At first, Danquirs Franklin appeared to be ignoring the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers pointing guns at him, ordering to place his gun on the ground.
The gun was not visible as the 27-year-old was squatting next to a Honda parked in the handicapped spot in a Burger King parking lot as the cops repeatedly barked their orders. He was talking to a man in the passenger’s seat.
At one point, Franklin reaches into a jacket pocket and pulls the gun out by the barrel and looked to be placing it on the ground when one of the officers opened fire, prompting a second officer to open fire.
“You told me to ….” Franklin says as he collapses. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The incident took place on March 25 after Franklin pulled out a gun on a Burger King employee, prompting at least two calls to police, according to the Charlotte Observer.
When police arrived, they found him squatting by the car where they eventually shot him. The first cop to shot him was Wende Kerl, who claimed to have been in fear for her life.
“Kerl perceived an imminent, deadly threat and subsequently fired her department issued firearm two times,” according to a statement released by the city.
Police and prosecutors did not want to release the video but a judge ordered its release after local media filed a petition.
Now city officials fear the video will spark a backlash in the community. At least seven protests have been planned.
“We are prepared for the worst but praying for the the best,” Charlotte-Mecklenberg Police Chief Kerr Putney said.
In 2010, the Charlotte Observer wrote an article about his struggles growing up and how he was raised by his grandmother after being born to a crack addict.