Mother of man shot by police during traffic stop demands answers

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - After her son was shot multiple times by police after a traffic stop Monday night, a Memphis mother is now searching for answers.

Martavious Banks, 25, has undergone three surgeries at Regional One.

His mother Janice Banks said he was shot in his arm, chest and back.

“Y’all got way more than y’all telling me, you're telling me about the body cam, but you ain’t telling me about the reason why they stopped my child,” Janice said.

Questions about how Monday evening's officer involved shooting started in the first place are still unanswered.

Memphis Police Director Rallings says officers pulled over Martavious after they ran his tags and was unclear if he had insurance.

His mother doesn't buy it. “I ride around in my car,” Janice said. “The car ain’t even registered to him, it's registered to me.”

Police say Banks didn't have a driver’s license or proof of insurance.

More than 24 hours later, police were back on the scene of the shooting on Gill Street, presumably collecting evidence and asking questions. “I just heard the shots, I was on the phone with my sister in Mississippi and I said, ‘Hmmm. that was close,’” said a neighbor.

The reveal that there is no footage of the actual shooting has some activists questioning if Memphis police can recover from this.

“I think Director Rallings has a really big problem and we need to clean house from the top to the bottom,” said activist P. Moses. “It's not a black or white thing, it's not a Black Lives Matter thing. It's is a human rights thing.”

Shelby County commissioner Tami Sawyer tweeted that she visited Martavious at Regional One on Tuesday, and she said it wasn't an easy visit.

She says she can’t share what she saw but know that things are not OK.

Copyright 2018 WMC. All rights reserved.