The Associated Press reported that plainclothes law enforcement officers fatally shot a man in West Virginia just after he helped load his father’s casket into a hearse at a funeral, startling others in attendance.
The AP reported that on August 24, two officers with a fugitive warrant as part of a US Marshals investigation pulled up in separate vehicles outside a West Virginia funeral parlor and yelled out Jason Arnie Owens’ first name before opening fire.
The Associated Press reported that witnesses questioned why officers chased Owens, 37, at the funeral in the first place and also challenged the first claim by authorities that he was armed.
Cassandra Whitecotton, a friend of the family, told the AP, “There was absolutely no warning.”
“They called Jason’s name, simply saying ‘Jason,’ before opening fire,” Whitecotton added. There was no evidence that they were United States Marshals — nothing.
It is unclear which law enforcement department the two officers in plainclothes belonged to; WVNews earlier reported that both federal and local law enforcement agencies were involved in the inquiry. It is also unclear why an arrest warrant was issued for Owens.
AP reported that he received a prison sentence of three to thirteen years in 2018 for evading a sheriff’s deputy. According to prosecutors, he attempted to strangle the deputy, and he was granted parole in April of last year.
Owens reportedly helped load his father’s casket into the hearse before embracing his aunt at the funeral. Witnesses told the Associated Press that the two officers pulled up, shouted Owens’ first name, then opened fire.
AP reported that Owens was standing so close to his 18-year-old son that the boy’s clothes was stained with blood.
Whitecotton told the AP that one of the police’ vehicles almost hit with her as the driver pulled into a side street.
She claimed, “I almost got hit, so I jumped back up on the curb and asked him, ‘What’s your problem?’”
A man wearing shorts and a T-shirt reportedly exited the vehicle in a hurry. Another witness, Owens’ cousin Mandy Swiger, said she saw a white truck nearly collide with her mother’s car as it pulled into the funeral home’s parking lot.
Swiger reported that after Owens collapsed to the ground, one of the officers told funeral attendees to stay away from him and threatened to shoot. There were various accounts from witnesses and law enforcement officials regarding whether or not the officers attempted to assist Owens.
Swiger reportedly stated, “We want to know why you would do this in front of his family.” “What gives you the right to do that to a man who is unarmed?”
A previous version of this article improperly credited the majority of the content. It was an Associated Press article that was published by The Washington Post; it was not original reporting by the Post.