Police shot a rapper who was found sleeping in his car at night, sparking widespread outrage about increasing use of ‘excessive force on civilians.’
Confirming the 10 pm incident, police said they were alerted about a man “slumped over” in his Mercedes-Benz car in Northern California.
Gun on lap
When officers arrived, they found Willie James McCoy, unresponsive in the driver seat with a handgun on his lap.
According to police, the car was locked and the transmission was shifted into the drive position.
“The two officers decided to hold their position and did not attempt to wake the driver,” Vallejo police said in a statement. “Instead they decided to wait for additional officers to arrive on scene and ensure that people in the parking lot were safe and did not approach the vehicle.”
Call for reinforcement
After reinforcement arrived, police attempted to force open the driver’s side door, but failed. They would later position a police car in front of the Mercedes to prevent it from moving forward, and tried to move another police car behind Willie James’ car.
Challenged to surrender
About the same time, the driver seemed to wake up from his “deep sleep.”
According to police statement, “the driver began to suddenly move and looked at the uniformed patrol officers,” police said in a statement. “Officers gave the driver several commands to put his hands up. The driver did not comply and instead moved his hands downward toward the firearm.”
Shot dead
At this time, six police officers trained their guns on Willie James and shot him 20 times before reaching for him from the shattered windows to administer resuscitation.
Outrage
Posted by David Harrison on Sunday, 10 February 2019
Willie James’ cousin, Harrison, protested the Saturday shooting saying the police shot Willie 20 times. While asleep in the car.
Vallejo police officers recovered the gun, saying it was heavily loaded with ammunition. The police indicated that the gun had been stolen awhile back in Oregon.