Questions follow officer-involved shooting video
BEL-RIDGE, Mo. - Newly released security video shows Wednesday's officer-involved shooting at a home in Bel-Ridge.
Shortly after midnight on Wednesday, St. Ann police shot and killed 37-year-old Troy Hamilton, sparking calls for transparency in the investigation.
Hamilton's family attorney, Jermaine Wooten, provided media with home security video of the incident, which he believes proves Hamilton was not a threat to officers when he was shot and killed.
"I'm horrified. It's hard to put in words, guys, when you lose your child," Troy Hamilton's father, Charles Hamilton, said after watching the video.
It appears to show Hamilton running up to his own front door with police close behind. The North County Police Co-op (NCPC), which is investigating the use of force, held a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
"Officers, unaware at the time that this was his residence, pursued him onto the front porch. A physical altercation ensued as officers tried to effectuate an arrest," Det. Sgt. Benjamin Santoyo said at that news conference.
Hamilton was shot twice and died, leaving his wife, Britny Boyd, widowed with four kids.
"It's horrible. Before I stepped in here i got a call from a social worker because my kids are suffering. No one felt safe that night," she said.
But this video still doesn't make it clear if Hamilton was threatening officers or simply trying to get inside his house. The video has no audio and was recorded from across the street. It is difficult to decipher when officers fired their guns.
NCPC says Hamilton produced a stolen gun at the time. But when FOX 2 asked on Wednesday, NCPC would not say if Hamilton was holding the gun in his hand during the incident.
"Keep this in mind; I want to put special emphasis on this. This is a preliminary investigation. The exact details still have yet to be made known," Det. Sgt. Benjamin Santoyo said.
On Friday, Wooten also could not say where the gun was at the time of the shooting.
"I don't know if he had a gun on his body or anything else. We know he did not have a gun in his hand at not point during this altercation with police," he said.
FOX 2 reached out to NCPC regarding this video but NCPC declined to provide additional comment at this time.
It did announce that it is coordinating an opportunity for the FBI to conduct an independent review of the case.