Raymond Fowler couldn’t explain what it felt like to hear police shot his only son after he was accused of taking a few dollars’ worth of fruit, he said.
Mr Fowler said: “Words cannot describe the moment I heard what happened. “Even now when we talk, I feel like I’m on a cloud. This is a very difficult challenge for me.”
Mr. Fowler’s son, Jarrell Garris, 37, is was shot by the police on July 3 in New Rochelle, NY, a suburb of New York City, after a report of a burglary from a local grocery store, officials said. He was accused of eating a few grapes and a banana and then leaving without paying, the lawyer representing Mr. Garris’ family said.
He died in hospital a week later, according to the state attorney general’s office, which is investigating the shooting. The office investigates all incidents in which a police officer causes death.
“It makes no sense,” Mr. Fowler said, noting that his son has lived in the tight-knit community in New Rochelle for more than 30 years and is known to several members of the police department. He added that he “absolutely” believes racism contributed to the death of his son, who is black.
The New Rochelle Police Department said Mr. Garris was shot while trying to retrieve the gun from an officer’s holster. It released body camera footage showing the events leading up to the shooting but was cut before it took place.
The ministry said the video had been cut out of respect for his family.
But the family is leading a series of calls from the community demanding the release of the remaining footage.
“The City of New Rochelle claims they publish those videos for transparency, but why don’t you release the full video?” William Wagstaff, the attorney representing Mr. Garris’ family, said.
Mr. Garris, a New Rochelle native who recently moved to Greensboro, NC, was in town because he planned to pick up his 11-year-old son from his mother’s house and bring him home for the summer, Mr. Fowler said. 58 years old, now lives in Raleigh, NC
Just before 4:30 p.m. on July 3, a person who worked at the New Rochelle Farms grocery store called police and said a man had stolen some fruit, according to a police statement. Bang and Mr. Wagstaff.
Officers Kari Bird and Gabrielle Chavarry and Detective Steven Conn responded, the statement said.
Officers Bird and Chavarry were the first to approach Mr. Garris on a street near the grocery store, body camera footage shows.
“We just got a call that you’re in the store and you’ve had some food. Is that the truth, not the truth?” asked one of the officers.
Mr. Garris did not respond and began walking away, the footage showed.
Detective Conn arrived as Mr. Garris was crossing the street, and when one of the other officers said the grocery store had plans to charge, he told Mr. Garris that he was under arrest.
“What?” Mr. Garris asked as Detective Conn began handcuffing him.
Mr. Garris became visibly distressed and the video showed him and officers beginning to struggle.
At one point, one of the two officers who arrived first was heard saying, “Stop, Steve.”
Detective Conn shouted, “He has a gun,” and Mr. Garris held out his hand, but it was difficult to determine what he was reaching for. Then the video ends.
Police have not said that a gun was found at the scene, and Mr Garris’s father has said he was unarmed.
The State Police confirmed that Detective Conn fired a shot at Mr. Garris. Mr Wagstaff said Mr Garris was shot in the neck.
He was taken to Westchester Medical Center, where he remained in a critical condition for a week, police said, before he died on July 10.
A city spokesman said the three officers had been placed on administrative leave.
Mr. Wagstaff, the family’s attorney, described the police response as an “excessive” response to a theft of several dollars. Attempts to reach the grocery store were unsuccessful.
“Maybe he’s hungry,” Mr. Wagstaff said. “There’s no reason to handcuff him.”
During a City Council meeting on Tuesday, community members expressed outrage about the shooting, The Journal News reported.
Dan Miller, a doctor who lives in New Rochelle, said during the meeting that he often samples products at grocery stores.
“No one spoke to me on the street. No one threatened my life and no one shot me,” said Mr. Miller, who is white, and the audience reacted clearly. “I think we know why.”
Aisha Cook, president of the New Rochelle branch of the NAACP, has called for the release of full-body footage and a thorough investigation of the three officers involved.
“Food insecurity is not a death sentence,” she said. “The police are not here to kill people. They are not judges, juries and executioners.”
Mr Fowler, who like his son grew up in New Rochelle, said Mr Garris had been diagnosed with schizophrenia but had been on medication with no problems. He said his son has been doing very well in recent years and that he has a full-time job taking care of the elderly and lives with a girlfriend.
He said some officials knew about his son’s diagnosis because he had previously called the department to ask officials to test him. He questioned why response officers did not request help from mental health services on July 3.
For Mr. Fowler, Mr. Garris will always be the 8-month-old who grabs the laces of one of his dad’s sneakers and uses them to balance as he takes his first steps. He will always be the teenager called “CeeTwo” by his neighbors, the same nickname his father gave him when he was 17 years old. And he will always be a kind and loving father who loves learning about Black history and supporting the Los Angeles Rams and New York Knicks.
“If you get the chance to meet my son, you have no choice but to love him,” Mr. Fowler said.
Susan C. Beach Contributing research.
