Walmart shooting update: Police kill John Crawford III and Ronald Ritchie changes his story
- 9 years ago
John Crawford III was shot by police while holding a toy BB gun in a Beavercreek, Ohio Walmart.
Ronald Ritchie made the 911 call and later identified himself as an ex-Marine when he told reporters about his role in the fatal shooting of Crawford.
But according to Michael Wright, an attorney for the Crawford family, unreleased surveillance footage from Walmart discredits Ritchie’s initial account of the incident.
Ritchie first told reporters, “He was just waving it at children, people, items. I’m thinking he’s either going to rob the place, or he’s there to shoot somebody else.”
The truth is that many people saw Crawford with the gun, but Richie and his wife were probably the only ones who were scared. According to Wright, the unreleased footage shows Crawford standing in the pet aisle for five minutes prior to the arrival of police officers.
That brings us to Ritchie’s second lie about the incident, “Once the police got there, they said put it down, they said it two times. And then, the gentleman decided to swing the rifle to the officer, pointing at them—that’s when the officer shot him twice.”
Unreleased surveillance footage reportedly shows Crawford was shot on sight and never had a chance to put down the gun.
Ritchie has since changed his story, “At no point did he shoulder the rifle and point it at somebody,” he told the Guardian a month after the incident.
The bit about Ritchie being an ex-Marine isn’t the whole truth either. He was booted from the Marine Corps after seven weeks for “fraudulent enlistment” because he failed to inform them of his heart condition.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is denying Wright’s request to release the video so witness testimony will not be influenced by the footage.
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Ronald Ritchie made the 911 call and later identified himself as an ex-Marine when he told reporters about his role in the fatal shooting of Crawford.
But according to Michael Wright, an attorney for the Crawford family, unreleased surveillance footage from Walmart discredits Ritchie’s initial account of the incident.
Ritchie first told reporters, “He was just waving it at children, people, items. I’m thinking he’s either going to rob the place, or he’s there to shoot somebody else.”
The truth is that many people saw Crawford with the gun, but Richie and his wife were probably the only ones who were scared. According to Wright, the unreleased footage shows Crawford standing in the pet aisle for five minutes prior to the arrival of police officers.
That brings us to Ritchie’s second lie about the incident, “Once the police got there, they said put it down, they said it two times. And then, the gentleman decided to swing the rifle to the officer, pointing at them—that’s when the officer shot him twice.”
Unreleased surveillance footage reportedly shows Crawford was shot on sight and never had a chance to put down the gun.
Ritchie has since changed his story, “At no point did he shoulder the rifle and point it at somebody,” he told the Guardian a month after the incident.
The bit about Ritchie being an ex-Marine isn’t the whole truth either. He was booted from the Marine Corps after seven weeks for “fraudulent enlistment” because he failed to inform them of his heart condition.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is denying Wright’s request to release the video so witness testimony will not be influenced by the footage.
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Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals,