Mom says she begged cops to ‘stop shooting’ son outside store in New Jersey
A mother says she begged police to “stop shooting” her son outside a dollar store in New Jersey while speaking to the media at a news conference.
Police shot the 37-year-old after he allegedly reached for a gun in his pocket outside a Dollar General store and “refused” their commands in Absecon on May 24, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office. Officers were called to the store over a report of an armed man.
“I just said, ‘Don’t shoot him. Please stop shooting. He has a mental illness,’” Kim Whitted said as she described how she arrived at the store and found police shooting her son, CBS Philly reported.
Ultimately, her son was injured but survived and was in stable condition as of May 25, the prosecutor’s office said in a news release. He was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon among other charges.
Kim Whitted believes police were wrong to shoot her son and said he has schizophrenia, according to CBS Philly.
Prosecutors said surveillance footage showed the man pulled out a gun in front of dollar store workers and fired at least one shot before he stepped outside the store upon police orders.
Shortly before the incident, Kim Whitted said her son was home with her before he left without saying a word, according to the news conference recorded by Fox29. She also said she was concerned about his behavior.
Kim Whitted went looking for him when she said she heard police sirens and followed the sounds to the dollar store, she told news outlets.
“I heard pow, pow, pow, pow, pow.”
After, Kim Whitted said she started begging police to stop shooting her son, according to the news conference.
An investigation is underway into the shooting, according to the prosecutor’s office.
“If the police is the first responder, if they cannot deal with a situation and just put the gun out, then they should be having someone work with them who has the experience and knows how to deal with these types of issues,” said Steven Young, president of South Jersey’s chapter of the National Action Network, during the news conference, according to CBS Philly.
McClatchy News has reached out to police departments that responded to the May 24 scene. One department referred inquiries to the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office. McClatchy News has left a message with the office.
Absecon is roughly 70 miles southeast of Trenton.
This story was originally published May 27, 2022 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Mom says she begged cops to ‘stop shooting’ son outside store in New Jersey."
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