WARNING: The following is body camera video released by CMPD. The video shows graphic images of Danquirs Franklin crime scene. Viewer discretion is advised.
Editor's note: Out of respect for the Franklin family, NBC Charlotte has elected not to show the aftermath of Danquirs Franklin's death. NBC Charlotte has paused the video before police fire the first shot, but the real-time audio continues to play.
The body cam video of a deadly officer-involved shooting on March 25 was released by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Monday.
NBC Charlotte went to court on Thursday, April 11 to get the body cam video, and we did that for transparency since there were differing eyewitness accounts to what happened.
WARNING: The following is body camera video released by CMPD. The video shows graphic images of Danquirs Franklin crime scene. Viewer discretion is advised.
The video is approximately two minutes and 30 seconds long. The first 40 seconds are silent, which is standard when police release body cam video.
In the video, which was worn by CMPD officer Wende Kerl, multiple officers are seen engaging with 27-year-old Danquirs Franklin, who was kneeling beside a maroon Honda. Officers are heard telling Franklin to "drop the weapon" and "put it on the ground" at least 17 times.
Franklin is then seen with an object in his right hand. As soon as the object becomes visible, multiple shots are fired by Kerl and Franklin falls to the ground. He was rushed to a Charlotte hospital where he died from his injuries.
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A man who was sitting in the passenger seat of the car Franklin was kneeling beside told NBC Charlotte's Richard DeVayne that he was praying with Franklin after 911 was called. CMPD Chief Kerr Putney said on March 25 that Franklin was "acting kind of suspicious, giving employees an uneasy feeling."
A judge ruled on April 11 that CMPD release the video to the public. CMPD successfully argued that delaying the release until Monday gave Franklin's family time to see the video and CMPD could blur the faces of witnesses.
On Monday, Putney said there was "clear and compelling evidence" that Franklin was armed. He said CMPD is aware of at least seven planned protests in the city. Mayor Vi Lyles asked for peace once the video is released to the public at 2 p.m.
"I believe it's the duty of responsible leaders to get in front of an event like this," Lyles said. "To ensure everyone in our city that we are dedicated to the pursuit of truth and justice. To be clear, I have not seen the video. Nonetheless, I know what's on it.
"First, it shows a tragic moment where many lives are changed forever. It shows the instant where a mother lost her son, children lost their father and a young man had his life end much too soon. And let us not forget the impact this has had on our police officers and our first responders who were involved in this case or continue to be involved in this case."
A former FBI agent and federal prosecutor said he believes the shooting will be considered a justified shooting. M. Quentin Williams, author of "A Survival Guide: How NOT to get KILLED by the POLICE," said it reminds him of the Keith Lamont Scott shooting.
“If he had a gun and was non-compliant, it will be deemed a justified shooting,” he said. “Whether things could have been done better from a tactical standpoint is an issue that the police agency will explore.”
University of South Carolina Associate Law Professor and former police officer Seth Stoughton questioned CMPD’s tactics in this case. However, he said “there is simply no way that a single video can’t capture or reflect the full context of an interaction,” also citing the fact the camera doesn’t show a view from the officer’s eye-level.
“The video of this shooting raises some serious questions about the officers’ tactics, although I can’t answer those questions definitively by looking only at the video,” he said.
Stoughton said the video shows the man grab what appears to be a gun and hold it from the top.
“Well-trained officers know that they can and should use distance and cover (or concealment, when cover isn’t available) to reduce the potential threat presented by an armed subject. In this case, one of the officers was standing less than a car-length away from an armed subject with nothing but air between them for more than 30 seconds," Stoughton said.
Stoughton said no position is entirely safe when trying to keep an eye on an armed subject, but the safer the position, the more time officers have to assess the situation.
"Time is the single most important tactical concept, and in most cases officers can use it to their benefit," he said. "If, for example, the officers had taken positions of relative safety, they might have been more comfortable waiting to see if Mr. Franklin was going to put the gun on the ground the way that they had commanded him to, rather than shooting him at the moment they did.”
Stoughton also questioned the issue of the shooting’s backdrop outside Burger King, saying there was a possibility a bullet could have gone into the Burger King behind Franklin.
“The officers could have used angles or elevation to minimize the potential backdrop problem – had the officer with the body-cam moved to the right, for example, and used the front of the silver car for cover, her bullets would be aimed in the direction of the maroon car’s engine block, rather than at the restaurant," he said.