Emantic Fitzgerald “EJ” Bradford, Jr. –– May he Rest In Peace.

SHOTS FIRED!

Black Man With A Gun!

Birmingham, AL metro area showing Hoover, south of Birmingham, and the Riverchase Galleria mall, south of Hoover.

“They took out the threat. Our plan works.”
– Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis describing how uniformed HPD LEOs killed Emantic Fitzgerald “EJ” Bradford, Jr.

It was a Black Friday in more ways than one.

Gunfire erupted late Thanksgiving night around 10PM Central Standard Time in Hoover, Alabama, a small suburb south of Birmingham and part of the Greater Birmingham Metro Area.

It was Black Friday eve at Riverchase Galleria – the state’s largest shopping mall – where holiday shoppers where amassed for huge sales and deep discounts at local and national retailers, many of whom have had a presence there for the over 30 years its been a Jefferson County jolly green sales tax giant.

“The Threat,” Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford, Jr., has been neutralized. “Our Plan works,”
said Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis.

A 21-year-old Black man identified as Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., of Hueytown, AL, was observed fleeing the shooting scene while brandishing a handgun, was engaged, shot and killed by a uniformed Hoover police officer, according to Hoover Police Captain Gregg Rector.

Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis, said, “Thank God we had our officers very close. They heard the gunfire, they engaged the subject, and they took out the threat. That threat could have materialized into a lot more people being injured. Thank goodness that did not happen. We have a plan and our plan works.”

Captain Rector said, “We will be looking at every possible means to gather the evidence of what happened. We want it to paint a very clear picture of what happened tonight. One of our officers did engage that individual and shot him. He was dead on the scene.”

Pistol found at Santa’s Village, Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, AL, following a deadly police shooting on Black Friday eve. Either Santa forgot to take his little helper with him, or somebody dropped this in the commission of a crime. Of note, it was found by a teevee newsman. You know… “Fake News.”

Official Statement from Hoover Police Department, 11/23/18:

“Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018, at 9:52 p.m., two males engaged in a physical altercation on the second floor concourse area of the Riverchase Galleria near the entrance to Footaction. During the fight, one of the males produced a handgun and shot the other male twice in the torso.

“Two uniformed Hoover Police officers providing security at the mall were in close proximity and heard the gunshots. While moving toward the shooting scene, one of the officers encountered a suspect brandishing a pistol and shot him. That individual, a 21-year-old male from Hueytown, was pronounced dead on the scene.”

Perhaps the Hoover PD could adopt the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) unofficial motto, “We always get our man.”

One news-telling group, AL dot com, wrote that “city officials described the scene as chaotic,” and that “several shoppers were seen with their guns drawn.”

Because Black men are a “threat” – especially young Black men.

Only problem is, turns out, the dead man wasn’t the shooter.

Oops.

Hoover, AL Police Department issued a revised Press Release on their Twitter account following the deadly shooting in which they shot the wrong suspect.

Now, Hoover PD is having to “backtrack” their earlier rush to judgment.

Following are the pertinent parts of their “update,” which could more accurately be called a “revised press release”:

“The 18-year-old victim was indeed shot and transported to UAB Hospital, where he remains today.

“The 21-year-old male who was fleeing the shooting scene was brandishing a handgun, was engaged, shot and killed by a uniformed Hoover police officer. The 21-year-old has now been identified as Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford, from Hueytown, Alabama.

“Over the past 20 hours, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office investigators and crime scene technicians have interviewed numerous individuals and examined several critical evidentiary items.

“New evidence now suggests that while Mr. Bradford may have been involved in some aspect of the altercation, he likely did not fire the rounds that injured the 18-year-old victim.

“Investigators now believe that more than two individuals were involved in the initial altercation. This information indicates that there is at least one gunman still at-large, who would be responsible for the shooting of the 18-year-old male, and 12-year-old female.

“We regret that our initial media release as not totally accurate, but new evidence indicates that it was not.”

Oops.

Sorry.

We killed the wrong Black Man With A Gun.

Maybe we’ll have better luck next time.

Because, you know… a Black Man With A Gun is an automatic criminal, a genuine threat.

Shoot first.

Forget questions.

The gun will talk.

Like Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said, “They took out the threat.”

And he ain’t coming back.

–//–

A 12-year-old child was injured by a stray bullet, taken to surgery, and is recovering well, according to a FaceBook post by the girl’s mother.
https://www.facebook.com/JulieElaine/posts/10204950013746883

–//–

Recalling the words of late Southerner, Gil Scott-Heron who in his 1981 song called “Gun” on the album “Reflections” sang:

Brother man nowadays livin’ in the ghetto
Where the danger’s sure enough real
Well when he’s out late at night
And if he’s got his head on right
Well, I lay you 9 to 5 he’s walking with steel

Brother Man says he’s ‘fraid of gangsters
Messing with people just for fun
He don’t want to be next
He got a family to protect
So just last week he bought himself a gun

Everybody got a pistol, everybody got a .45
And the philosophy seem to be
At least as near as I can see
When other folks give up theirs, I’ll give up mine

This is a violent civilization;
If civilization’s where I am
Every channel that I stop on
Got a different kind of cop on
Killing them by the million for Uncle Sam

Saturday night just ain’t that special
Yeah, I got the constitution on the run
‘Cause even though we’ve got the right
To defend our home, to defend our life
Got to understand to get it in hand about the guns

–//–

Please, someone, anyone… Make Alabama Great Again.

If anything needed to be made great again, it’s Alabama.

That place IS a stinking, corrupted Hell-hole.

One only need give a cursory glance at the numerous State and Federal indictments, trials, guilty pleas, findings of guilt after trial of numerous state government officials to see it.

Oh… and they’re 99.995% GOP.