23-year-old Black man shot while running away from San Bernardino police
San Bernardino police came under scrutiny Monday after security footage showing the events leading up to the fatal police shooting of a 23-year-old Black man surfaced on social media.
"I could understand if he was a threat to them," said Adams' mother Tamika Deavila King. "But he was not a threat to them. He was running for his life."
According to the San Bernardino Police Department, uniformed officers from a specialized unit were investigating complaints from neighbors about an illegal gambling facility on Saturday at about 8 p.m.
Security camera footage showed two officers driving past the facility in an unmarked vehicle before stopping their car just a few yards from the parking lot where the gambling facility was located.
Robert Adams, 23 could be seen talking to someone before walking in the direction of the officers' vehicle. As he approached the car, two officers jumped out with their guns drawn shortly before Adams began to run towards a nearby wall.
The family claimed that the officers did not identify themselves as police. In a release, SBPD said the two officers were "fully uniformed and tried to give Adams verbal commands before he began to run.
Within 15 seconds of getting out of their car, officers shot Adams he ran between two parked cars. He later died at the hospital.
"They just hopped out with the gun and they didn't say anything," said Adams' best friend.
Police said he was an armed felon and an unlicensed security guard for the facility. They later recovered a loaded Taurus G3C at the scene and said Adams was carrying the gun while running away.
"The boy ran," said the victim's stepfather Audwin King. "[The officer] hunted him down like a dog. If [Adams] still had some life in him, the [the officer] probably would've finished the clip. So, when do we have justice for that?"
Tamika said she was on the phone with her son a few moments before the shooting before the line suddenly cut out.
"It let me know that's why the phone hung up because they were killing my son," she said.
The family confirmed that Adams was working as a security guard for the gambling business and disputed the claim that the 23-year-old had a gun. In a press release, police included a still image that appears to show Adams with a handgun.
SBPD said it will provide more information through a public relations agency soon.
"We are asking the community to please withhold their judgment on the situation until they have all the available facts and details," said Chief Darren Goodman in a release.
Adams' family said they want murder charges filed against the officer that killed the young man.
"We want justice. We want his badge. We want his job," said Audwin. We want murder charges."
