Thoughts on The Police Shooting Death of EJ Bradford, Jr. in an Alabama Mall

On Black Friday there was a shooting at the Riverside Galleria in Hoover, Alabama, just outside of Birmingham resulting in two people being injured. At the time, local authorities believed they shot and killed the perpetrator. But it has emerged that Emantic "EJ" Bradford, Jr. was, in fact, not responsible for the shooting and the perpetrator remains at large as of this writing.


Bradford, Jr., a 21-year old U.S. Army veteran, was in fact legally permitted to carry his weapon. This hasn't prevented police in Hoover from blaming Bradford, Jr. for his own death stating, "We can say with certainty Mr. Bradford brandished a gun during the seconds following the gunshots, which instantly heightened the sense of threat to approaching police officers responding to the chaotic scene."


The only problem with this statement is that Bradford, Jr. wasn't the only shopper who drew his weapon during the incident. According to a report by AL.com, "Several shoppers were seen with their guns drawn."


Needless to say this begs several questions.


Why was Bradford, Jr. singled out by the police? If other shoppers also brandished guns during the incident then why didn't police see fit to shoot them?


Were any of the other shoppers who drew weapons African-American? If not then there must remain a suspicion as to whether race was a factor in police seeing fit to shoot and kill Bradford, Jr.


But if there were other African-American shoppers who drew weapons was he shot because he was in close proximity to the police officer in question? In which case, was the good guy with a gun in the wrong place at the wrong time?


Or was there something more nefarious on the part of the police officer responsible? If so will that officer face criminal charges or face any other discipline?


Will the NRA have anything to say about Bradford, Jr.'s death? Will they speak up about his Second Amendment rights?


Whether it does or not, one of the downsides of an armed population in public is that in the chaos of a mass shooting where there appears to be multiple shooters it is difficult for police to tell the good guys apart from the bad guys.