Renisha McBride Update: Man who fatally shot Detroit teen reportedly tells police his shotgun fired accidentally
(CBS) - The man who allegedly shot and killed a Detroit woman whose family says she was seeking help after a car accident told police his shotgun discharged accidentally, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Renisha McBride, 19, was fatally shot while standing on the man's porch in Dearborn Heights, Mich. on Saturday. McBride's family has said she approached the man's door because her cell phone had died and she was looking for help after a car accident.
The Free Press reports that police say the man, who has not been charged in McBride's death, told them he thought she was breaking into his home.
Lt. James Serwatowski told the paper that McBride was shot in the face early on Nov. 2. He also said she had, indeed, been in a car accident in Detroit before the shooting and "that she left the accident scene, and then some hours transpired" before her death.
McBride's family had reportedly said they believed she was shot in the back of the head. The family and others who plan to rally in her name Thursday night have raised the issue of race in the case. One activist told the Free Press that "Black life is not valued in America" and compared her death to the case of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old black teen who was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman as he walked back from a store in Sanford, Fla. last year. Police have not released the shooter's name, race or age in the McBride case.
The Wayne County Prosecutors office has asked police to gather more information about the case before they decide whether to charge the man.
Complete coverage of the Renisha McBride case on Crimesider
