Wilmington officials and civilians alike called for release of police body cam footage after an officer-involved shooting death.
Local leaders and residents gathered in front of the City/County Building downtown Wednesday morning to discuss the shooting death of 19-year-old Kadir Skinner.
Mayor John Carney was noticeably absent, as pointed out by several City Councilmembers and protestors – including Council President Trippi Congo.
“When we had the tragedy at the hospital, we had more representation from our elected officials,” Congo said. “And now we don't have that same representation. That's very frustrating.”
Carney and Wilmington Police Chief Wilfredo Campos released a joint statement Wednesday afternoon.
The statement included some more information on the case but said some information must remain classified due to there being an open investigation.
The statement reported Skinner sustained one gunshot wound to his upper left buttocks area.
“Following the shooting, and once it was discovered that Skinner had been injured, a police officer on scene transported him to the hospital in an attempt to seek medical care,” the statement reads.
Attendees and Councilmembers alike called for the release of the body camera footage from the shooting, which has remained classified along with the responsible officer’s name.
Carney and Campos’s statement claimed WPD offered family members the opportunity to view the body camera footage and that offer remains open.
Councilmember Shané Darby said an officer shot Skinner in the back twice before pulling him upright and placing him in a police vehicle. A report from the Police Department says he was shot once.
“I'm in the Army National Guard,” Darby said. “One of the first things we learned to do is to apply to do basic medical attention to that person, to stabilize them, have an ambulance come, or whatever it is, to help them, not handcuff them and bring them into the police car.”
According to Carney and Campos’s joint statement, police officers recovered a loaded .45 caliber handgun from Skinner.
This shooting is not an isolated incident. Wilmington resident Lanita Brooks attended the press conference along with dozens of other members of the public.
Brooks’s son Deshon Sellers was shot and killed by a member of the Touch Money Gang in 2015. She decided to attend the press conference in support of Skinner’s family.
Brooks said she’s upset it took over a week for local officials to come together and speak on the tragedy.
“I just feel [...] that if Trippi Congo or Shané Darby never came out and said anything, I don't think the rest of the City Council members would have ever spoken up,” Brooks said. “And for the mayor, the governor, for the chief of police and for the attorney general not to come out and say anything, I think it's absolutely ridiculous, and it's disrespectful to the family.”
Children in Wilmington are already deeply affected by the shooting, Brooks added. Protestors came to the City/County Building, and she said she’s scared for the future.
“These are accounts that members of our community have shared publicly and that has left many people in Wilmington heartbroken, angry and searching for answers,” Darby said to the crowd. “That sounds like a hunt. Like a deer. They treated him like an animal. That was somebody’s baby.”
Darby has been a staunch advocate for police reform since her first term. She previously proposed the Jeremy McDole Police Reform package, named after a 28-year-old Black man shot by Wilmington police officers in 2015.
The package had a list of things to improve community relations with police officers, including an independent, external audit on the Police Department.
Darby’s goals include changes at the state level. She said she wants to see the Law-enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights revised by state lawmakers along with local action like her reform package.
“Especially our Black Caucus who gutted the last LEOBOR bill – right? – to water it down where we really can't hold police accountable,” Darby said. “I want to see them bring LEOBOR back and actually hold police accountable, to be able to do external investigations.”
Darby added the city’s Community Police Advisory Board should have subpoena power through that Bill of Rights, but that has not happened.
Congo also believes this should encourage state legislators to act. He said if anyone other than a police officer had committed a murder, the public would know their name by now, as evidenced by the hospital shooting two weeks ago.
“The fact that we have known who committed this murder and his name has not been released is frustrating,” Congo said. “So, I think that LEOBOR has to be reopened, and we have to figure out how we can just provide more transparency because the police are just so protected. I don't understand. It doesn't make sense.”
Councilmember Zanthia Oliver confirmed the Police Chief said body camera footage will be released publicly, but did not share when that will happen.
The WPD confirmed it will release more information on this investigation when possible.
