Oakland Family Demands Investigation in Police Shooting of Loved One
OAKLAND (KCBS) -- The family of a man killed by Oakland police in January is coming forward to demand the department release information on the shooting.
Thirty-nine year old Matthew Cicelski was shot by Oakland police officers at a home in the Rockridge neighborhood on January 29th.
Now the family and their attorney have serious questions about the police department's version of events.
KCBS' Anna Duckworth Reports:
Police said Cicelski was acting erratically and when he pointed a replica assault rifle at them, he was killed. But Cicelski's family claimed after nearly four months, and numerous written and verbal requests for records on the shooting, they've received nothing.
Justin Owens, Cicelski's brother explained the horror of finding out how this could happen to someone within his family.
"It's even more tearing and searing when you find out that you're owed no explanation," Owens said.
The family's attorney Ben Rosenfeld said they've seen no autopsy report, no crime scene photos, and have been denied the opportunity to hear full versions of the 911 recordings.
Rosenfeld added there are discrepancies between police and other accounts.
"The police claim that he confronted them with a weapon somewhere near the entryway to his girlfriend's house and that they then shot him from the front. However, post mortem examination shows that he was shot three times in the back," said Rosenfeld.
Oakland police released a statement saying the case remains open and that they'll meet with family members when releasing information won't compromise their investigation.
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