Horrifying cellphone footage of a fatal shooting that took place in late 2016 has been released by a Florida state attorney’s office.
The footage, shot by a number of witnesses and edited together in a macabre DIY action sequence, shows Ashad Russell, a Florida citizen with a concealed weapons permit, getting out of his car with his gun drawn. Ahead of him in the middle of the road, Lee County police officer Dean Bardes is being pinned down by an armed suspect, Edward Strother.
Strother appears to be sitting up, looking at Russell. In the footage, distantly, you can hear Bardes yell, “Shoot him, shoot him.” Russell fires three shots, all of which hit Strother.
Strother was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office published a photo on Facebook with an accompanying statement praising Russell as a “hero“. The statement also manages to mention Ferguson, calling it a “false narrative”, in reference to the fatal police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in the Missouri town in 2014.
Russell was not charged with any criminal activity after the state attorney’s office ruled that the killing was justified in order to protect Bardes’ life.
Apparently, despite the number of people stopped and filming on the highway, not one 911 call was made during the whole incident.
Watch the footage below, but here is a big GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING. It’s pretty full on.
Source: Courier Mail.
Image: Facebook / Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
