Source: Bruno Vincent / Getty
Philly.com The family of a North Philadelphia woman who was fatally shot by police in South Jersey last month is protesting and raising new questions about whether the use of force was justified, based on witnesses’ accounts of the shooting.
LaShanda Anderson, 36, was shot twice by a Deptford Township police officer on June 9th outside the Marshalls store at Deptford Mall. Police claim she tried to run over two officers, and that one of the officers fired in self-defense. Anderson was fleeing from what authorities have said was an attempt to shoplift more than $3,400 in merchandise from Marshalls with two accomplices.
But two people who said they witnessed the encounter disputed the accounts by police.
“We saw her drive away and the cops chased them,” said Olivia Scattergood, 19, of Clementon. “Their [the police] lives weren’t in danger.”
Said her boyfriend, Aedan Bell, 22, also of Clementon: “They [the police] shot at the back of the car.”
The parking lot was full of cars and had a few pedestrians when the shots were fired, Bell said. The couple dropped to the ground, he said.
The couple gave statements to the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, which is investigating the shooting.
Source: Philly.com
