In December 2020, 19-year-old Christian Hall was shot to death by police in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Now, attorneys representing Hall’s family are calling on the state’s attorney general to investigate the shooting, ABC16 reports.
On December 30, police say Hall was standing near the Interstate 80 overpass with a gun. He appeared to be in distress.
“He needed help,” his mother, Fe Hall, told CBS 21. “He was looking for help, but instead of getting help, he was killed by those who were supposed to help him.”
During negotiations, police claim Hall became uncooperative and pointed the gun at the officers who opened fire. His family says, however, that a video of the incident tells a different story.
Benjamin Crump, one of the civil rights attorneys representing Hall’s family, says a video circulating online shows Hall with his hands up. Crump has also been representing George Floyd’s family.
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“He was having a crisis. There is a suggestion that he was contemplating suicide. He was crying out for help,” said Crump, according to ABC 16. “Christian Hall needed a helping hand, but yet he got bullets while he had his hands up.”
Crump shared the video alongside a picture of Hall on his Twitter account.
Lawyers for the Hall family have also called for Attorney General Josh Shapiro to do an independent investigation into the shooting.
“This needs a completely independent look. Devon Jacob, a Hall family attorney said at a press conference according to CBS 21. “These troopers, while they are state police, the fact is they work with local police and local prosecutors to prosecute their cases. It is simply impossible to have an independent investigation when you’re investigating people that you work with every day.”
The Attorney General’s office says their services have not been requested, according to ABC16. The investigation between the state police and Monroe County’s district attorney’s office is still on going. The DA’s office says they have not heard from Hall’s lawyers.
“No one from Mr. Hall’s legal team has reached out to us at all,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement. “We weren’t told that the attorneys were going to conduct a press conference today. We have not been asked to provide any information relative to this matter. We are still awaiting certain reports and results before we make any final decision.”
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