by Ken Walker
Associated Press: “Relative of Newark man killed by rookie cop doubts he had gun”
November 20, 2007 in Uncategorized by Ken Walker
??Associated Press??: “Relative of Newark man killed by rookie cop doubts he had gun”:http://www.nj.com/newsflash/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-28/1195246744210540.xml&storylist=jersey&thispage=1
Sevillie Sumler is no stranger to funerals, not after holding services last year when two of her sons were shot to death in separate incidents. But with $4,000 still due to the undertaker, and an ache still in her heart, she’s not sure she can deal with yet another young relative shot down in the street.
This time, however, the killing was done by a rookie Newark police officer.
She doubts police had reason to shoot her great-nephew, 21-year-old Jihaad Sumler, after hearing accounts of his last moments from his friends.
He was killed about 1:15 a.m. Thursday outside the apartment complex where he sometimes stayed in recent years, and just a few blocks from his great-aunt’s town house.
Authorities said police went to the Kretchmer Homes in response to reports of gunfire there. Police said Sumler was being chased and drew a weapon when he was shot.
A loaded .357-caliber handgun was found next to Sumler after the shooting, said Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Sevillie Sumler said she heard a different account from those with her nephew that night.
“They all said Jihaad did nothing wrong. He had both hands up,” Sumler said as she sat next to a shrine bearing the ashes of her two dead sons. Jihaad Sumler told police, “I ain’t got nothing,” she said. “And they shot him anyway.”
The shooting remained under investigation Friday by police internal affairs officers and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
A police spokesman, Detective Todd McClendon, declined to comment on Sevillie Sumler’s assertions. He urged witnesses to give a sworn statement to police.
