed black men by white police officers across the country last year. Reid, Days and Tutt are black; Worley is white.
Activists are calling on the Cumberland County prosecutor to transfer the case to the state attorney general. County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McCrae has recused herself from the case because she previously knew Days. First Assistant Prosecutor Harold Shapiro said Wednesday that he could not comment on the investigation.
"The video speaks for itself that at no point was Jerame Reid a threat and he possessed no weapon on his person," said Walter Hudson, chair and founder of the civil rights group the National Awareness Alliance. "He complied with the officer and the officer shot him."
Hudson said Days had options other than firing his weapon, but "he didn't take the other options."
Both officers have been placed on administrative leave while the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office investigates the case.
Reid, 36, had spent about 13 years in prison for shooting at New Jersey State Police troopers when he was a teenager. He was also arrested last year on charges including drug possession and obstruction; Days was one of the arresting officers then. Relatives said he had a baby son.
Published: Thu, Jan 22, 2015
