wow at how this is transpiring...at first it seemed like this story would not go anywhere...just the cops doing things right but unfortunately winding up with a dead man.
TL;DR Cliffs:
a domestic 911 came in from a kid during the morning of may 18 and once on the scene officers were told a man had taken a woman at gunpoint. the woman being his mom...she had a restraining order against the dude. he starts driving to Georgia with her.
kidnapping and reckless endangerment warrants were obtained. she convinces him to go back to montgomery and he goes to the microtel inn and suites...she is able to escape him
cops get the tip the man is at the Microtel and has made suicidal statements about not going back to jail...they go to wait on him to come outside...and as he comes out he gets into a car that had family members in it there to pick him up and winds up dead moments later.
stories differ on what transpired...
Family Attorney:
Moncrief’s family says he was not armed the night in which he died inside this vehicle. They also said he was shot in the back of the head.
“And Gary is now inside of the automobile. The officer hops out of his SUV, raises his rifle and begins shooting into the automobile. You can see from the video, Gary slumps over into his mother’s lap and takes his final breath,” said lead family attorney Michael Strickland.
Strickland got to see the Microtel surveillance footage, not video the SBI has.
Response from Darryl Bailey (DA) and Mayor Reed:
Bailey said that an Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences autopsy shows that Moncrief killed himself. He says the state medical examiner says Moncrief put a gun inside his mouth and fired, killing himself instantly. Bailey says video shows glass flying out of the back window of the car, showing the shot came from inside the car, not outside the car, and that a 9mm pistol was found at Moncrief’s feet.
Bailey says Moncrief did have what he called a “graze wound” on his forehead. He says that presumably came from a rifle fired by a Montgomery police officer who shot into the car after seeing the gunfire from inside it. He says the medical examiner has said that the wound would have been non-life threatening.
“Based on the statements the Mr. Moncrief had made to the original victim in this case that he was going to commit suicide or that he was not going back to jail, the medical examiner, based on those injuries and based on those statements, has ruled this case a suicide,” Bailey said.
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed had strong words for the Moncrief family’s attorneys, saying their news conference was a publicity stunt.
“Lawyers can do a lot of good in this world, but lawyers can also be liars. It think what we have is a liar in the midst,” he said.
Reed compared the attorneys to pimps and hustlers, saying they are using the anniversary of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police to exploit the emotions of the family, community and the state. He says they are selling out their community for 30 seconds of fame and are guilty of race-baiting. He says they are seeking a settlement for themselves and not for the Moncrief family.
Reed alleged that Strickland purposely chose to hold the press conference on the anniversary of George Floyd’s death. He called it a reckless measure.
“I do want Mr. Strickland and anyone associated with him to know that when you try to exploit the racial divisions that exist in this country for your own profit, there are consequences of that. And we will use the full weight of this office to make sure, whether it is a countersuit to you and your partner, or whether it is to file a challenge with the bar of Alabama for ethical issues that you have chosen to ignore where this is concerned, we will do that,” said Reed.
TL;DR Cliffs:
a domestic 911 came in from a kid during the morning of may 18 and once on the scene officers were told a man had taken a woman at gunpoint. the woman being his mom...she had a restraining order against the dude. he starts driving to Georgia with her.
kidnapping and reckless endangerment warrants were obtained. she convinces him to go back to montgomery and he goes to the microtel inn and suites...she is able to escape him
cops get the tip the man is at the Microtel and has made suicidal statements about not going back to jail...they go to wait on him to come outside...and as he comes out he gets into a car that had family members in it there to pick him up and winds up dead moments later.
stories differ on what transpired...
Family Attorney:
Moncrief’s family says he was not armed the night in which he died inside this vehicle. They also said he was shot in the back of the head.
“And Gary is now inside of the automobile. The officer hops out of his SUV, raises his rifle and begins shooting into the automobile. You can see from the video, Gary slumps over into his mother’s lap and takes his final breath,” said lead family attorney Michael Strickland.
Strickland got to see the Microtel surveillance footage, not video the SBI has.
Response from Darryl Bailey (DA) and Mayor Reed:
Bailey said that an Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences autopsy shows that Moncrief killed himself. He says the state medical examiner says Moncrief put a gun inside his mouth and fired, killing himself instantly. Bailey says video shows glass flying out of the back window of the car, showing the shot came from inside the car, not outside the car, and that a 9mm pistol was found at Moncrief’s feet.
Bailey says Moncrief did have what he called a “graze wound” on his forehead. He says that presumably came from a rifle fired by a Montgomery police officer who shot into the car after seeing the gunfire from inside it. He says the medical examiner has said that the wound would have been non-life threatening.
“Based on the statements the Mr. Moncrief had made to the original victim in this case that he was going to commit suicide or that he was not going back to jail, the medical examiner, based on those injuries and based on those statements, has ruled this case a suicide,” Bailey said.
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed had strong words for the Moncrief family’s attorneys, saying their news conference was a publicity stunt.
“Lawyers can do a lot of good in this world, but lawyers can also be liars. It think what we have is a liar in the midst,” he said.
Reed compared the attorneys to pimps and hustlers, saying they are using the anniversary of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police to exploit the emotions of the family, community and the state. He says they are selling out their community for 30 seconds of fame and are guilty of race-baiting. He says they are seeking a settlement for themselves and not for the Moncrief family.
Reed alleged that Strickland purposely chose to hold the press conference on the anniversary of George Floyd’s death. He called it a reckless measure.
“I do want Mr. Strickland and anyone associated with him to know that when you try to exploit the racial divisions that exist in this country for your own profit, there are consequences of that. And we will use the full weight of this office to make sure, whether it is a countersuit to you and your partner, or whether it is to file a challenge with the bar of Alabama for ethical issues that you have chosen to ignore where this is concerned, we will do that,” said Reed.
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