The shooting death of two black teenagers by a Sheriff’s deputy in a Florida city named Cocoa last week has prompted a statewide investigation and outrage in a community that is now demanding answers.
According to CNN, a 56-second dashcam video of the deadly encounter was posted on the Brevard County Sheriff‘s Facebook page last Tuesday evening. The video clip shows deputies attempting to stop the car last Friday that was allegedly believed to be a possible stolen vehicle.
18-year-old Sincere Pierce and the 16-year-old driver Angelo Crooms were both shot and killed by the deputy.
The footage shows two marked sheriff’s cruisers following the teenagers as they drive through a residential neighborhood. At one point, the teens pull into a driveway before the driver backs the car out, facing two deputies with their guns drawn.
A deputy is heard on the camera’s audio commanding the driver to stop the vehicle at least eight times. But there is no audio for the first 36 seconds of the video.
In a statement released with the video, Sheriff Wayne Ivey explained the driver “turns and accelerates the vehicle” toward the deputy, who was “then forced to fire his service weapon in an attempt to stop the deadly threat of the car from crashing into him.”
“You can actually see the tires of the vehicle turn sharply as the car accelerates,” Ivey said, describing the moment as the deputy being “in immediate danger of being struck by the vehicle.” The sheriff said two firearms were recovered in the car, which had three occupants.
National civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents the families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, announced on Monday that he has been retained by the families of both teens and said he has asked for a US Justice Department investigation.
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