Family of paralyzed man shot by Wilmington Police still waiting for answers

 (Nichelle Polston/WHYY)

(Nichelle Polston/WHYY)

The family of wheel chair bound Jeremy McDole, who was shot and killed by Wilmington Police, still want answers.

The Wilmington Police Department and the Delaware Department of Justice Office of Civil Rights and Public Trust are all investigating what happened.

“Yes we need police and an ambulance. A man just shot himself,” an anonymous caller shouted over the phone to police on Sept. 23rd.

The 9-1-1 phone call is what led police to McDole. The caller said the paralyzed man was suicidal but family members have said that wasn’t the case.

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“He wasn’t suicidal, my brother would never do that,” Keandra McDole, the victim’s sister said. She also disputes the gun that police say was found on Jeremy.

“If there’s a gun in evidence where did it come from? Because my brother did not have a gun on him,” Keandra said.

The ongoing investigation has prohibited comment from law enforcement at this time. However, a bystander’s cell phone video posted on YouTube shows police arriving on scene, causing people to draw their own conclusions.

At a press conference a day after the shooting, Chief Bobby Cummings gave a brief description of what happened to McDole.

“When Mr. McDole began to remove the weapon from his waist the officers engaged him and as a result of the injuries Mr. McDole sustained he lost his life,” Cummings said.

According to the chief, the four officers involved did not go to work that day to take anyone’s life.

“They came out here because they wanted to help our community. I assure you that not one of those officers intended to take anyone’s life that day and again we’re sorry to the family that this encounter ended in the loss of their loved one,” Cummings expressed at the Sept. press conference.

“In my opinion I think the officers need to go back into training. Evidently they weren’t trained right,” said McDole’s mother Phyllis.

Now Keandra is on two missions, first to get answers…

“Since everything has happened we haven’t got a knock, phone call or nothing from Wilmington Police from nobody,” Keandra said.

The other mission is to paint a different picture of her brother Jeremy and raise awareness about Jeremy’s death through community rallies and marches.

“This is really personal, not because it’s my brother, but because it could have been anybody’s child, somebody’s uncle, they could have been any color, black, blue, glitter, anything you know so,” Keandra said.

While family members continue to search for answers, city officials have said they’re focused on getting closure as well.

“We have an unfortunate situation here but we will get tot he bottom of this. We want answers, just like you want answers. This will be investigated to the fullest and we will come to some resolution. We will take our time and do a very thorough investigation,” Mayor Dennis Williams said.

Tune into WHYY’s First tonight at 5:30pm and again at 11pm for the full story.

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