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25-year-old dies after shooting involving Capitol Police officers

Officers placed on administrative leave

25-year-old dies after shooting involving Capitol Police officers

Officers placed on administrative leave

THAT’S RIGHT, THE MOM OF A YOUNG MAN WHO PASSED AWAY IN THAT DEADLY SHOOTING SAYS SHE WANTS ANSWERS. SHE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO HER SON, WHY HE LOST HIS LIFE. THIS MEETING, AS YOU SAID. GET IT UNDERWAY. IT’S BEING HOSTED BY COUNCILMAN KENNETH STOKES JUST A SHORT TIME AGO. WE SAW PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSIONER SEAN TINDALL, AS WELL AS THE CAPITOL POLICE CHIEF BILOXI GO INSIDE HERE AT THE NEW HOPE MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH ON HAMILTON STREET. AGAIN, STOKES SAYS HE WANTS TO TRY TO EASE WHAT’S POSSIBLE TENSION BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY AND THE POLICE. HE WAS A REALLY GOOD KEY. AND FROM WHAT I’M SEEING NOW, VERY WELL RESPECTED AND LOVE ARE. KAYLA LEWIS HAS CAPITOL POLICE HAVE TOLD HER FAMILY NOTHING ABOUT WHY ITS OFFICERS FATALLY WOUNDED HER SON, JALEN LEWIS. THIS PAST WEEKEND. JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. I WANT TO KNOW. WHERE THE LIVES PULLED DOWN. WHEN YOU PULLED MY BABY OVER, WHAT WAS HE DOING? HOW DID YOU KNOW WHERE HE WAS? ACCORDING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS SHOT LEWIS AFTER THEY ATTEMPTED TO MAKE A TRAFFIC STOP AROUND 9:00 SUNDAY NIGHT ON EAST MAIN STREET. THE 25 YEAR OLD PASSED AWAY MONDAY MORNING IN THE HOSPITAL. THEY SAW SOME OF THOSE FOLLOWING THEM. I DON’T KNOW WHO IT WAS BECAUSE THERE WERE NO BLUE LIGHTS. SO NO IDENTIFICATION. PASTOR DUANE PICKETT, WHO JOINED LEWIS’S FAMILY AT A THURSDAY NEWS CONFERENCE CALLING FOR TRANSPARENCY, SAID WHAT A WITNESS IN THE CAR TOLD HIM HAPPENED AFTER POLICE PULLED OVER LEWIS AND HE DID BACK UP AND BACKED UP, ACCORDING TO HER, AND HIT A POLICE CAR OR SOMETHING. BUT THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHO IT WAS. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT DID YOU IDENTIFY YOURSELF AS A POLICE OFFICER? DID YOU GET MY SON A CHANCE TO IDENTIFY HIMSELF IN THE PAST SIX WEEKS? CAPITOL POLICE HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THREE SEPARATE SHOOTINGS. PASTOR PICKETT BELIEVES THOSE OFFICERS ARE TARGETING AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND THEY ARE LIKE COWBOYS WHO ARE COMING IN HERE AND QUOTE UNQUOTE, CLEAN JACKSON UP AND THEY ARE INDISCRIMINATELY MISTREATING POPULATION. AND BY IS INVESTIGATING THE OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTING AND THOSE OFFICERS INVOLVED. THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY SAYS THEY ARE ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE AND WILL REMAIN IN THAT POSITION UNTIL THE INTERNAL INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN COMPLETED. AND THEY’VE BEEN CLEAR TO RETURN TO ACTIVE SERVICE. FOR NOW, WE’RE LIVE IN DOWNTOWN
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25-year-old dies after shooting involving Capitol Police officers

Officers placed on administrative leave

Capitol Police officers involved in a shooting that killed a 25-year-old man are on administrative leave, according to officials with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. According to a spokesperson for the department, which oversees Capitol Police, Jaylen Lewis died after a Sunday night incident that began with a traffic stop. The shooting took place near East Mayes Street, near Fondren."An internal investigation into this incident is underway and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is conducting its own independent inquiry and will present its findings to the Attorney General's Office," Commissioner Sean Tindell said in a statement. "Such incidents require a thorough investigation, scrutiny and transparency. Therefore, any releasable information regarding this incident will be made public by the Department of Public Safety at the appropriate time." A representative for the family said Thursday that Lewis' mother has not been contacted by Capitol Police. "I just have a lot of questions. I just want to know what happened," Lewis' mother, Arkela Lewis, said. "Nobody has called me and said anything, yet. So, I need to know what's going on here."Stokes warns about growing tensionsJackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes said he wants to ease what he called growing tension between the community and Capitol Police officers."What we don’t need is a war between the citizens of the city of Jackson and law enforcement," Stokes said. "If you have a lawless person, the rule of law is to arrest that person, not to take that person‘s life," Stokes said.The agency rejected Stokes' and community leaders' claims that Capitol Police officers have shot and killed three or four people in the past two months."You’re not going to build a relationship with these communities if they think that you’re here to kill them," Stokes said. At Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba's Tuesday night community meeting at new Jerusalem Church South, host and pastor Dwayne Pickett described Capitol Police officers as cowboys and vigilantes who’ve declared open season on the people of Jackson. The meeting was to discuss the city's water crisis.The Capitol Police force recently expanded to patrol the Capitol Complex Improvement District to supplement the Jackson Police Department because of its shortage of officers."We need to make sure if this is going to work, that there’s trust. And right now, the avenues of trust are being eroded," Stokes said."We’re trying to bring back a sense of law to the city of Jackson," Tindell said earlier this week.WAPT News asked Tindell on Monday about accusations that Capital Police are too aggressive."Some people might interpret basic law enforcement as being too aggressive in the city at this point," Tindell said.

Capitol Police officers involved in a shooting that killed a 25-year-old man are on administrative leave, according to officials with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.

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According to a spokesperson for the department, which oversees Capitol Police, Jaylen Lewis died after a Sunday night incident that began with a traffic stop. The shooting took place near East Mayes Street, near Fondren.

"An internal investigation into this incident is underway and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is conducting its own independent inquiry and will present its findings to the Attorney General's Office," Commissioner Sean Tindell said in a statement. "Such incidents require a thorough investigation, scrutiny and transparency. Therefore, any releasable information regarding this incident will be made public by the Department of Public Safety at the appropriate time."

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A representative for the family said Thursday that Lewis' mother has not been contacted by Capitol Police.

"I just have a lot of questions. I just want to know what happened," Lewis' mother, Arkela Lewis, said. "Nobody has called me and said anything, yet. So, I need to know what's going on here."

jaylen lewis
WAPT
Jaylen Lewis

Stokes warns about growing tensions

Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes said he wants to ease what he called growing tension between the community and Capitol Police officers.

"What we don’t need is a war between the citizens of the city of Jackson and law enforcement," Stokes said.

"If you have a lawless person, the rule of law is to arrest that person, not to take that person‘s life," Stokes said.

The agency rejected Stokes' and community leaders' claims that Capitol Police officers have shot and killed three or four people in the past two months.

"You’re not going to build a relationship with these communities if they think that you’re here to kill them," Stokes said.

At Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba's Tuesday night community meeting at new Jerusalem Church South, host and pastor Dwayne Pickett described Capitol Police officers as cowboys and vigilantes who’ve declared open season on the people of Jackson. The meeting was to discuss the city's water crisis.

The Capitol Police force recently expanded to patrol the Capitol Complex Improvement District to supplement the Jackson Police Department because of its shortage of officers.

"We need to make sure if this is going to work, that there’s trust. And right now, the avenues of trust are being eroded," Stokes said.

"We’re trying to bring back a sense of law to the city of Jackson," Tindell said earlier this week.

WAPT News asked Tindell on Monday about accusations that Capital Police are too aggressive.

"Some people might interpret basic law enforcement as being too aggressive in the city at this point," Tindell said.