Cops fired 55 shots at rapper Willie McCoy in 3.5 seconds, report deems their actions ‘reasonable’
Six California police officers fired 55 shots at rapper Willie McCoy in 3.5 seconds. An independent report ordered by the city of Vallejo deemed their actions “reasonable.”
David Blake of Blake Consulting and Training concluded that the amount of shots fired was “reasonable based upon my training and experience as a range instructor as well as through applied human factors psychology.”
He added that the use of deadly force was “in line with contemporary training and police practices.”
McCoy, 20, was gunned down on Feb. 9 after being found unresponsive in the Taco Bell drive-thru in Vallejo, Calif. Police opened fire on the man after he allegedly appeared to move his arm towards a gun that was sitting on his lap.
Attorneys for McCoy’s family have said he was hit around 25 times in the chest, face, arm and shoulders.
According to Blake’s report, Officer Ryan McMahon fired once, Officer Mark Thompson fired seven times, Officer Colin Eaton fired 13 times, Officer Jordon Patzer fired 12 times, Officers Bryan Glick and Anthony Romero-Cano fired 11 times each.
In the 51-page report, Blake said he was provided with police reports, officer interviews and bodycam footage of the incident. Eaton said in his interview that he was “scared” and feared McCoy would grab the gun in his lap and start shooting.
Melissa Nold, an attorney for McCoy’s family, told NBC News that the report “continues the flawed belief that officers should be able to act on their irrational fear and unlawfully kill people.”
Nold also said it was unreasonable that police “expected an untrained sleeping man to awaken from a deep slumber without moving around” and that reports like this are paid by cities and are “by no means independent or unbiased.”
