Northern California police are conducting an investigation over the fatal shooting of a twenty-one year old rapper Willie McCoy, who was shot in his car outside Taco Bell while he was asleep.
The incident occurred on the 6th of February when the fast food outlet called the Vallejo Police Department to report a Mercedes parked in the drive thru lane with a man in the driver’s seat.
When the police officers approached the stationary car, they noticed the car locked and the driver unresponsive with a gun on his lap, said the police statement. The car was parked with the gearbox in drive option, the police prevented the car from moving forward.
However suddenly the driver began to move the car, the police warned him to keep his hands visible but the driver went for the gun, that’s when the police officers discharged weapons.
The number of bullets fired at McCoy was still unclear, but he was declared dead right at the scene.
The family of McCoy has challenged the polices’ version of the incident, and claimed the shooting as racial profiling.
Marc McCoy, Willie’s older brother said, “There was no attempt to try to work out a peaceful solution,. The police’s job is to arrest people who are breaking the law not take the law into your own hands. You’re not judge, jury and executioner … We’re never going to get over this.”
The Vallejo Police Department has an extensive history of using force against African-Americans. A string of incidents have erupted in the U.S. over recent years.