Photo Courtesy Of NBC
Body camera footage shows Detroit police officers fatally shooting 20-year-old mentally ill Black man Porter Burks.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the newly-released footage shows five officers shooting and killing Burks, who reportedly suffered from schizophrenia. The Detroit Police Department said he was possibly experiencing a mental health crisis as he wielded a knife near Snowden and Lyndon on Oct. 2. Burks’ brother, who alleged that the 20-year-old slashed his tires, contacted police in fear of the young man’s safety. When officers arrived at the scene, bodycam footage revealed they found Burks standing in the middle of the street. As such, they approached him to make him drop the knife.
“I just want to help you, man, OK? Can you do me a favor and drop the knife? Can you drop the knife for me? Please?” an officer is heard asking the mentally ill man. “Please, whatever you’re going through, I can help you. Porter, you’re not in any trouble, man.”
The video then shows Burks running toward the officers, and the screen suddenly turns Black. Authorities revealed that the officers, whose names haven’t been released to the public, shot at the young man in three seconds, using 38 rounds–15 of which may have struck him and resulted in his tragic death.
Police additionally stated that the Detroit man was shocked with a stun gun before officers shot him. Detroit Police Chief James White and the Director Of The Department Of Professional Standards, Chris Graveline, noted that Burks had a violent history towards his relatives, as he was reportedly sent to the hospital for psychiatric evaluation at least twice. He even escaped the first time, they added.
However, Burks’ family isn’t having it as they described his killing as “flat-out murder.”
“Let the media know that he was shot and tased at the same time. That’s why the taser didn’t work,” an emotional Quieauna Wilson, his mother, said at a press conference on Oct. 4.
“They told us, to our face, [that] they pulled the trigger and the taser at the same time. Y’all didn’t even give him a chance. We are outraged,” Burks’ aunt, Michelle Wilson, said.
Wilson encouraged anyone else in the community who has loved ones diagnosed with mental illness to avoid calling 911.
“Help them yourself, Don’t call 911,” she advised them. “They might not make it.”