Nathaniel Prasad’s family wants transparency in the investigation of the fatal police shooting of the Indian American teenager, reports Little India.
18-year-old Prasad was fatally shot by police officers on April 5 in Fremont, California. He was wanted on a felony firearms possession warrant, a felony probation warrant, and a misdemeanor evading arrest warrant.
Civil rights lawyer John Burris said that the police video of the incident should be released to the family, as there is still-unreleased in-car and body-camera footage.
“Two patrol officers responded to the area, activated their emergency lights and siren, and stopped the suspect vehicle,” stated the police report, released on April 19 by the Fremont Police Department. “The driver of the vehicle stopped and Prasad fled from the right passenger side of the car on foot.” The driver was identified as Prasad’s mother.
One of the police officers followed, and “Prasad pulled a firearm from his waist area and it appears that he fired one to two shots in the direction of the officer,” the report continues. “The officer drew his duty weapon, returned fire and broadcast over the police radio that the suspect had a gun.”
Allegedly, Prasad started to run and encountered more officers, and at some point he used his firearm again to fire at the police. “In response to Prasad’s fire, officers shot in the direction of Prasad, striking him several times, causing him to fall,” the police report states, continuing on that Prasad still had the weapon in his hand at this point and officers fired additional rounds.
Officers then approached Prasad, recovering a stolen .22-caliber revolver. Officers gave emergency medical care until paramedics arrived; he was pronounced dead at the scene, reports East Bay Times. The involved officers in the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave.
“We keep seeing what’s written about him and it does not seem to fit how he was,” said Prasad’s father, Danny Prasad. He said his son was looking at colleges after having graduated from high school.
“The police, they’re saying ‘These are the type of people we need to take off the streets,’ and all those other hurtful comments,” said Danny Prasad. “He was just a scared little kid.”
AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. We’re an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. Check out our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Please consider interning, joining our staff or submitting a story.
