FWPD Releases Video Of Officer-Involved Shooting
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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Nearly a year after the incident took place, the Fort Worth Police Department released video on Wednesday of an officer-involved shooting. The release came on the heels of that officer being indicted on aggravated assault charges.
The video showed the moment when officer Courtney Johnson approached 55-year-old Craigory Adams, who was then shot in the arm with a shotgun. Johnson has said that it was an accident, but the man's family has called it a racially-motivated police shooting.
Adams was standing outside of his Fort Worth home at around 3:30 a.m. when police were called about a knife-wielding man who was breaking into homes. In fact, Adams was holding a barbecue fork when officers responded to the scene. Johnson told the man several times to drop the 'knife' and he obliged, also falling to one knee. According to his family, Adams suffers from bipolar disorder and was off of his medication at the time of this incident.
Johnson was the officer who fired the shot, but he claimed that the gun went off by mistake due to a known problem with that model of shotgun. In the dashboard camera video, Johnson appeared to be startled by the gunshot, and immediately called for medical assistance. He has been with the force since 2013.
"We believe that race played no factor in this incident," explained Chief Joel Fitzgerald just before showing the video at a news conference on Wednesday morning. "This was, in our opinion, an unintentional shooting."
Jeanette Adams is the victim's mom. In a $200,000 civil lawsuit, she recalled hustling from her bed because of flashing lights, running to her front porch and seeing the officer using racial slurs and intentionally shooting at her son. "My son laying on the ground in the driveway, just rocking like this on his back," the mother explained. "And I saw this man standing over him."
"That wasn't no accident," the mom added.
"It was not an intentional shooting," said attorney Jim Lane, who is representing Johnson in this case. "Nothing surprises me about what grand juries do, but this allegation out of left field about racial overtones shocked me."
Fitzgerald said that the video was released in an effort to be transparent, and allow the community to decide what they believe in this case. "We're removing the spectre of racism," he said. "We're still the good guys here, folks. We take our jobs seriously. This job takes honesty, integrity, courage and the ability to make split-second judgment calls. We understand that our actions will receive scrutiny, and that accountability exists for those actions."
The Fort Worth Police Officers Association echoed Fitzgerald's sentiment in their own press release. "This case highlights the human aspect of our job," the written statement said. "Dealing with human beings and mechanical devices, such as a weapon, you always have the possibility of unintentional issues and we believe that's what we have here, an unintentional discharge of a weapon in a very dynamic and fluid situation."
Johnson has been placed on restricted duty. "Whether Officer Johnson is found guilty or not guilty," Fitzgerald added, "it is a no-win scenario for Mr. Adams, Officer Johnson and this agency."
"We sincerely hope that our community looks at this and sees it for what it truly is, an unintentional act without malice of any kind," said the Fort Worth Police Officers Association in their statement.
So, was the shooting racially charged or simply an accident? You be the judge. Watch the video that was presented by the Fort Worth Police Department on Wednesday and let us know what you think on Facebook.
