CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Jason Arnie Owens helped carry his father’s casket to the hearse, then turned to embrace a relative. He by no means made it to the cemetery.
As mourners gathered exterior a northern West Virginia funeral residence on Aug. 24, two plainclothes officers with a fugitive warrant swooped in from separate autos, referred to as Owens’ title and shot him useless, spattering his 18-year-old son’s shirt with blood as horrified family members seemed.
“There was no warning in any respect,” household pal Cassandra Whitecotton mentioned.
Within the blink of a watch, surprised family and friends already mourning one member misplaced one other. Now, they need solutions — not simply why Owens was shot however why the encounter occurred the best way it did.
Legislation enforcement officers aren’t explaining a lot proper now, citing an ongoing investigation. Owens, 37, was wished on a fugitive warrant, however the U.S. Marshals Service hasn’t mentioned what it was for. The company additionally mentioned in an announcement that he had a gun when members of a fugitive job pressure approached. A number of witnesses contend that is not true.
Whitecotton and others who stood simply toes away mentioned Owens was unarmed, had been hugging his aunt, Evelyn O’Dell, and was fired on instantly after his title was referred to as. Witnesses additionally dispute the U.S. Marshals’ assertion that first help was carried out straight away, earlier than emergency medical providers arrived.
“They yelled Jason’s title. They simply mentioned ‘Jason’ after which began firing,” Whitecotton mentioned. “There was no identifications they have been U.S. Marshals — something. They didn’t render this man any help in any respect. By no means as soon as they touched him to render any help in any respect.”
As relations ready for providers Friday for Owens, a state police investigation of the taking pictures was underway. However endurance in the neighborhood is carrying skinny.
Relations and supporters protested exterior the Harrison County Courthouse final week, accusing legislation enforcement authorities of overreach within the loss of life of Owens, who was white. A Fb web page referred to as Justice for Jason Owens has swelled to about 800 members — greater than half of the inhabitants of Nutter Fort, the place Owens was killed.
Underlying the unanswered questions is whether or not some boundary of decency had been crossed in arresting a person within the midst of burying his father.
“In the event that they’ve been trying to find somebody and so they lastly determine the place they’re, they’re going to get them,” mentioned Tracy L. Hahn, a Columbus, Ohio-based safety guide who retired after 32 years in legislation enforcement, together with as deputy police chief at Ohio State College.
Hahn mentioned she is aware of companies which have gone to funerals however have waited till afterward to method the individual.
“There should be some extenuating circumstance that they felt the urgency to arrest him then as an alternative of ready, if there was some threat issue, an escape threat or one thing like that,” Hahn mentioned.
Relations aren’t so certain. They are saying it solely provides to their sense of disrespect that the companies concerned really feel no obligation to deal with their questions.
“We wish to know why you’d do that in entrance of his household,” mentioned Owens’ cousin, Mandy Swiger. “And what provides you the precise to do this to an unarmed man?”
Appearing U.S. Marshal Terry Moore mentioned he couldn’t reply questions throughout the investigation and messages left with state police weren’t returned.
It’s not clear whether or not video exists from police bodycams, a police car dashboard or the funeral residence itself. In contrast to main cities the place detailed incident stories and video footage are launched after deadly police shootings — typically inside hours — that not often occurs in West Virginia.
West Virginia legislation exempts police from having to launch video footage throughout an investigation. And the U.S. Marshals Service workplace mentioned it didn’t write an in depth incident report in regards to the taking pictures, referring to the information launch that withheld Owens’ title and different particulars.
Owens had been in hassle with the legislation earlier than. He was sentenced in 2018 to 3 to 13 years in jail for fleeing a Harrison County sheriff’s deputy and making an attempt to strangle him throughout a scuffle. He was launched on parole in April 2021.
However Swiger mentioned he dedicated a parole violation “for not checking in simply as soon as. And that’s why he promised his mother after the funeral he would flip himself in.”
Whitecotton mentioned she was smoking a cigarette after the service when an SUV got here flying down the facet road the place the hearse would pull out.
“It about hit me, so I jumped again up on the curb and type of checked out him like, ‘What’s your downside?’” she mentioned. A person in shorts and a T-shirt jumped out, leaving his door open.
Swiger mentioned a white truck with one other plainclothes officer inside virtually hit her mom’s car because the truck sped into the car parking zone. Swiger mentioned Owens was shot from totally different instructions and estimated as many as 40 individuals have been within the space. She, too, mentioned she did not see a gun in Owens’ arms.
Some mourners instinctively rushed towards Owens after he fell to the bottom, Swiger mentioned, however have been advised by one of many officers, “You step again or I’ll shoot you.”
Whitecotton mentioned she has lived in a lot bigger cities comparable to Houston, Dallas and Fort Value.
“By no means in my life have I handled something like this,” she mentioned. “I’d count on it there, actually. However not right here.”
