On Sunday, Feb. 21, Kisha Michael, 31, and Marquintan Sandlin, 32, had finished their date, according to family, and pulled off the road to take a nap. Inglewood, Calif., police responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle around 3 a.m. Very little information has been released as to what happened next, but according to Inglewood Mayor James Butts, police arrived and found the couple unconscious in the car.
“The officers retreated, isolated the vehicle and spent about 45 minutes attempting to rouse the occupants and to de-escalate the situation,” Butts told NBC Los Angeles.
Police officials say that Michael had a gun, but have not confirmed whether a gun was found on the scene.
“Obviously, at some point they were conscious because somebody felt threatened,” Butts, a retired law-enforcement officer who previously served as police chief in other cities, told the news station.
According to the news station, a total of seven children survive the two victims: Michael was a single mother of three sons, and Sandlin a single father of four daughters.
Both families have demanded explanations and expressed frustration.
“The police ain’t telling us nothing,” Trisha Michael, Michael’s twin sister, told the news station.
Sandlin’s sister, Leandra Faulkner, told NBC Los Angeles that her brother was “a loving father; all he cared about was his girls, getting them right.”
Both families said they don’t know why, or if, either of their loved ones had a gun, but say they believe that law enforcement could have de-escalated the situation.
“They have crisis counselors, tear gas, bean bags,” community activist and pastor Eddie Jones told the news station. “All kinds of things besides deadly force.”
Read more at NBC Los Angeles.