‘Hurt and upset’: Family of Keith Collins speaks out about fatal Raleigh police shooting
Family members of Keith Collins, a Black man killed by Raleigh police in January, shared their frustration and hurt Friday morning that no charges are being filed in his death.
“The parents are hurt and upset and are reliving the loss of their son this morning, all over again, as if it was January 30, 2020 today,” said Gerald Givens Jr., president of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP, at a Raleigh news conference. “The most frustrating part is hearing that a police officer can fire his weapon 11 times and that that is lawful. He didn’t receive any fire back from anybody. It’s just — it’s too much.”
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said Thursday that the officer, W.B. Tapscott, acted lawfully in shooting Collins after he ran from the officer carrying what proved to be a BB gun. Freeman’s report said 11 shots were fired, with the autopsy showing six gunshot wounds to Collins.
Collins was shot Jan. 30, after a 911 caller reported a man with a gun outside a Big Lots store near Glenwood Avenue in North Raleigh.
Collins’ parents said that they are going to continue seeking justice for their son.
“Lorrin Freeman needs to start holding some of these police accountable,” said Gloria Mayo, Keith Collins’ mother. “When is it going to stop? When is it going to stop?”
Givens added, “What the family wants you to know is he was mentally challenged and physically disabled. He had more friends than Bank of America has money and not an enemy in the world.”
‘I didn’t know he knew that many people’
Mayo shared more about her son in an interview with The News & Observer following the news conference. She said he developed close relationships with friends and neighbors, and listed everyone in his phone contacts as an aunt or uncle.
“At his funeral ... the church was full and there was people outside. I didn’t know he knew that many people,” said Mayo. “Keith would go out of his way for anybody. You asked him for something, he give it to you.”
The family’s lawyers said that they will be reviewing the records from the DA’s office to complete their investigation into the case. They declined to provide further details but said they were not surprised by the DA’s decision.
“It’s uncommon for a district attorney to make a decision to criminally prosecute a law enforcement officer, and history has been clear on that,” said Jim Barnes, one of the attorneys representing the parents of Collins, in an interview with The News & Observer. “That’s not what we wanted, but it’s certainly what we had anticipated and prepared the family for.”
Givens said the Raleigh-Apex NAACP is calling for new legislation in Keith Collins’ name that would regulate BB gun sales, requiring manufacturers to finish the guns in a bright color to distinguish them from more dangerous weapons. He said that the NAACP will be meeting with law enforcement agencies, activists, and legislators over the next month to discuss this and other proposals.
“The death of Keith Scott was a perfect storm,” Givens said. “Keith’s tragic death is an indictment on the way we continue to choose to live with one another.”
Name shouted at protests
In recent months, protesters have chanted Collins’ name as a call for an end to police violence, along with others who have been killed by police, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Collins is expected to be part of the focus at a protest in downtown Raleigh on Friday night, along with Soheil Mojarrad and Akiel Denkins, two men killed by Raleigh police in recent years.
The protest is being held following the police shooting of 29-year-old Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. Blake’s family has said he is paralyzed after an officer shot him seven times in the back while trying to detain him.
Shortly after the DA released her report Thursday, Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin issued a citywide curfew Friday and Saturday nights from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. in advance of the protest. She said the city had been preparing for the protest this week and was unaware that Freeman would release her findings the day before the protest.
The autopsy showed Collins was shot six times and had several superficial injuries, the report said. A Daisy air pistol was recovered near where he had been shot.
This story was originally published August 28, 2020 at 11:03 AM.