Why Should Delaware Care?
A recent police shooting of a 19-year-old has quickly become one of Wilmington’s highest profile police use-of-force cases in recent years. A Delaware Department of Justice investigation into the incident is expected to be closely watched as residents look for answers and justice. Newly released police body camera footage shows how the encounter unfolded.
Three weeks after the police shooting of Kadir Skinner, the Delaware Department of Justice released footage from the body camera of the officer who fatally shot the 19-year-old in northeast Wilmington, as well as video from two other responding officers.
The video of the June 24 incident begins without audio as the officer drives his police cruiser. He then comes to a stop, gets out, and begins to run. At that moment, Skinner is seen in the video, running down a sidewalk. A few frames from the video also show a dog running behind Skinner.
A short foot chase ensues. About four seconds after leaving the cruiser, the pursuing officer is seen holding his gun, though the quality of the video is poor. About three seconds after that, the audio from the footage begins, just as the officer fires his weapon four times.
Wilmington officials have said that Skinner was shot from behind in the buttocks. They have not stated why the officer shot the fleeing teen at that moment.
After firing his weapon, the officer yells “drop it” and “drop that gun,” according to the video.
The officer then approaches Skinner, who had collapsed onto his knees saying, “I don’t got nothing.”
The shooting officer then tells another officer, “he threw something,” and “find the gun and get it,” while proceeding to handcuff the wounded Skinner on the pavement.
Over the next 30 seconds, a crowd begins to form in the area. Skinner repeatedly says, “I can’t breathe.”
About a minute after the shooting, the officer asks Skinner, “Are you hit?”
“I don’t know,” Skinner replies.
A separate video from another responding officer shows her walking down the sidewalk where the chase had just taken place. She stops at a spot, and reaches down. The footage does not show what she reaches toward.
She then returns to the immediate scene when sound from her body camera turns on. The officer yells toward bystanders to “back up now.” The shooting officer then tells her to “secure the gun.” She responds, “I have it.”
The third video is from the officer who was in the passenger seat of the shooting officer’s police cruiser. Shortly after it begins, it shows that officer drawing his gun while still in the car and pointing it out the window. The officer then climbs out of the car where he catches up to the first officer with his knee on Skinner’s back.
The video then shows him walking to the spot along the sidewalk where the female officer would later stop and reached down. A black object is seen in the footage.
In all, the videos depict a chaotic 28 seconds between the moment the shooting officer leaves his vehicle to when he begins handcuffing Skinner on the ground. About three-and-a-half minutes pass after Skinner was shot before officers place his limp body into a cruiser and take him to Wilmington Hospital.
Police have previously said that Skinner died at the hospital.
During the aftermath of the shooting, the videos also show a highly charged scene with police holding pepper spray and tasers while ordering distraught onlookers to back up. Some yell, “he’s dying.”
At point point, one bystander and one officer can be heard cursing back and forth toward each other.
Skinners’ devastated father also is at the scene watching as his wounded son lies on the ground in handcuffs. At one point, he tells officers, “You shot my fucking son.”
Following the release of the body camera footage, Wilmington Mayor John Carney said in a statement that he and the state DOJ are “committed to transparency during this process and to conducting a thorough investigation.”
In the statement, Carney also asserted that body cameras have “limitations, and this footage does not capture the totality of the incident.”
This story will be updated.
The Delaware Department of Justice posted the three body camera videos onto Youtube. Each are distressing and Spotlight Delaware advises viewer discretion.
