Associated Press
Family members of a Black teenager shot and killed by police in an Alabama suburb say they want answers and are seeking to see the body camera footage of the shooting.
Jabari Peoples, 18, was shot June 23 by a police officer in the parking lot of a soccer field in Homewood, just outside of Birmingham.
The Homewood Police Department said the officer fired his weapon after Peoples grabbed a gun from a car door during a scuffle as the officer was trying to arrest him for marijuana possession.
The family is disputing the police version of events. Leroy Maxwell, Jr., an attorney representing the family, said Peoples was shot in the back and, according to a witness, did not have a weapon when approached by the officer.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency on Tuesday said release of body cam or dash cam footage of the shooting would affect the investigation.
Hundreds of people attended a vigil for Peoples at the soccer complex where he was shot. The family released doves and white balloons and brought in a large photo of Peoples with angel wings. Candles spelled out ‘Jabari’ at the spot where he was killed.
Bron Peoples said his younger brother had a plan for his life and would write down his dreams for the future in a notebook. He said their parents had drilled into them how to behave when interacting with police. He said the family is “calling for justice.”
The shooting unfolded at about 9:30 p.m. when a police officer approached a car at the Homewood Soccer Complex where Peoples and a female friend were parked.
The Homewood Police Department posted a statement on social media that the officer smelled marijuana and noticed a handgun in the pocket of the driver’s side door. The officer attempted to put Peoples in handcuffs to arrest him for marijuana possession and a struggle ensued, according to the statement.
“Peoples broke away from the officer and retrieved the handgun from the open driver’s side door pocket, creating an immediate deadly threat to the officer. The officer, fearing for his safety, fired one round from his service weapon to defend himself,” the police statement said.
Peoples is a 2024 graduate of Aliceville High School in the city of the same name, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Homewood.
Aliceville Mayor Terrence E. Windham sent a letter to Homewood’s mayor urging him to work to release “all available footage related to this case.”
Star Robb, a community activist in Birmingham, questioned how marijuana possession escalated into a fatal police shooting. She said the community “won’t stand for lies.”
“He was minding his own business. Even if they did smell weed, when has weed become a death sentence? It’s legal in most states around the country so when did it become a death sentence.”
