Video shows when Miami officer fatally shot man during traffic stop

MIAMI – An officer’s body cam video shows when a police officer fatally shot Antwon Cooper in the head just outside of Miami Northwest Senior High School.

The unidentified police officer shot Cooper, 34, during a traffic stop at about 4:40 p.m. on March 8 on the corner of Northwest 10th Avenue and 71st Street.

The body cam video released on Friday shows a struggle, but it doesn’t show Cooper wielding a gun or reaching for a gun, as police had implied.

“Officers became aware that one of the individuals was armed. A struggle ensued and one of the officers discharged his firearm,” Chief Manny Morales said during a news conference after the shooting.

Cooper’s mother, Tilisha Cooper, said she had been looking forward to celebrating his 35th birthday this April 10th. She believes there is no reason why that traffic stop should have turned deadly.

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Cooper’s grandparents, Melvin and Helen Bryant, flew from Alabama to Miami to attend his funeral on March 26 at the Richardson Funeral Home. They helped to raise Cooper and said they are heartbroken.

“The pain is unbearable … I can’t describe the pain,” Gerald Adams, his father, said last month.

Morales and Assistant Chief Cherise Gause met with Cooper’s family on March 25. Attorney Rawsi Williams, who is representing the family, said the police department hasn’t released the full story.

“He shot in the head with another officer right there and Mr. Cooper was not brandishing a weapon. Mr. Cooper was not holding a weapon. Mr. Cooper was not attacking an officer and that sergeant used lethal force,” Attorney Rawsi Williams said.

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