Following an automobile crash and subsequent attempt to call for help, former Florida A&M University football player Jonathan A. Ferrell was shot and killed by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., police officer on Saturday morning.
Ferrell, who played safety for the Rattlers in 2009 and 2010, reportedly escaped his vehicle after a severe wreck and knocked on a woman’s door to presumably call the authorities. Fearing for her own safety, the woman called 911, and Ferrell was confronted upon the arrival of police at the scene.
After allegedly charging toward police, a Taser was used to subdue Ferrell. After a second attempt on Ferrell’s part, however, he was shot “several times” and killed by officer Randall Kerrick.
According to the AP, Kerrick has been charged with voluntary manslaughter as he is believed to have killed Ferrell while using “excessive force.”
Police called Ferrell and Kerrick’s initial encounter “appropriate and lawful. But in their statement late Saturday, they said “the investigation showed that the subsequent shooting of Mr. Ferrell was excessive” and “Kerrick did not have a lawful right to discharge his weapon during this encounter.”
Kerrick turned himself in, and has since been released on $50,000 bond.
