UPDATED: 5:08 a.m. ET, May 29 —
The Tallahassee Police Department identified the person one of its officers shot and killed on Wednesday as Natosha “Tony” McDade, who was 38 years old. While initial reports described the victim as a woman, social media reports have since emerged to claim that McDade was a trans man.
The person killed in Tallahassee today was a Black trans man. Not a woman
— Akilah (@craziforlife) May 28, 2020
One report contradicted police’s claims that McDade was armed with a gun and pointed it at cops before being shot to death.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Indya Moore (@indyamoore) on May 28, 2020 at 11:23am PDT
Despite the misgendering, police have maintained that McDade was a stabbing suspect and was shot only after pointing a gun at police. However, an interview with an eyewitness who said he encountered McDade moments before the shooting made no mention of a gun.
McDade’s death was one of the latest in a recent string of officer-involved shootings in Tallahassee.
Original story:
A police officer in Florida on Wednesday shot and killed a Black person after she allegedly stabbed someone to death. The chief of the Tallahassee Police Department confirmed both deaths at a press conference after widespread reports of the shooting on social media. Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said the victim had a gun and pointed it at officers. However, an eyewitness contradicted that account.
To recap, two people are dead after a stabbing on Saxon Street and an officer-involved shooting on Holton Street. #Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said a woman stabbed a man on Saxon before fleeing to Holton, where police shot her after she pointed a gun at an officer.
— Jeffrey Burlew (@JeffBurlew) May 27, 2020
Revell held a press conference a couple of hours after the shooting and reportedly said that “anger is justified.” He also confirmed the police officer is white.
Revell says “anger is justified” concerning raw feeling on race & policing nationwide. TPD officer involved in this shooting was white, woman shot, now deceased, was black
— Ryan Dailey (@RT_Dailey) May 27, 2020
Revell identified the shooting victim as a stabbing suspect.
TPD Chief Revell: Woman shot and killed by TPD officer on Holton Street was a suspect in a fatal stabbing that happened on Saxon Street.
— Jeffrey Burlew (@JeffBurlew) May 27, 2020
The status of the officer’s body camera is uncertain, Revell said, indicating that if any exists it will be made available only after a grand jury hearing.
.@TallyPD Chief Lawrence Revell says he doesn’t know yet if officer’s body camera was on. He said earlier in presser if there is video, it won’t come out until after grand jury hearing
— Ryan Dailey (@RT_Dailey) May 27, 2020
Revell’s press conference can be viewed below.
The shooting took place around 11 a.m. but no other information was immediately released.
A black girl was just killed in Tallahassee by cops. She was walking alone and minding her business. Shot five times.
Non-male so I know you motherfuckers don’t care. Just talking to myself…#BlackLivesMatter
— Black Men DGAF (@IsisPaperzZ) May 27, 2020
One eye witness who identified himself as a resident of Leon Arms apartments said the victim came to him asking for help because she said someone had been stabbed. The witness said he followed the person and when he rounded a corner, he heard a barrage of gunshots from police officers. He described it as “seven, eight rounds.” The witness also said that he saw police pull up, hop out of their cars and just start shooting. He said no one yelled “freeze” or “hands up.” At no point did the eyewitness ever say the victim had a gun.
I’m here at Leon Arms apartments, at the scene of an officer involved shooting. Clifford Williams, a resident, gives his account of what happened pic.twitter.com/7NtoHyG2Xc
— Ryan Dailey (@RT_Dailey) May 27, 2020
Witnesses say a #Tallahassee police officer shot a woman outside Holton Street apartments. Huge crowd of residents and major police presence here. TPD chief Lawrence Revell expected to brief media at 1:15 p.m. no word on her condition yet. pic.twitter.com/qw8jCdNHk9
— Jeffrey Burlew (@JeffBurlew) May 27, 2020
On the scene of an officer involved shooting at 2500 Holten St. This is the third officer involved shooting in Tallahassee this year. More details to come. @WCTV pic.twitter.com/V1HYtjtpvm
— Elizabeth Millner (@elizabethwctv) May 27, 2020
The person filming the Facebook video at one point turned the camera on one officer — a white man — and identified him as the shooter.
The video did not provide a reason for the police encounter, but the Tallahassee Democrat reported that the city police department was responding to reports of a stabbing.
A lot of people out here at Holton street apartments and they’re visibly upset. Dozens of people crying. Officers are investigating right now. All they can tell us is that an officer shot someone in this complex. @abc27 pic.twitter.com/z1z6t7qOYl
— Jada E. Williams (@JadaEWilliams) May 27, 2020
The Tallahassee Police Department’s “online map that tracks calls for service shows a pair of ‘active incidents,’ a weapons or firearms call on Holton Street just before 11 and a stabbing 15 minutes earlier on Saxon Street,” the Democrat wrote.
IF YOU IN TALLAHASSEE I REPEAT TALLAHASSEE Check on your people’s . These Fuck Ass Opps @TallyPD just Shot this unarmed black girl in The back 5TIMES In The projects . Not Sure if It’s The Holton Street projects or basin st. #WEMATTER
— BNONOLIMIT (@bnonolimit) May 27, 2020
The officers should have all been wearing and activated their body cameras. City officials in 2018 approved the outfitting of all Tallahassee police officers with body cameras. According to a report at the time by the Tallahassee Democrat,
The shooting on Wednesday was at least the third officer-involved shooting in Tallahassee in the past two months. It was also the latest in a recent apparent spike of police killing Black people, including in Minnesota on Monday when George Floyd died after an officer pinned his neck to the ground with his knee. That followed Louisville police shooting Breonna Taylor as they served a warrant to the wrong home.
CORRECTION: An original version of this story incorrectly referred to the shooting victim as a woman. The text has been updated to reflect this correction.
This is a developing story that will be updated as additional information becomes available.
SEE ALSO:
Video Shows Cop Brutally Punching Unarmed Black Woman In Michigan
Minneapolis Police Officer Who ‘Killed’ George Floyd Is Reportedly Identified
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