St. Louis American: Family questions police shooting

By Rebecca S. Rivas
Reporter for the St. Louis American

Residents living blocks north of downtown St. Louis want to know when their nightmares will go away.
When will they stop seeing the image of a 25-year-old man with his hands in the air get shot at least 25 times by police?
"Cary Ball Jr.'s death has caused the community a great deal of emotional distress," said Carlos Ball, 24, brother of Cary Terrell Ball Jr., who was shot and killed by police on April 24.
"There were kids out on the street who saw what happened. One woman told me her six-year-old daughter now urinates on herself every time she sees a police officer."
On April 24, Cary Ball Jr. was driving home from his catering job at a downtown banquet hall, when a police car turned on its lights behind him at Delmar Boulevard and 18th Street. Rather than pull over, Cary led St. Louis police on a high-speed chase through the downtown area. He crashed his car on the 1000 block of North 9th Street, grabbed his automatic handgun and started running east on Carr Street.
When residents heard the crash around 9:45 p.m., several came out of their homes. Three residents, who cannot be named because they may be asked to testify in litigation the family is considering, said they saw Cary stop running, throw down his gun and put his hands in the air. Cary started kneeling to the ground, with his hands up, when the two officers came running towards him, residents said.
Residents said they then saw police come up to about eight feet away from Cary, look down at Cary's gun on the ground and start shooting. Then they handcuffed him. Residents said they expected police to arrest Cary because he had clearly surrendered.
At a 5th Ward community meeting on June 4, Police Chief Sam Dotson said the department has not released a police report on the incident because Cary's case is under investigation and it could take months before it is completed.
"We are still gathering all the facts," Dotson told residents.

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