Mobile police said Michael Moore had a gun in his waistband, which is why the officer shot him four times.
Witnesses said the cop kept shooting after Moore had fallen to the ground, standing over his body while firing his gun, telling him, “don’t move, turn over.”
The cop then turned the teen’s body over and handcuffed it.
The cop, who has not been identified, did not have his body camera on because he was not yet on the clock, police said.
However, that did not prevent him from pulling the teen over for cutting another car off.
Moore was driving with two friends when he was pulled over. The officer then learned he did not have a drivers license, which was when he ordered Moore to step out of the car.
After stepping out of the car with his phone in his hand, the officer said he noticed a gun in his waistband and that Moore “reached” for it, leading to the cop to kill him.
According to Fox 10:
A neighbor who saw the incident tells FOX10 News: “We thought it was a routine traffic stop, we were standing at the door looking at it, young man gets out with his cell phone in his hand and as soon as he gets out, he [the officer] shoots him. Young man falls back on the ground, he stands over him and shoots over him four more times, after he shoots him the fourth time, he says don’t move turn over. The guy couldn’t turn over, he flipped the guy over, put handcuffs on him, and stands over him with his gun and tells him don’t move, the guy couldn’t move,” says Willie Westbrook, who lives across the street.
Westbrook’s godmother, Lenese Bohannon, also says she saw the whole thing: “The police was standing up by him as he got out of the car and when the boy got out of the car the police just shot the boy and the boy fell on the ground and the police stood over him and shot him 3 more times.”
Mobile police later said the teen had been driving a stolen car and also provided a fake identity.
Last year, the Mobile city council approved nearly a half million dollars to equip all officers with body cameras.
The officer who shot Moore is a four-year veteran. His car did not have a dash cam.
Mobile police say they have asked the FBI to conduct its own investigation into the shooting.
Police say both a cell phone and a gun were recovered at the scene.
