An Indianapolis man was fatally shot by a police officer following a high-speed chase Wednesday night in an encounter that the man streamed on Facebook Live.
Family members of the man, identified by the Marion County Coroner's Office as Dreasjon Reed, told NBC affiliate WTHR in Indianapolis that they question whether the killing was necessary.
"I shouldn't have to bury my little brother," his sister, Jazmine Reed, said through tears.
The killing sparked a protest by more than a hundred people at the shooting scene, with many chanting, "No justice, no peace." The area NAACP said it was aware of the incident and asked people not to gather in large groups to protest because of the coronavirus.
Reed's shooting was one of three deadly encounters of people with Indianapolis police on Wednesday night into early Thursday.
About eight hours after his killing, a man armed with a rifle shot at four officers responding to a reported burglary in progress at an apartment complex. Officers returned fire, killing him, police said.
Between those two shootings, a 22-year veteran officer was driving to work when he struck a pregnant woman who was walking on an expressway ramp. Police said the officer requested help and rendered first aid to the woman. She was pronounced dead at a hospital. Her fetus also did not survive.
In the first incident that ended with Reed's killing, police said a pursuit began around 6 p.m. when a deputy chief saw a vehicle driving recklessly that almost hit other cars as it exited Interstate 65.
The deputy chief, who was in an unmarked police vehicle, and the police chief, who was in a separate car, began a chase while asking for assistance. Police said the vehicle they were pursuing continued to travel at a high rate of speed and disobeyed traffic signals.
As officers in marked cars arrived, the deputy chief and chief "removed themselves from the pursuit as is standard procedure," the department said in a press release.
Supervisors then ordered an end to the chase because the vehicle was moving close to 90 mph. But the car was later spotted by an officer on a city street who saw it pull into a parking lot and the driver jump out and run.
According to police, the man disobeyed the officer's commands to stop, and a foot chase ensued. Initial information indicates the officer used his stun gun, police said, and "there was an exchange of gunfire between the driver and the officer." The man was fatally wounded in the shooting.
A police spokesman told NBC News a weapon that does not belong to the officer was recovered at the scene.
The officer, whom the department declined to name, was not injured. Both the officer and Reed are black, WTHR reported.
In the Facebook Live video, Reed is seen driving as he talks to viewers. At one point he says he is going to park. "Somebody come get my stupid a--. Please, come get me," he says. "I just parked this motherf-----. I'm gone."
It appears Reed puts the phone in his pocket as he runs. Shortly before the video cuts off, multiple gunshots are heard.
NBC News does not know what occurred prior to the events shown in the video or at the time the shots were fired.
Jazmine Reed told WTHR that she doesn't know why her younger brother, whom she called Sean, led police on a chase, but that she believes he didn't think it would end with his being killed.
Reed, 21, spent a year in the Air Force and split his time between Texas and Indianapolis, his family said. They described him as a family man.
"He's going to be in a casket the next time I see him," Jazmine Reed said. "It shouldn't be like that."
Police said the officer involved has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, and that the department is "withholding judgment" on his actions at this time.
The agency's Critical Incident Response Team is handling the investigation and a firearms review board will determine if the officer's use of force was reasonable. A separate and independent internal probe is also being conducted, and the Marion County Prosecutor's Office is involved.
The Greater Indianapolis NAACP said in a statement, "We’re aware of some facts from the Facebook Live video. However, the NAACP will monitor and review additional facts as the investigations proceed and then determine whether it warrants any actions by our organization,"
"We ask the community to allow the process to proceed, as we monitor the various investigative units that will uncover the facts," the NAACP added.
The Marion County Coroner's Office said the second man who was shot by officers at an apartment complex was McHale Rose, 19, and the woman killed in the traffic collision was Ashlynn Lisby, 23.
Police Chief Randal Taylor of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department promised during a news conference Thursday that his agency would conduct thorough, transparent investigations into both shootings as well as the traffic crash.
He acknowledged that the “tragic” incidents had shaken the public’s trust.