Hoover Officials: Release of Info About Police Shooting ‘Premature’
The Hoover Police Department says it will not release any information regarding the Thanksgiving night shooting death of Emantic Bradford Jr. It will hold onto the shooting details at the urging of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, officials say, which is overseeing the investigation.
“On Saturday, December 1, 2018, Alabama Secretary of Law Enforcement Hal Taylor communicated in writing to [Hoover Mayor Frank] Brocato and myself his agency’s stance on the premature release of any critical information in regards to their investigation,” said Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis. “Secretary Taylor … has specifically asked that we do not release any potential evidence as it may not only jeopardize the integrity of the case, but also complicate or delay their efforts.”
Read The Full Press Release From The Hoover Police Department Here
Chief Derzis says Secretary Taylor was very specific by saying this “includes nondisclosure by the city of paper documents, records, tangible things, and electronically stored information created by or in possession or under the control of the city, which may be relevant to the events in question, including by not limited to any reports, written statements, electronic records, video and audio recordings, and physical evidence.”
This request comes days after an announcement by Derzis, Mayor Brocato and Hoover City Councilman Derrick Murphy.
“We are pushing ALEA to release the limited amount of information they have on the fatal police shooting of #EJBradfordJr by noon on Monday” –@MurphyAlabama
— Janae Pierre (@missjanaepierre) November 29, 2018
But in a statement Monday, Murphy says he is “disappointed they cannot give the Bradford family the answers they deserve faster.”
“Please be patient with me as I struggle to balance the privilege of being an elected official in the City of Hoover with the flinching of being an African-American following tragic circumstances like these,” Murphy says.
Emantic Bradford Jr. died Thanksgiving night after he was shot by a police officer at the Riverchase Galleria Mall in Hoover. Initially, officials said a fight broke out and gun shots were fired, wounding two people. They said Bradford was seen with a gun and he wounded 18-year-old Brian Wilson. But less than 24 hours later, officials issued another statement saying it was “highly unlikely” that Bradford fired the shots that injured two people.
The Bradford family attorney, Ben Crump, has begun conducting his own investigation beginning with an independent medical review. Crump says a pathologist retained by the family determined that Bradford was shot three times from behind.
“It clearly demonstrates that EJ posed no threat to the off-duty Hoover Police Department officer who killed him while working a private security detail at Riverchase Galleria mall, since EJ was moving away from him,” Crump says. “If anything, the evidence corroborates the testimony of multiple witnesses who said EJ was trying to help others.”
“Until the tapes are released, it’s a coverup” –@RevJJackson
— Janae Pierre (@missjanaepierre) December 3, 2018
Crump says they are still pushing for the release of all evidence including videos and the official autopsy.
United Nations nuclear agency again condemns Iran for failing to fully cooperate
The resolution comes after the agency said Iran has defied demands to rein in its nuclear program and has increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
Alabama carries out nation’s 3rd nitrogen gas execution
An Alabama man convicted in the 1994 killing of a hitchhiker cursed at the prison warden shortly before he was put to death Thursday evening in the nation's third execution using nitrogen gas.
Trump names former Florida AG Pam Bondi as his new pick for U.S. attorney general
After former Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration, President-elect Donald Trump named Pam Bondi, a former attorney general of Florida, as his next pick for U.S. attorney general.
Police report gives details, timeline of the sexual assault claim against Pete Hegseth
The woman who accused then-Fox News host of sexual assault in 2017 said that she "remembered saying 'no' a lot," according to a police report. Hegseth is President-elect Donald Trump's choice for Secretary of Defense.
Alabama Black Belt’s sewer crisis a tougher fix for residents in manufactured homes
Poor sanitation has long plagued residents in Alabama’s Black Belt. For people with manufactured houses, finding a solution has been more challenging.
In Birmingham, Black men’s groups work to save young men from the cycle of gun violence
As the city inches closer to its homicide record, community members are trying to address a sense of fatalism and lack of opportunity felt by some young men.
