CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- CMPD released the footage from the body camera worn by officer Wende Kerl during the shooting that killed 27-year-old Danquirs Franklin.

It happened last month outside a Burger King on Beatties Ford Road when police say he refused to drop the gun he was holding. A judge ordered the video's release last week. 

Watch the video below (viewer discretion is advised): 

The incident happened in March. Police were called to the restaurant where witnesses said a man was fighting with a worker and waving a gun. 

Back then, police said that when officers arrived, they saw a man in the parking lot and asked him multiple times to drop his weapon. One of the officers, Wende Kerl, perceived a lethal threat and fired, hitting and killing 27-year-old Danquirs Franklin. CMPD says they recovered a gun on the scene.

Initially, witnesses provided different accounts of what happened, claiming police shot the wrong man. A man who said he is the stepfather of a Burger King employee who was helping a female employee targeted by Franklin, said that Franklin was causing trouble and he was the one police shot. But, he said Franklin's weapon was on his hip when police shot him.

In a presser ahead of Monday's video release, CMPD Chief Kerr Putney said that the body camera footage of the shooting has clear evidence that Franklin was armed, but he wouldn't say whether Franklin was holding a weapon, moving for it, or any specifics.

 

 

Mayor Vi Lyles said it was city leaders' duty to get out in front of this. She nearly broke down in tears describing the impact the shooting will have on Franklin's family and the city. 

City leaders wanted to remind everyone how the shooting is now at the center of two investigations and has not been given to the DA to review whether the shooting was legal and justified.

On Tuesday, city leaders again addressed questions people have about what happened during the shooting. 

"This is one of the most troubling videos I've seen. But the truth of the matter is I'm happy there are many levels of accountability," said Putney.

Putney went on to say it's not his job to defend the officer or the family. He wants to be a fact seeker and let the legal process play out.

As of right now, we have not seen video from the second officer at the scene. Putney says that's part of the internal investigation as to whether that camera was actually working.

Lyles says this is a time for the city to look out how it operates, including focusing on mental health and making sure CMPD officers are trained in de-escalation.

"We are a city that comes together to improve, not to tear down. Our officers are going to work through this and we are going to work through it as a city," she said.

Nearly 1,000 people were killed by police in 2018, according to the Washington Post, including 25 in North Carolina.