Dozens of people gathered on the steps of San Bernardino City Hall on Wednesday, just days after a police shooting left 23-year-old Rob Adams dead.
The family’s legal team announced new allegations and a lawsuit against the San Bernardino Police Department after video surfaced on social media.
“We want to say clearly to the police, it was not your job to kill Rob … They shot him multiple times in the back. There’s no justification for that,” said Ben Crump, the Adams family’s attorney.
Police claim two officers from the Specialized Investigation Unit were in an unmarked car conducting surveillance after they received word of an armed Black man in the parking lot of an illegal online gambling business on West Highland Street on Saturday.
On Tuesday, police said that Adams saw the vehicle, pulled out a loaded gun and began walking toward the officers’ car.
“The officers exited their vehicle and gave Adams verbal commands, but he immediately ran toward two parked vehicles with the gun in his right hand. Officers briefly chased Adams but seeing that he had no outlet, they believed that he intended to use the vehicle as cover to shoot at them,” said Chief Darren Goodman.
An officer believed bystanders were in danger and fired his weapon, fatally striking Adams.
But one of the newest allegations is that Adams didn’t have a gun in his hand. His mom, Tamika King, said it was a cell phone, and that she had been on the phone with him up until the moment she heard gunshots.
“And it was not a gun, I’ll say it again. I have proof on my phone, the exact time that they killed my son, I was on the phone with him. I have proof of that,” she said.
“My son, Rob, wasn’t a gang member. He was a good kid,” added Robert Adams, Rob Adams’ father.