A Flint police officer forced to shoot a 19-year-old woman who had fired at him was so overcome with anguish afterward that he collapsed to his knees in the middle of the street before going all the way down in tears.
The woman, identified as Briana Sykes, had driven up to the officer, who was on traffic duty at a Juneteenth parade on Saturday and allegedly fired at him, according to Fox affiliate WJBK-TV. The officer and the woman are both black.
The officer can be seen in a video with his gun drawn shouting verbal commands at the armed woman when he suddenly fired several shots into the vehicle. Sykes, who was in the car alone, cannot be seen in the footage, but authorities said she ignored the officer’s commands.
After the shots were fired into the vehicle, it slowly rolls away while the cop falls to his knees and appears to begin crying as a fellow officer comes up from behind to comfort him. He then turns and goes face down onto the pavement, overcome by the emotion of the moment.
Caution: Disturbing Content, Adult Language:
I found a longer version of Saturday’s #Flint fatal police shooting bystander video. The 19-year-old woman who was killed has been identified as Briana Sykes. Sykes is accused of initiating gunfire with the officer. MI State Police are investigating. pic.twitter.com/y3NN7PVwiV
— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 (@TCReporter) June 21, 2021
A woman in the video is heard crying out about the door of her vehicle being hit by gunfire as Sykes’ vehicle slowly rolls down the street, while another woman wonders aloud if the person is dead.
An eyewitness told the Fox affiliate that the officer “was doing his job.”
“I kind of feel like him dropping, it was the devastation of the whole situation,” the person said. “I feel like the police was doing his job. He had a life to protect. Not only his, but we had a parade full of kids.”
“Preliminary investigation indicates the officer, who was working a traffic point for the Juneteenth Celebration Parade, was fired upon by the lone occupant of a vehicle who drove up to him at the traffic point. Upon taking fire, the officer returned fire, striking the suspect,” the Michigan State Police said on Twitter.
“The officer was not injured, nor were any bystanders who were in the area,” the MSP further tweeted. “The incident remains under investigation.”
The officer was not injured, nor were any bystanders who were in the area. This incident remains under investigation.
— MSP Bay Region (@mspbayregion) June 19, 2021
Nala McCracklin, the dead woman’s sister, told the Daily Mail that she doesn’t fault the officer and felt bad that he was put in that situation. She also explained that her sister lost her boyfriend several days earlier when he was killed in a shooting.
That shooting did not involve police, McCracklin said.
“I do feel horrible for the officer who did it and I’m not upset at him or anyone else,” she said. “As well as the bystanders. Nobody deserves to see or experience that.”
“She wasn’t a bad person, nor violent,” the sister added.
The Flint Police Department announced on Facebook that Flint Police Chief Terence Green had requested that Michigan State Police conduct the investigation.
“The video absolutely tore my heart out. The officer had not choice. You could tell he didn’t want to shoot. Cried right along with him,” one social media user responded.
“Having seen the video footage, my heart goes out to the officer involved in this incident. I’m among the first to stand against brutality, but this was a different entity entirely,” another wrote.
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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