Al Sharpton rushing to Louisiana to set the record straight.
Via WDSU:
The parents of an armed teenager who was shot and killed by a Jefferson Parish deputy are questioning why the officer shot him six times, though they said they realize that their son put himself in harm’s way.
Alesia Martes said her 17-year-old son, Devon Martes, was home with her around 11 p.m. Tuesday, but when she got out of the shower around 11:20 p.m., he was gone. Police said by 11:30 p.m. he’d been shot by a deputy who chased him into a newspaper warehouse, only two blocks away from where he lived.
Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said the teenager was not a victim.
Normand said deputies were called to Ford Street and Cleary Avenue after reports of two men rolling tires down the street. Video from inside the warehouse shows Martes raising a gun at the deputy. The sheriff said that when Martes pulled the trigger, Deputy Dave Dalton shot and killed Martes.
Devon Martes pulled the trigger on a gun and tried to kill one of my officers. But for the fact that the gun malfunctioned, I might have a dead officer,” Normand said.
Martes’ father, Glen Parker, spoke with WDSU off camera. He said he knows that his son was wrong, and he does not blame the deputy for what he did because his life was in danger.
“I appreciate that statement. It’s one of the most honest statements that I’ve heard in a long, long time,” Normand said. “It’s probably a very tough statement for that father to say that because he lost his son.”[…]
The family said Martes was one of 11 children and the youngest of six sons. His parents said they don’t know who he was with Tuesday night, but said Martes did not have a car and had no reason to steal rims.
The sheriff said thousands of dollars’ worth of tires and rims have been stolen in Jefferson Parish in recent weeks. He did not say if Tuesday’s incident was related.