Police Fatally Shot Man Accused of Stealing Fruit – They Say He Was Reaching For a Gun

New York Attorney General Letitia James's office said it will begin an investigation into the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black man by police in New Rochelle, NY.

Jarrell Garris died Monday evening after being on life-support following the shooting on July 3.

According to USA Today, Garris, a New Rochelle native, was back in town to pick up his son and take him to Greensboro, North Carolina, where he moved several month ago. Police accused him of stealing food from a grocery store and shot him after a scuffle. Officials had claimed he had gone for one of the officer's guns.

Body cam footage released by the New Rochelle Police Department Tuesday depicts police officers Kari Bird and Gabrielle Chavarry, along with Det. Steven Conn, confronting Garris. 

Garris is seen not responding and walking away when asked about the stolen food, the three then appear to be in a scuffle as officers attempt to put him under arrest.

In the struggle, Garris reaches in the direction of one of the officer’s holstered firearms, to which an officer shouts: “he’s got a gun, he’s got a gun.” 

The video ends there out of respect for the family, officials said.

According to Garris’s family he had been eating a banana and grapes inside the New Rochelle Farms market. 

"You want to be transparent, release the whole video to show the pictures of the truth," Rev. Kevin McCall, who has acted as a family spokesperson, told reporters on Friday. "The video does not lie. This young man should be here today. Him eating fruit, grapes and a banana, should not be his death sentence."

"We are committed to getting Justice for Jarrell and submit that if the City of New Rochelle is sincere about its commitment to transparency and it’s not just a veneer, all videos of Jarrell’s execution should be released immediately," a statement by the family's attorney William Wagstaff said. "We ask for prayer and peace as we prepare to memorialize him."

While preliminary investigations were being handled by New York State Police and Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah's office, the case was turned over to James after Garris’s death

According to the city Police Department, all three officers have been placed on administrative leave pending results of investigations.

According to The New York Times, a city council meeting was called Tuesday to discuss the shooting, with several community members outraged on how responding officers acted at the scene. 

Representative Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat who lives in Yonkers and represents New Rochelle, said that the shooting reflected a long history of tension between the police and Black residents of Westchester County and across the country.

“This is not something that is confined to New Rochelle. Relationships between law enforcement and the African American community have been challenging for a number of decades for a variety of reasons,” said Representative Bowman, who represents New Rochelle.

With a population of over 82,000 New Rochelle, about 20% of the city’s residents are Black, census data indicates.

Garris's father Raymond Fowler told the Times his son was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and that certain officers should have known about his mental health issues because Fowler had occasionally asked them to check in on his son. He wondered to the Times why officers did not seek help from mental health resources when responding to the call.