Juston Root's Family Calls For Independent Investigation On Second Anniversary Of His Death

CHESTNUT HILL (CBS) -- A small group gathered in the parking lot of a Star Market in Chestnut Hill for a moment of silence Monday morning. A memorial there marks where Juston Root died two years ago.

"Standing here where Juston took his last breath, I wonder if we could just take 3 breaths together," said Root's mother Barbara.

Root, a 41-year-old from Mattapan, was shot and killed by police back in 2020. A confrontation started outside Brigham and Women's Hospital when Boston Police responded to reports of a man with a gun outside the hospital. According to police, when Root was confronted by officers, he pulled out what appeared to be a gun. Police said he refused to drop it and officers opened fire.

Investigators later determined the gun was not real.

Root was able to get into his car and drive off, sparking a chase that ended along Route 9 in Chestnut Hill where Root's car was involved in a crash.

After the chase and crash, police said officers again demanded that Root drop what they believed was a gun. Then they opened fire.

"The way he died will not go unanswered, and I will never give up," said Justin's sister Jennifer Root Bannon.

Root's family argues he was clutching his chest in a semi-comatose state after the crash and had nothing in his hands when he was shot by officers.

Bannon led the family's calls for an independent investigation.

"We deserve to know the truth. My family deserves to know the truth. The public deserves to know the truth. And let me be clear, the truth of what happened here has not been told," she said.

In a statement to WBZ-TV, a spokesperson from the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office wrote: "The Norfolk County District Attorney's Office maintains the long-held position of having no opposition to any outside review of the Root investigation and has provided the family, their civil attorneys, the press, and the public with all of the materials gathered in the investigation."

An investigation by the D.A.'s office determined Boston Police and State Police involved in the shooting were justified in their actions.