From the Huffington Post:
Police say a uniformed officer, on hand to support the undercover cop, was approaching Hammond’s vehicle. There’s disagreement about what happened next. Seneca Police Chief John Covington says Hammond drove the car at the officer, who, fearing for his life, fired twice into the vehicle, shooting a fatal round into Hammond’s upper torso. Eric Bland, a lawyer for Hammond’s family, says that the officer shot Hammond twice from behind and that an autopsy supports this claim. More than a week after the shooting, Oconee County coroner Karl Addis — one of the few people who should know for sure — has still not said publicly which direction the bullets came from.
Wherever the bullets struck Hammond, police say they were fired from near point-blank range through the open driver’s side window. This detail has raised particular concern amid a string of police killings in which the official law enforcement narrative has not always held up.
As in those previous incidents, Hammond’s family is left with painful questions: Was the car headed directly at the officer, or, as Hammond’s father has suggested, did the officer shoot because his son was beginning to flee? Was the officer truly in danger? Or does the fact that he was so close to the vehicle when he fired indicate otherwise? Will the dashcam video, reportedly turned over to state investigators and requested by local news outlets, offer any answers?
These questions sound familiar because they’ve been asked before. Many of us have gotten used to asking them. We’ve gotten used to the confusion and disbelief around a life taken so abruptly, used to the frustration of hearing an officer’s claim that the only choice was to shoot. Police have released minimal information about Hammond’s killing, but with familiar questions have so far come familiar answers.
While aspects of Hammond’s case evoke memories of other police shootings over the past year, one element does not: Hammond was white, as is the still-unidentified officer who shot him.
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