( Cincinnati ) - "All he had to do was put his hands up." That from Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters in a news conference Tuesday afternoon to say that the officer-involved shooting in Avondale last week was justified.
Deters says 20-year-old Vernell Jackson (pictured above) will likely be charged soon. Body cam video shows Officer Marc Schildmeyer rolling up along Blair Ave around noon on Wednesday, September 11. Police say an undercover officer previously reported that Jackson had put a gun in his waistband. The video shows a uniformed Officer Schildmeyer getting out of his vehicle, gun drawn, and demanding to see Jackson's hands. Jackson then pulls the gun out of his waistband, and that's when he's shot once in the torso. Schildmeyer then puts on gloves and starts to administer medical attention. "If Marc didn't put pressure on that, he probably would've died," said Deters on Tuesday.
Due to the graphic nature of the video, 700WLW News is choosing not to release the body cam footage.
Chief Eliot Isaac says he spoke with Jackson's family prior to the news conference, and he says they don't know why he pulled out the gun either. The chief says he doesn't believe it was a case of suicide-by-cop, but rather "a very, very bad decision."
Deters made a statement he's made multiple times before: "if you have a gun in your hands and police officers say 'show your hands,' and you pull a gun out of your waistband, you're going to get shot."