The family of a Florida Black man is seeking answers after police shot him to death on his own property. Police claim the man fired a gun, but his family claims no bullet ever left the chamber.
OnMay 31, 27-year-old Daniel Lewis was inside his Miami Gardens home when his cousins sought his home for shelter. Lewis’ mother, Angela, said his cousins were riding around and believed they were being followed by gang members in a car they described as black with no markings or police lights, per NBC Miami. She said the group pulled in swiftly to Lewis’ home, ran out of the vehicle and straight into the home through the back door.
However, the unmarked car also parked outside the home, and emerging from the car were not gang members but police officers. Lewis then allegedly stepped out on his back porch with his firearm as the officers approached from the front lawn. As soon as Lewis stepped out, he was shot five times, his mother said. Special Agent Christopher Robinson from the Miami Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms claimed “some individuals” discharged their guns at the officers to which gunfire was returned resulting in the death of Lewis, per the report.
Although attorneys for the Lewis family disagree with that version of the story. In a news conference following the incident, they confirmed he had his gun on him at the time of his death, but none of the shells recovered from the scene belonged to his firearm. They also stated he had a permit to carry and no prior criminal record. Yet, it’s still unclear without body camera video what happened, if anything, to provoke the officers to shoot. The attorneys said the officers never announced themselves as they approached the home.
Lewis’ family said they are considering a lawsuit against the Miami Gardens Police Department as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
“I watched my son take his last breath, and that’s the hardest thing a mother could ever do, from the first to the last. Nobody will understand what was taken from us, and all we want to know is why, why, why did it have to happen?” said Lewis’ mother, Angela, in the conference.
Lewis leaves behind two children. Police said they’re still investigating the incident.