DETROIT (Washington Insider Magazine)- Porter Burks, a 20-year-old Black man with schizophrenia, was shot 38 times in 3 seconds, according to Detroit police, killing him as he seemed to be experiencing a mental health crisis.
The events leading up to the deadly shooting that happened on Sunday were captured on body camera footage and briefly aired during a news conference on Tuesday with Detroit Police Chief James White. According to ABC NEWS, the body camera footage featured a trained crisis intervention officer named Shawn in the video.
Officers are heard asking Burks to put down the knife he is believed to have been carrying, which has an 8-inch blade , and promising to get him some assistance in the footage.
Before being shot dead, Burks can be seen in the footage racing toward the police.
According to White, Burks was too distant from police officers for a taser to be useful.
According to Christopher Graveline, executive team director for the Detroit Police, there were many officers there when Burks was shot on Sunday, but only 5 of them had discharged their firearms.
White stated that he is withholding the complete identities of the five implicated officers due to the continuing Michigan State Police investigation, but they are all presently on administrative leave.
His brother Damondo Anderson, who requested assistance from the authorities, said that Burks was experiencing a mental episode and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia 3 years ago.
According to Anderson, who can be seen on the body cam footage, Burks was irate and slashed his tires. Anderson said that he was “concerned for people” because Burks had a knife in his possession.
According to Graveline, the authorities were aware of Burks’ mental health condition. When Burks attacked his siblings in two different instances beginning in 2020, they responded repeatedly on separate occasions.
They require “help with the system,” according to White.
“The system failed Mr. Burks,” White claimed.
Geoffrey Fieger will represent the Burks family, Fieger Law revealed on Wednesday.
