Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr. Wants Name Of Officer Involved In Father's Fatal Shooting
WHITE PLAINS, NY (CBSNewYork) - After a police response to a medical alert device ended in the shooting death of a 68-year-old White Plains man, the man's son is seeking answers.
WCBS 880's Marla Diamond On The Story
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"Release the officer's name. Make my family feel comfortable with the fact that at least we know who the officer is, if he has any prior incidents like this or anything," Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr. told WCBS 880 reporter Marla Diamond.
Chamberlain has nearly 2,000 signatures on a petition he plans to present to city hall. "The people do have a voice and people are saying that enough is enough," he said.
It was inside his father Kenneth Chamberlain's first-floor apartment on November 9, 2011 that a response to a medical alert quickly became anything but routine.
Police claim they arrived at the scene and found an emotionally disturbed Chamberlain who was screaming and at one point, displayed a knife through a door crack, Diamond reported.
Police said they tried to use a Taser and bean-bag gun to subdue Chamberlain before eventually shooting him twice, Diamond reported.
The case will be presented to a grand jury next month.
The family is calling on the district attorney to make public audio and video of the November 19 incident. They said they fear the grand jury won't hear everything.
"For officers to make fun of the fact that he was a Marine, for them to taunt him the way they did, antagonize him, use the F word, then the N word behind it, really there is no rationale for that. You were responding to a medical emergency," said Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr. "You weren't responding to a crime in progress."
The younger Chamberlain has also sued the department, alleging that his father's death was a hate crime.
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