Newly released body camera footage shows the moments a Mississippi police officer shot an 11-year-old unarmed boy in his own home.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigations finally released the video after months of demands from Aderrien Murry’s family to make it available for public viewing.
Murry was shot last May in Indianola, Mississippi, after helping his mother call police over a domestic disturbance at their home.
The father of one of the mother’s children had reportedly visited the home “irate” at 4 a.m. on May 20, 2023.
The mother, Nakala Murry, had requested her son, 11-year-old Aderrien, to call officers to come over and handle the situation.
One of the responding officers, Greg Capers, ended up shooting the boy as he was walking through the home.
Bodycam video shows Capers approaching the home and banging loudly on the door. A dispatcher tells Capers over the radio that the mother permitted police to kick the door in if need be, but Capers is unsuccessful in his attempts to do so.
After he hears someone approaching the front door, he holds up his gun and repeatedly shouts, “Let me see your hands!” and a woman opens the door with her hands up.
Capers asks the woman, “Where’s he at? Where’s he at?” before ordering her to exit the home. He also asks her if the suspect in question has any weapons before yelling, “Come out, sir, don’t make us come in!”
Capers then enters the home with his gun still drawn and ready to fire. He continues yelling warnings into the home before 11-year-old Aderrien suddenly appears. Capers shot him as soon as he came into view, then yelled, “Oh my God!” in surprise and immediately called for emergency first responders.
Murry is seen running out of the home to his mother after being shot in the chest. He suffered a collapsed lung, fractured ribs, and a lacerated liver from the shooting and had to be placed on a ventilator.
Months passed before a grand jury finally decided in December 2023 not to criminally indict Capers. Following that decision, the Indianola Board of Aldermen voted to reinstate Capers to his post on the force.
The Murry family filed a $5 million lawsuit almost immediately after the shooting against the city, Police Chief Ronald Sampson, and a few officers including Capers alleging excessive force, negligence, reckless endangerment, and civil assault and battery. They also called for Capers and the police chief to be fired from their positions.
The family reportedly planned to file a second lawsuit after the grand jury’s decision to not charge Capers.
