Attorneys: Photos 'don't add up' with police's report in Southaven man's death
MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - Attorneys for Ismael Lopez, the man who was shot and killed by Southaven police officers, released new photos from their investigation during a news conference on Wednesday.
Lopez was shot Sunday inside his own home. Official documents obtained by WMC Action News 5 show Southaven police officers had a search warrant for the house across the street from Lopez's home.
Lawyers said the photos taken by a private investigator don't add up with the information Southaven Police Department shared.
The photos show three bullet holes going through the door of Lopez's home.
Officers said Lopez came to his front door and pointed a gun at them. They said they shot him after asking him multiple times to drop the gun.
Lopez's wife disputed the officers' report. She said she never heard officers tell Lopez to drop a gun. In fact, she said Lopez did not even have a gun on him when he was killed.
"She is abundantly clear that her husband did not go to the door and she is abundantly clear that there were no directions or verbal warnings that she heard at the time and that has been corroborated by two neighbors," said the family's attorney, Murray Wells.
These new photos also show a bullet hole through the back wall of the living room that investigators believe was shot from a diagonal aim by Southaven police.
According to neighbors who gave their testimony from that night, there was a total lack of communication between police and Lopez.
Investigators said that one next door neighbor claimed to have heard the shooting play out in full.
"He was awake in his room while it happened, he heard no direction, no words or any sort of verbal commands from the Southaven police department before he heard the shots," Wells said.
Police claimed Lopez was pointing a gun at them upon arrival, but private investigators say there was no trace of blood on the long-range rifle that would've been near Lopez's body during the alleged altercation, and the family's hand gun was still tucked away in the couple's bedroom.
Investigators said there is no trace of blood outside of the home. The family's attorneys said this shooting was a Civil Rights violation.
Attorneys and investigators with Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are now waiting for the autopsy report before moving forward in this investigation.
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