Family calls killing by police avoidable
Not yet a week has passed since 21-year-old Willie McCoy was fatally shot by Vallejo police, but his family has already completed the checklist of a nightmare.
They have viewed the body, and lost count of the bullet holes. They have watched the bystander’s cell phone video of the shooting, heard the gunfire ring out like “packs of firecrackers.” And they have heard the account from police, who said they approached an unconscious driver in a fast-food drive-through who reached for the gun on his lap as he awoke.
Though some details remain unclear, there’s little mystery as to what happened last Saturday night. But for McCoy’s brothers and cousin, the bigger questions lie in the “whys.”
Why did this have to end with McCoy’s death?
“If that was their child, would they have immediately reacted in the same way?” said Marc McCoy, Willie McCoy’s older brother. “Or is there another, a peaceful route you could have went? That’s my question.”
About 20 of Willie McCoy’s family members gathered at his older brother Kori McCoy’s home in
“It was like execution by firing squad, with six people with fully loaded guns.”
David Harrison, Willie McCoy’s cousin
Hercules on Thursday evening to mourn together. Some of the women sat on the living room floor and wiped away tears as Willie McCoy’s three brothers and cousin spoke to reporters from the kitchen table.
Willie McCoy’s youngest brother challenged one detail of the police account, when officers said they tried to open the car door to retrieve the gun, but the door was locked. The family and their attorneys said one of the car windows was busted out and replaced with plastic — couldn’t they have torn through that?
“They didn’t try any peaceful solution that would have stopped them from taking his life,” Marc McCoy said.
“It was like execution by firing squad, with six people with fully loaded guns,” Willie McCoy’s cousin, David Harrison, added.
The family said Willie McCoy, a budding local rapper, was dealt a harsh hand growing up but had flourished in recent years.
He lost both parents before he became a teen, and for a while was shuffled through foster homes. When he was younger, Willie McCoy got into minor trouble but by about 17 he was on track, Marc McCoy said.
Willie McCoy had just returned to the Bay Area after performing some shows out of state, his family said. While he was close with several family members, he had a soft spot for his young nieces and nephews. He’d bring them lunch, or come cheer them on at their games, family members said.
“He was like their protector,” Marc McCoy said.
Vallejo police were called to a Taco Bell drive-through line on Feb. 9 around 10:30 p.m., after reports that a driver, later identified as Willie McCoy, was slumped over in a silver Mercedes with a gun on his lap.
Officers initially called to the scene found the man unresponsive. But the driver suddenly moved as officers worked to assess the situation, police said.
“The officers told the driver to keep his hands visible, however the driver quickly reached for the handgun on his lap,” police said in a statement. “In fear for their own safety, the officers discharged their weapons at the driver.”
McCoy’s death has reignited a conversation on this particularly volatile scenario: How should police engage an unconscious person who has a gun?
Officers in similar cases have spent up to an hour working to peacefully rouse the individuals, shouting through loudspeakers or deploying nonlethal force like beanbags. The controversy comes in the crucial moments when the person wakes up, perhaps startled, and makes a move officers deem threatening.
In at least two other instances, both in Oakland, officers made split-second decisions to open fire. Such was the case with 30-year-old Demouria Hogg in 2015 and with 32-year-old Joshua Pawlik in March. Both men died of their injuries.
Police say individuals put themselves in these situations, and that their actions are responsible for the fatal outcomes. But critics say police don’t account for the possibility that their presence could, in itself, cause this reaction.
The American Civil Liberties Union weighed in on Willie McCoy’s death on Thursday, and touted a new bill that would narrow the standard for officers to legally use deadly force.
“Instead of requiring that officers avoid using deadly force whenever possible, current law allows police officers to use deadly force and take someone’s life even when officers have other options,” said Peter Bibring, police practices director of the ACLU of California. “This permissive approach continues to result in far too many people — especially people of color — ending up dead at the hands of police.”