A Black teen who died in March after Mississippi police allegedly “ran over” his body in a cruiser allegedly had a gun while he was being pursued, according to an incident report that contradicts initial claims.
The police incident report surrounding the death of Kadarius Smith, 17, was made public this week and offers a revised narrative that not only suggests the deadly encounter with an unidentified officer was an accident but also confirms there is no video footage from that fateful early morning of March 21 in the city of Leland.
The report is at odds with the account from Smith’s mother, who has claimed her son was run over from behind as evidenced by tire tracks that were visible on his back.
The report was shared by City Attorney Josh Bogen and claims that an officer was dispatched to a home after being alerted of “two suspects outside of the residence with handguns.” When the officer arrived, the report claims Smith “jumped from the porch” and “cuffed the right side of his pants” – ambiguous language meant to suggest he was in possession of a gun – before he “took off running.”
The report claims the officer ran after Smith before doubling back to his cruiser. As the officer continued his search for Smith, the teen “ran out in front of” the police car, the report claims.
That’s when the fatal collision took place after the officer “could not stop the patrol unit immediately,” according to the report.
Smith was pronounced dead at an area hospital.
Click here to read the incident report.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Smith’s family, pushed back against the updated police narrative that claims the teen was armed.
“It is important to look carefully at the facts in this case. The police incident report states twice that officers were responding to claims that a juvenile, not specifically Kadarius, had a handgun,” Crump said in a statement sent to NewsOne. “Nowhere in the…
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