'They Took Out a Gun and Popped Him in the Face.' 10-year-old Claims Unarmed African American Was Handcuffed When He Was Shot by Police
Ze'Morion Dillon-Hokins, 10, told investigators Jamar Clark, 24, was handcuffed when he was shot by a police officer.
'Then they took out a gun and 'popped' him in the face. He took two more breaths. I saw the smoke from the gun,' claims Dillon-Hokins
Dillon-Hokins watched from his front door 15 yards away as Clark was 'blasted in the head'
Two Minneapolis PD officers have been put on administrative leave and have undergone drug testing
Investigators reveal there were no body cam or dash cam footage and none of the video obtained 'captured the event in its entirety'
By SHEKHAR BHATIA
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
17 November 2015
A ten-year-old boy has dramatically told how he saw a handcuffed man being shot in the head by police.
Ze'Morion Dillon-Hokins told how he watched the shooting of Jamar Clark from just yards away and said: 'They took out a gun and "popped" him in the face.'
Ze'Morion spoke to Daily Mail Online after giving a witness statement to police about Clark, whose death, 24 hours after the shooting, has led to protests in Minneapolis.
His witness statement may prove to be crucial since investigators say there is no body cam or dash cam footage that captures the entire incident.
Ze'Morion told Daily Mail Online he had been playing video games on his PS4 when he heard shouting.
He then saw Clark trying to gain access to the ambulance where Clark's girlfriend was being treated.
Speaking with his mother's permission, he said: 'They asked him to step back. He was saying 'f*** you' to them.'
He said Clark put his hands up when police officers approached him and he was handcuffed.
The 24-year-old was 'choke-slammed down' by the officers right outside his front door, he said.
'Then they took out a gun and 'popped' him in the face. He took two more breaths. I saw the smoke from the gun.'
He said Clark was face down when he was shot and the officers 'flipped him over' after the gun had been discharged.
Ze'Morion said before Clark was dragged to an ambulance, one handcuff was removed while the other remained on a wrist.
Today a wooden stick, placed by investigators, marked the spot on Plymouth Avenue North where the incident happened, directly in front where the boy lives with his mother and four siblings.
His mother Tequila Dillon, 31, said: 'He was in shock afterwards.
'He was at home playing on his PS4 when he heard something was going on and went outside to see what it was.
'He saw it all and it has upset him. He came in and fell right over and said: 'They are killing us.'
'No child should see something like that and they are getting a therapist to try help him over it. He is off school.
'I hope what he has told the police and the Bureau will help everybody get to the truth.
Killed: Jamar Clark, 24, was shot 'in the head execution style' by police Sunday while he was in handcuffs, according to key witness
'I ain't understanding why the police are saying he wasn't handcuffed, when he clearly was. There were about 30 people who witnessed it.'
Clark, who was unarmed, was shot in front of the Ecks of the World private club, which had a social evening ending as police arrived with people leaving at around 12:45am early Sunday.
Police are understood to have seized CCTV video which may have captured the scenes across the street.
The 10-year-old also gave a statement to investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, that 24-year-old Clark was handcuffed when he died from a gunshot wound to the head.
The investigators have been brought in by Minneapolis police to help prepare an independent report on the incident.
The child, accompanied by his mother, was taken to a special child friendly suite yesterday in South Minneapolis, where he gave a statement that contradicted initial official claims that the victim appeared not to have been in handcuffs.
Another witness Darrell Gross, 48, whose home also faces the spot where Clark was shot, said: 'He was shouting 'f--- you, f--- you' at the police. But that ain't no reason to get shot. One officer had his knee in his back after they had slammed him.
'When they got him up after shooting him, he had one handcuff on one hand and the other had been removed.
'People were shouting that they had killed an unarmed man and other police had their guns out pointing at people and telling them to back off. Luckily they did.'
Minneapolis police have refused to identify the two officers who apprehended Clark, one of whom shot him.
Officials said primary investigations had not shown that Clark was handcuffed when he was shot, and that he had been acting aggressively towards Emergency Medical Services staff who were treating a woman inside an ambulance after a domestic dispute.
But Daily Mail Online can reveal that there is no body cam footage or dash cam footage of the incidents available to investigators.
The club's video does capture, however, 'portions of the incident' and has been handed to investigators.
Call to action: Protesters chant in front of the Minneapolis Fourth Precinct in Monday over the death of Jamar Clark who was handcuffed and unarmed
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which is helping coordinate the various agencies involved in the probe, said the officers' identities would be revealed once they had been interviewed.
The two officers have been put on administrative leave as is department policy and have undergone drug testing.
They have also been seen by a police psychologist.
The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division are also helping interview witnesses and gather evidence. The investigation is likely to take between'two to four months.
Police are concerned that political activists may stoke up tension after several hundred blocked an interstate and disrupted traffic.
Clark had a string of convictions including armed robbery and may have been drinking when he was confronted by police.
Clark's father James Hill refused to call for calm and instead issued a rallying call.
His home is close to the Fourth Precinct police station which has been crowded by demonstrators led by the pressure group Black Lives Matter.
He told Daily Mail Online: 'I wish I could burn that police station down for what they have done to my son.
'It was a cold blooded execution of a man whose hands were tied. Where is the justice in that?
'I can't describe seeing your son laying there in hospital with his eye shot out and being that way. He was as good as dead the moment the police shot him,.
'They kept him alive to buy some time while they figured out what to do. This is a terrible situation, but I welcome people protesting. That is another black life gone. That is again one too many.'
Scene of crime: A stake marks the location in front of the apartment building where Jamar Clark was shot by a Minneapolis police officer early Sunday
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said videos of the time Clark was shot were being examined .
They came from the ambulance, a public housing building, cellphones of bystanders and a police mobile video.
However, he confirmed there were no body cam or dash cam footage and none of the video obtained 'captured the event in its entirety.'
Superintendent Evans confirmed there were handcuffs at the scene and part of the investigation was to establish whether they had been applied to Clark or not.
'This investigation is being given top priory by the BCA and will diligently work to complete it.'
'Then they took out a gun and 'popped' him in the face. He took two more breaths. I saw the smoke from the gun,' claims Dillon-Hokins
Dillon-Hokins watched from his front door 15 yards away as Clark was 'blasted in the head'
Two Minneapolis PD officers have been put on administrative leave and have undergone drug testing
Investigators reveal there were no body cam or dash cam footage and none of the video obtained 'captured the event in its entirety'
By SHEKHAR BHATIA
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
17 November 2015
A ten-year-old boy has dramatically told how he saw a handcuffed man being shot in the head by police.
Ze'Morion Dillon-Hokins told how he watched the shooting of Jamar Clark from just yards away and said: 'They took out a gun and "popped" him in the face.'
Ze'Morion spoke to Daily Mail Online after giving a witness statement to police about Clark, whose death, 24 hours after the shooting, has led to protests in Minneapolis.
His witness statement may prove to be crucial since investigators say there is no body cam or dash cam footage that captures the entire incident.
Ze'Morion told Daily Mail Online he had been playing video games on his PS4 when he heard shouting.
He then saw Clark trying to gain access to the ambulance where Clark's girlfriend was being treated.
Speaking with his mother's permission, he said: 'They asked him to step back. He was saying 'f*** you' to them.'
He said Clark put his hands up when police officers approached him and he was handcuffed.
The 24-year-old was 'choke-slammed down' by the officers right outside his front door, he said.
'Then they took out a gun and 'popped' him in the face. He took two more breaths. I saw the smoke from the gun.'
He said Clark was face down when he was shot and the officers 'flipped him over' after the gun had been discharged.
Ze'Morion said before Clark was dragged to an ambulance, one handcuff was removed while the other remained on a wrist.
Today a wooden stick, placed by investigators, marked the spot on Plymouth Avenue North where the incident happened, directly in front where the boy lives with his mother and four siblings.
His mother Tequila Dillon, 31, said: 'He was in shock afterwards.
'He was at home playing on his PS4 when he heard something was going on and went outside to see what it was.
'He saw it all and it has upset him. He came in and fell right over and said: 'They are killing us.'
'No child should see something like that and they are getting a therapist to try help him over it. He is off school.
'I hope what he has told the police and the Bureau will help everybody get to the truth.
Killed: Jamar Clark, 24, was shot 'in the head execution style' by police Sunday while he was in handcuffs, according to key witness
'I ain't understanding why the police are saying he wasn't handcuffed, when he clearly was. There were about 30 people who witnessed it.'
Clark, who was unarmed, was shot in front of the Ecks of the World private club, which had a social evening ending as police arrived with people leaving at around 12:45am early Sunday.
Police are understood to have seized CCTV video which may have captured the scenes across the street.
The 10-year-old also gave a statement to investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, that 24-year-old Clark was handcuffed when he died from a gunshot wound to the head.
The investigators have been brought in by Minneapolis police to help prepare an independent report on the incident.
The child, accompanied by his mother, was taken to a special child friendly suite yesterday in South Minneapolis, where he gave a statement that contradicted initial official claims that the victim appeared not to have been in handcuffs.
Another witness Darrell Gross, 48, whose home also faces the spot where Clark was shot, said: 'He was shouting 'f--- you, f--- you' at the police. But that ain't no reason to get shot. One officer had his knee in his back after they had slammed him.
'When they got him up after shooting him, he had one handcuff on one hand and the other had been removed.
'People were shouting that they had killed an unarmed man and other police had their guns out pointing at people and telling them to back off. Luckily they did.'
Minneapolis police have refused to identify the two officers who apprehended Clark, one of whom shot him.
Officials said primary investigations had not shown that Clark was handcuffed when he was shot, and that he had been acting aggressively towards Emergency Medical Services staff who were treating a woman inside an ambulance after a domestic dispute.
But Daily Mail Online can reveal that there is no body cam footage or dash cam footage of the incidents available to investigators.
The club's video does capture, however, 'portions of the incident' and has been handed to investigators.
Call to action: Protesters chant in front of the Minneapolis Fourth Precinct in Monday over the death of Jamar Clark who was handcuffed and unarmed
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which is helping coordinate the various agencies involved in the probe, said the officers' identities would be revealed once they had been interviewed.
The two officers have been put on administrative leave as is department policy and have undergone drug testing.
They have also been seen by a police psychologist.
The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division are also helping interview witnesses and gather evidence. The investigation is likely to take between'two to four months.
Police are concerned that political activists may stoke up tension after several hundred blocked an interstate and disrupted traffic.
Clark had a string of convictions including armed robbery and may have been drinking when he was confronted by police.
Clark's father James Hill refused to call for calm and instead issued a rallying call.
His home is close to the Fourth Precinct police station which has been crowded by demonstrators led by the pressure group Black Lives Matter.
He told Daily Mail Online: 'I wish I could burn that police station down for what they have done to my son.
'It was a cold blooded execution of a man whose hands were tied. Where is the justice in that?
'I can't describe seeing your son laying there in hospital with his eye shot out and being that way. He was as good as dead the moment the police shot him,.
'They kept him alive to buy some time while they figured out what to do. This is a terrible situation, but I welcome people protesting. That is another black life gone. That is again one too many.'
Scene of crime: A stake marks the location in front of the apartment building where Jamar Clark was shot by a Minneapolis police officer early Sunday
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said videos of the time Clark was shot were being examined .
They came from the ambulance, a public housing building, cellphones of bystanders and a police mobile video.
However, he confirmed there were no body cam or dash cam footage and none of the video obtained 'captured the event in its entirety.'
Superintendent Evans confirmed there were handcuffs at the scene and part of the investigation was to establish whether they had been applied to Clark or not.
'This investigation is being given top priory by the BCA and will diligently work to complete it.'
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