‘They didn’t have to kill him’: Parents of man killed by Gastonia police believe shooting didn’t have to happen
They believe the police could have handled the situation differently.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - A day after a 21-year-old was shot and killed by police, his parents say things should have turned out different.
“I want the world to know my son Jason Lipscomb was killed by the police,” said Thelma Mackins.
Mackins is Jason Lipscomb’s mother.
“They didn’t have to kill him, they could have used a Taser on him, they could have stopped him if they wanted to,” she said.
Lipscomb was killed Wednesday by Gastonia police officers.
According to the department, he was trying to get away when he struck an officer with his moving vehicle.
That’s when shots erupted from multiple officers.
Mackins and Lipscomb’s stepfather, Robert Hamlett, say that’s not what happened.
“He was trying to elude the police, he was trying to run, he was afraid and because he got to the car before they can get to the car, they tried to grab the car and missed. The officer fell and got up because he was embarrassed and about four or five of them opened fire on my boy,” he said.
The parents also say he was not kidnapping any children. According to them, Lipscomb went to the daycare to get his daughter after getting a call from her mother.
“He brought the kids here in a mutual place so he can get his daughter. Nothing happened. Just give him his daughter and they didn’t do it. The mom called the police and everything else and said he was kidnapping. But they all live together,” Mackins said.
They believe the police could have handled the situation differently.
Thursday night, the community gathered in the neighborhood on Edgemont Avenue to remember Lipscomb with a balloon release. Then, they took to the steps of police headquarters to make their voices heard.
“He didn’t run because he feared the police. He ran because he feared being away from his daughter. That’s why he ran,” Hamlett said. “I’m not going to let it go. We are going to do this. Lawyer up y’all. Y’all better lawyer up.”
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